The Ethical Challenges of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing

Genetic testing is currently subject to little oversight, despite the significant ethical issues involved. Repeated recommendations for increased regulation of the genetic testing market have led to little progress in the policy arena. A 2005 Internet search identified 13 websites offering health-related genetic testing for direct purchase by the consumer. Further examination of these sites showed that overall, biotech companies are not providing enough information for consumers to make well-informed decisions; they are not consistently offering genetic counseling services; and some sites even offer tests with little evidence of clinical value. This article aims to raise company and consumer awareness about the ethical concerns surrounding the direct-to-consumer marketing of health-related genetic tests. It also suggests ways that biotech companies can bring their services to the public in an ethically responsible manner, without increased regulatory oversight. Submitted for the Special Issue on Ethical Issues in Biotechnology.     

Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Branded Drug Web Sites Risk Presentation and Implications for Public Policy

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) branded drug Web sites inform consumers of certain specific facts, including risk information, about drugs. Prominently displayed risk disclosures can reduce the potentially misleading aspects of advertising information and encourage a deeper level of consumer processing. Although previous studies of DTC Web sites have examined the presence and absence of risk information, no research to date has evaluated the placement of risk information relative to benefit information on DTC Web sites or whether risk information is presented consistently in the DTC category. Bettman, Payne, and Staelin (1986) suggested that "the same information presented in different formats can result in different decisions" (p. 2). Schema theory can guide Web site development, as it suggests that consistency of information presentation in an on-line environment can help consumers maximize their ability to utilize information at the site. In addition, current regulatory practices (Food and Drug Administration [FDA] guidelines for fair balance in DTC ads, the Federal Trade Commission [FTC] "clear and conspicuous" standards for television and Web site disclaimers) suggest that consistency in information presentation can also help consumers comprehend information. This study, then, examines whether risk information presentation is consistent across DTC Web sites, and serves as a first step in the process of understanding what guidance might be necessary at DTC Web sites.     

Genetic Screening in the Workplace: Legislative and Ethical Implications

This paper discusses legal and ethical issues related to genetic screening. It is argued that persons identified with actual or perceived deleterious genetic markers are protected by the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, if members of a protected group, regardless of whether or not they are currently ill. However, legislation may not protect all employees in all scenarios, in which case, ethical principles should guide decision-making. In doing so a model of preventive ethics is proposed to better understand the multiple levels on which this issue resides.     

Risk-Benefit Analysis of Cigarette Smoking: Public Policy Implications

The objective of this study is to investigate the internal risks and benefits from smoking over the lifetime of a male individual. It differs from many earlier studies in that it focuses on the costs borne by the individual, as opposed to external or societal costs. It also includes the benefits from smoking which play an important role in the individual's smoking decision. Risk-benefit ratios range from 0.25 to 3.67 depending on the tar and nicotine content of cigarettes, the discount or time preference rate, the value of a life year, and the price elasticity of demand for cigarettes.     

Diffusing the Cloud: Cloud Computing and Implications for Public Policy

Cloud Computing is rapidly emerging as the new information technology platform. It is, however, much more than simply a new set of technologies and business models. Cloud Computing is transforming how consumers, companies, and governments store information, how they process that information, and how they utilize computing power. It can be an engine of innovation, a platform for entrepreneurship, and driver of corporate efficiency. While an increasingly commonly term, confusion remains over what exactly constitutes Cloud Computing, how the markets are unfolding, and what forces will drive their evolution and diffusion. This paper provides an overview and conceptual tools for business leaders, policymakers, and non-specialist scholars to identify, distill, and easily understand the core aspects of how Cloud Computing service markets are developing, and how an array of policy issues will influence how this new computing platform unfolds across the world.     

异地养老市场分析及对策建议

随着经济的发展以及人口老龄化的日益严峻,传统的家庭养老模式面临着各种挑战。老年人经济状况的改善,以及异地养老的一系列便利性,满足了一部分老年人的特殊需求,异地养老作为一种时尚的养老方式悄然出现。受宏观社会保障制度不够健全、现有养老服务质量水平不高、配套设施不完善等影响,异地养老还有许多问题有待解决。提出了实现异地养老市场化、社会化,异地养老市场定位要准、要通过各种方式提高服务质量、政策上给予保障等建议。     

异地养老市场分析及对策建议

随着经济的发展以及人口老龄化的日益严峻,传统的家庭养老模式面临着各种挑战.老年人经济状况的改善,以及异地养老的一系列便利性,满足了一部分老年人的特殊需求,异地养老作为一种时尚的养老方式悄然出现.受宏观社会保障制度不够健全、现有养老服务质量水平不高、配套设施不完善等影响,异地养老还有许多问题有待解决.提出了实现异地养老市场化、社会化,异地养老市场定位要准、要通过各种方式提高服务质量、政策上给予保障等建议.     

日本的知识产权公共政策及对中国的启示

日本知识产权公共政策的发展历史揭示了日本知识产权公共政策的特点。日本在不同时期根据本国的经济技术发展水平采取了不同的但最符合本国利益需要的知识产权公共政策;日本重视对引进技术的消化吸收再创新;日本限制专利的权利范围的专利政策有利于技术扩散和维护社会公共利益;日本政府在知识产权发展中起到主导作用,日本政府和本国企业之间建立紧密的合作关系。日本的知识产权公共政策对于构建中国的知识产权公共政策体系具有重要的借鉴意义。     

Examining the Covert Nature of Product Placement: Implications for Public Policy

As consumers become better educated and more skeptical of traditional advertising, alternate forms of marketing communication have emerged that aim to influence audiences unobtrusively. One such example is product placement. Product placement has attracted ongoing debate as to whether it is covert, unethical, and influences consumption. The current article examines the nature and practice of product placement in this light. This taxonomy of product placement attributes is based on current marketing practice and examines whether this is, indeed, a covert marketing strategy. Further, it presents a conceptualization of the influence of product placement on consumer welfare. We highlight that the many forms of product placement necessitate independent evaluation to determine ethical and regulatory standards. Operational solutions for developing public policy are offered.     

The Use of Sponsorship-Linked Marketing by Tobacco Firms: International Public Policy Issues

Worldwide, the marketing and promotion practices of tobacco firms are coming under scrutiny. Although tobacco advertising in traditional media such as television has been banned in most countries for many years, the use of nontraditional media such as sponsorship has only recently come into question. This paper analyzes how sponsorship-linked marketing programs function like advertising in promoting tobacco products. The various marketing tactics utilized by international tobacco firms are discussed as are policy recommendations for governments, businesses, households, and communities that seek to reduce tobacco promotion in their environments.     

Ethical Cycles and Trends: Evidence and Implications

Recent high-profile corporate scandals are reminiscent of the corporate raider scandals of the 1980s, suggesting that ethical scandals may occur in waves. This article provides a framework for analysis of this question by suggesting that ethical attitudes may be cyclical about long-term secular trends. We provide some empirical evidence from previously published work for the existence of cycles as well as a potential mechanism for their propagation, namely widespread publicity about a particularly salient event, e.g., Enron. Further, we posit that long-run secular trends would be affected through more deliberate, cognitive means, e.g., instruction in business ethics. We also discuss an important research implication, namely that traditional cross-sectional “book-end” studies surveying ethical attitudes at two different points in time may be unable to disentangle short-run cyclical movements from long-term secular trends.      

Ethical Ideology and the Ethical Judgments of Marketing Professionals

The present study extends the study of individuals' ethical ideology withinthe context of marketing ethics issues. A national sample of marketing professionals participated. Respondents' ethical ideologies were classified as absolutists, situationists, exceptionists, or subjectivists using the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980). Respondents then answered questions about three ethically ambiguous situations common to marketing and sales. The results indicated that marketers' ethical judgments about the situations differed based on their ethical ideology, with absolutists rating the actions as most unethical. The findings are consistent with those of two earlier studies that utilized samples of business students (Barnett et al., 1994, 1995). The results suggest that personal moral philosophy is an important influence on ethical decision making that should be considered in empirical studies of business ethics. The results also support the utility of the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980) as a means for researchers and practitioners to assess individuals' ethical ideology.     

Understanding the New Potato Futures Contract and Its Implications for Marketing

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an economic interpretation of the prices for the recently introduced potato futures contract trading on the New York Cotton Exchange, based on a review of economic literature. Potatoes differ from other commodities traded on futures markets, because they are stored from one crop year to the next. Harvest contract prices are expected to be similiar each year when first introduced for trading, but become more variable as specific supply and demand information for that year becomes available. Spreads across crop years will be much less correlated than spreads within a crop year. Inverse carrying charges are not expected within the crop year.     

公共物品概念的政策含义——基于文献和现实的双重思考

尽管非竞争性和非排他性被人们视为界定公共物品的两大标准,但不同理论流派对这两大标准的认识存在着明显的分歧,由此所引申出来的政策含义更是截然有别.鉴于此,有必要从文献和现实两个角度来重新思考公共物品概念及其政策含义.首先,从公共物品的概念史来看,主流的“萨缪尔森——马斯格雷夫传统”主要着眼于物品的被消费方式和消费者的行为特征,倾向于主张政府干预;而公共选择学派所秉承的“自愿交易传统”更多关注于物品的被供给方式,强调物品供给主体及其组织形式的多样性,并极力主张对政府权力的运用施加约束.其次,从政策实践层面来看,由上述两大标准引申而来,政府服务的公共性内涵至少可以概括出以下两点:第一,制度规则的“非排他性”与受益范围的全覆盖;第二,供给水平的“非竞争性”与公共服务的均等化.而这也正是我国当前建设和完善公共财政体系过程中的目标所系和关键所在.     

The Ethical and Economic Implications of Smoking in Enclosed Public Facilities: A Resolution of Conflicting Rights

Smokers and nonsmokers possess equal rights but those rights conflict with each other in the use of shared facilities. Medical research has established that smoking harms not only those who use the product but also those who are passively exposed to it. Laws and private regulation of smoking in shared facilities have resulted in the segregation of smokers from nonsmokers to an outright ban of tobacco use. Such controls have provided unsatisfactory results to both groups. An acceptable ethical solution, based on reduction of harm and compensation, can be derived by applying Moral Audit principles, supported by economic analysis, which does not unduly curtail the rights of both parties as to the use of tobacco products.     

关系营销导向:量表的重新设计与检验

基于关系营销理论和前人关于关系营销导向的论述与测量,针对关系营销导向测量中存在的问题,本文设计了一个新的关系营销导向量表,并以营销渠道中制造商与其经销商的关系为背景,检验和评估了新量表的信度与效度。结果发现:新量表在内部一致性、表面效度、内容效度、内敛效度、判别效度和工具效度等都达到了测量的要求。最重要的是,新量表修改了原有量表的用语,使其更符合关系营销导向的内涵,弥补了原有量表缺乏表面效度的缺陷。     

Public Policy Issues in the Marketing of Seals of Approval for Food

Seals of approval have been part of the competitive environment for decades and, properly used, aid consumers by substituting unbiased professional expertise for consumers' lack of knowledge regarding product claims. This paper analyzes use of seals of approval as fund-raising and competitive devices to determine if seals of approval for food offer the same public good as product endorsements. The authors conclude that seals of approval for food, as exemplified by the American Heart Association's HeartGuide Seal, may not be in the best interests of consumers.