ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the function of marketing, including its intrinsic purpose, typical benefits and common pitfalls. It discusses the relationship between marketing and overconsumption. The chapter also discusses the virtues relevant to marketing and sales practices and how they can aid marketers in the pursuit of the goods pertaining to the marketing practice, their lives as a whole and their professional traditions. It addresses, in first place, marketing as an economic activity, its purpose and consequences for the firm, customers and society. Building on the distinction between economy and chrematistics proposed by Aristotle, the chapter considers the risks of a marketing for the sole purpose of wealth creation, as well as the ethical arguments to orient it towards the greater good. It focuses on the virtues of marketing decision makers. This chapter discusses Catholic Social Teaching (CST) principles and their repercussions on marketing ethics.
