Ethics case

Ethics Case Study:

Facebook Offers to Fill a Void[footnoteRef:1] [1: Moodies is a fictitious company, created for the purposes of this case study. To the best knowledge of the author at the time the case was written, the company and its products do not exist. Facebook, Inc. is a real company but the specific strategy described in the case study is fictional. Cite as: O’Callaghan, P.C. (2017). Ethics case study: Facebook offers to fill a void. Unpublished case study, Business and Management Department, University of Maryland University College. ]

You are the new marketing director for Moodies a mid-sized company that markets nutritional supplements for adults based in Baltimore, Maryland. The company’s best-selling product is a line of mood support supplements.

As your first major task for Moodies you and your team were invited to a meeting with ad strategists from Facebook to hear about a new opportunity to target Facebook users using a newly developed digital ad strategy.

You are now in New York, meeting with the Facebook people.

The room is full of advertising strategists and market research analysts. Two Facebook executives give a brief presentation. The first speaker makes two points. First, Facebook has invented a sophisticated algorithm which will identify users who are feeling “empty;” and second, Facebook would like to offer relevant products and services for users identified as being in the “empty” state. Moodies, which already has done some advertising on Facebook, was invited to this presentation because the company was identified through search patterns as offering products – such as the mood support supplements – likely to be sought when users experience feelings of emptiness.

The second speaker was a Facebook analyst. The analyst reminded everyone that Facebook’s data scientists have proven in a prior research study that certain newsfeed posts were found to be effective in influencing users’ emotions. “The news of the day certainly can make one feel empty, can’t it?” she asks rhetorically; she then mentions that more relevant targeted ads would provide users potential solutions with just-in-time products and services.

A handout mentions that Facebook will be asking Moodies to provide specific customer data for the target group to Facebook; this would allow Facebook to match-up with known Facebook users and develop ads specifically to appear in the newsfeeds only of those targets. The data points suggested for good matching are: email, phone number, first name, last name, ZIP or postal code, city, state, country, date of birth, year of birth, age, and gender.

This is your first Facebook strategy meeting so you are not quite sure how to react. The Facebook strategists and your team are all looking at you for your reaction. Meanwhile, your phone buzzes providing a well-timed reason to excuse yourself; you see your boss has texted you, “How’s the Facebook meeting going? This quarter’s numbers down. We need a big win.”

Case Study Questions

1. Describe all known elements of the marketing strategy proposed by Facebook for the campaign. [2 paragraphs]

2. What are the marketing objectives of Facebook for this advertising campaign? Who is the target market? [1 paragraph]

3. What are the ethical responsibilities of Moodies and Facebook? [3 paragraphs]

4. Evaluate the ethics of the proposed marketing strategy using Josephson’s Core Values model, including all five steps. [3-5 pages]

5. Make recommendations for Moodies about the proposed marketing strategy, based on the ethical analysis. Remember, you are not a disinterested observer; you are the marketing director for Moodies! How should these recommendations be communicated to your boss? How will you respond to your boss’s text? [2-3 paragraphs]

Resources

· W2 Readings

· Facebook

· Goel, V. (2014). How Facebook sold you krill oil. New York Times Retrieved from http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/docview/1550635045?accountid=14580

· Hill, K. (2014). Facebook manipulated 689,003 users’ emotions for science. Forbes.com Retrieved from http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=96888475&site=eds-live&scope=site

· Business Case Studies, Part I (2012). Marketing Prozac [video beginning at 29: 15], Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFYRbPVrQrw

Assignment

This is an individual assignment worth 25% of the final grade for this course.

Analyze this case study by responding to the case study questions and present your analysis and recommendations in a case study analysis paper. The factual information needed will be found within the case and the resources. No additional research, outside the resources, is expected for this assignment. Information on writing a case analysis paper can be found here.

The suggested lengths for each section appear in the case study questions above.

Suggested fonts are:

· Arial

· Cambria

· Calibri

· Times New Roman

The font size is 11-12.

All factual material must be properly source cited in APA format. A reference list in APA format is required. This is an individual assignment; no collaboration with other students is permitted. Please be aware that the case study paper will be submitted to Turnitin and issues with originality will be forwarded to the Dean’s Office under the Academic Integrity process.

Follow this format:

I. Introduction

II. Case Analysis

a. Marketing Strategy

b. Marketing Objectives

c. Ethical Responsibilities

d. Ethical Evaluation

e. Recommendation

III. Conclusion

The grading rubric for this assignment is provided below.

Rubric

Qualities & Criteria	Superior	Good	Adequate	Unsatisfactory
Fo C Content – Possible points: 80
Q1. Marketing Strategy Q2. Marketing Objectives	Campaign strategy is clearly expressed and highly appropriate to product. Marketing objectives and target market are clearly identified.	Campaign strategy may need more information and/or support. Marketing objectives and target market may need more information and/or support.	Campaign strategy may lack clarity. Marketing objectives and target market may lack clarity.	Campaign strategy missing or inaccurate. Marketing objectives and target market missing or inaccurate.
	20 - 16	15.5 - 14	14 – 13	Under 13
Points
Q3. Ethical Responsibilities Q4. Ethical Evaluation applying Josephson’s Model Q5. Recommendation & Communication	Ethical responsibilities clearly expressed and highly appropriate to both organizations. Highly appropriate evaluation and analysis of ethical considerations including all steps in model. Recommendations indicate excellent understanding of all major issues in case study. Communication of recommendations is highly appropriate.	Ethical responsibilities may need more information and/or support for one organization or the other. Ethical evaluation and analysis may need more information and/or support. Recommendations may need more information/or support. Communication is appropriate.	Ethical responsibilities may lack clarity for one or both organizations. Ethical evaluation and analysis may lack clarity or be missing steps in the analysis. Recommendations may lack clarity. Communication may not be appropriate.	Ethical responsibilities are unclear or missing. Ethical evaluation and analysis missing or incomplete. Recommendation missing or inaccurate. Communication is missing.
	60 - 56	55.5 - 54	54 – 53	Under 53
Points
Total Content	80 - 72	71 - 68	68 – 66	Below 66
Content Points

Format & Writing – Possible points : 20
Elements of Format & Writing	Introduction and Conclusion are appropriate to scope & contents. Overall, graduate level writing is reflected throughout, including accurate spelling, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure. All sources are identified and cited properly in the text and the reference list (APA format)	Introduction and/or conclusion may need more information. Overall, writing meets graduate standards. Fewer than 5 errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and/or sentence structure. Few errors in the proper use of citations (APA format)	Introduction and/or conclusion may lack clarity. Overall, writing in case study does not meet graduate standards. Unacceptable number of errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure. Citations and/or reference list are not properly used (APA format)	Introduction and/or conclusion missing or does not accurately describe scope & contents. Overall, writing does not meet graduate standards. Unacceptable number of errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure. Citations and/or reference list missing. No attempt to apply APA format.
	20 - 18	17 - 16	16 – 14	Below 14
Form & Writing
TOTAL Grade

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