• Which decision-making approach would you use to resolve this ethical dilemma?
• How will you respond to the question below the ethical dilemma you selected?
Scenario: Marketing Easy Money You are the marketing manager for a regional mortgage company. Prior to coming to your current position, you worked at a national lender that went bankrupt during the housing crisis of 2008–2009. Your previous employer aggressively marketed mortgages to those who couldn’t afford them and encouraged borrowers to take out home equity loans to pay for cars, vacations, and other luxuries. When home values crashed, borrowers were unable to repay their loans. The improving housing market has encouraged your competitors to once again ramp up their sales pitches. One local mortgage lender advertises “zip mortgages,” highlighting the speed of its application process. Another promises to help borrowers with credit problems get mortgages. Yet another encourages homeowners to view their houses as “banks,” refinancing their homes to pay off credit card debts, to invest in stocks and bitcoins, and to make purchases. You worry that these messages will once again tempt consumers to live beyond their means, buying homes they cannot afford and putting them at risk should house prices dip. So far your firm has avoided such marketing tactics. However, your CEO is worried that the firm will lose market share to its more aggressive competitors. He has asked you and your department to draw up a new advertising campaign that describes how easy it is to borrow from your company and the firm’s willingness to work with those who have credit issues. He also wants the campaign to highlight how borrowers can use the money from refinancing their houses to pay for such non-home-related items as vacations, boats, motorcycles, college tuition, medical bills, and credit card debt. Will you create the advertising campaign your CEO wants?
