Not All Companies Are Viewed as Equal
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Not All Companies Are Viewed as Equal
In the modern world, where there is free trade, the government has a minimal influence on consumers on how they chose to view products, what to buy, and what not to buy. People see products according to how they believe it is serving their needs, and those they find useful, are likely to be purchased more. This paper aims to discuss if it is ethical for the consumer to view industries differently. As an advocate, I am providing arguments on why some of the sectors are being mistreated, especially for the case of pharmaceuticals.
The capitalistic market considers several factors in its production, such as stakeholders. The most important stakeholder is the customer because they are the consumers of the products (McFadden, 2014). This means that for the company to proceed with production, it must first determine what the customer wants. This is the reason behind research and market segmentation, which is done by most of the industries. All customers also have freedom of choice for whatever products they need. The sector also continues several substitutes from which the customer can choose from. This provides a potential possibility for discriminating against some of the products.
The issue is not a matter of ethics, but rather the impression that is created in the customer. The fact that the customer discriminates some of the industries and considers others does not mean that they are unethical. It depends on wit corporate image that is being displayed by the company. For example, when a company strives to build an image grounded in quality, honest, and transparent gods, customers are likely to buy products from it more than other companies. This may happen even if the other competing companies are producing the same products. The only time when a customer’s consumption of products becomes unethical would be the excess consumption of some products such as alcohol and drugs, which undermines integrity when consumed at high levels.
A company can cater to its needs and that of the customer conjointly. This mostly applicable in the pharmaceutical industry, whose main aim is to provide medications that would heal the consumer within the shortest time possible. If the company decides to ignore the consumers, they may end up producing drugs that are either too mild or too strong, therefore rendering them not being bought (Atal, Cuesta, & Sæthre, 2019). The industries, for example, would have to consider trends in diseases, their severity among people, and the level of infection. This data would then guide their research, which would ultimately lead to the production of the drugs. The company would, therefore, venture in medical fields, which they know would work best for their capital without having production or financial problems. This way, the company would be working at its interest and that of the consumer.
In conclusion, the discrimination of some industries by consumers is not a matter of unethical behavior, but rather the impression created by the industry. This is more so true, now that there is free trade and capitalism is active in most markets. Therefore, companies should consider customers as the most critical stakeholders, as far as decision making is concerned in the organization. Otherwise, as far as substitute goods continue increasing, customers will always discriminate products and treat industries differently.
References
Atal, J., Cuesta, J. I., & Sæthre, M. (2019). Quality Regulation and Competition: Evidence from Pharmaceutical Markets.
McFadden, D. (2014). The new science of pleasure: consumer choice behavior and the measurement of well-being. In Handbook of choice modeling. Edward Elgar Publishing.