ABSTRACT
Consumers and customers are among the most important external stakeholders in relation to corporate social responsibility and ethical obligations of the business firm. This chapter argues that the commercial relationship between seller and buyer is purely a legal contract, and that the company has no other obligations to consumers other than what the purchase contract says. The ethical business needs to take hold of the ideal significance of legitimacy, which is to search for truth and action that is based on practical reason and moral wisdom. As part of the strategic management, highly developed public relations aims at having an open and reflexive two-way communication with the outside world. The ethics of public relations aims at basing corporate communication on fundamental respect for truth and making honesty and moral integrity central features of the company's basic image. The rhetorical means ethos, pathos, and logos can only be meaningful on this fundamental basis of trusting communication with the company's stakeholders.
