Business Unit 3 Constraints of Marketing

Constraints of marketing Legal aspects There are four legal aspects that can limit and constrain your marketing, these are the sales of goods act 1979, and this law means that all products must be ‘as described’ of ‘a reasonable quality’ and be suitable for everyday purpose and also any specific purpose agreed. E. g. a waterproof coat must be waterproof. Another legal aspect is the trade descriptions act this means that a product cannot be sold by misleading the buyer, in the way the product was made, what it is made of or where and when it was made.E. g. You cannot say something is handmade if it is not, and a hair dryer made for drying hair, must actually dry hair. The consumer credit act 2002 protects consumer’s rights when they buy goods on credit. Traders who offer credit must have an OFT (Office of Fair Trading) licence, this deals with the method of calculating APR (Annual Percentage Rate) the form and content of the agreement, and lenders guid elines. When lending money, businesses much have interest rates clearly stated and cannot change them after you have signed up.The Data Protection Act means that any information stored by marketers must only be used for the purpose stated when collected, it must be accurate and up to date, not kept longer than the period of time stated, and obtained fairly and lawfully. It must be kept up to date as if someone passes away you should not call asking for them. Also your information is protected from unauthorised use, and cannot be passed on to other companies without your permission. The information stored is available for your inspection and correction upon your request.Voluntary codes A voluntary constraint is when a company voluntary says they will never do something or they will always do something. This could include signing a code of practice stating certain behaviours ethically, even though it cannot be legally enforced. The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) overlook advert isements in the UK and have been controlling non-broadcast ads for nearly 50 years. They say adverts must be decent, legal, honest, and truthful. The ads online are also subject to these rules.Most companies sign up to the ASA and then on follow their rules, if the rules are broken they are not breaking the law but the ASA will publicise this and show everyone what has happened and what they have done. 2397 ads were changed or withdrawn in 2009 by the ASA. E. g. The advert, for the Ford Ka's ‘Evil twin' featured a pigeon-bashing four wheeler that brought the wrath of animal rights activists across the country, meaning the advert never even made it to air in the UK. Pressure groups and consumerismPressure groups are groups of people who share the same interests in a business or product; these groups can persuade or force businesses to make changes to their products or services. E. g. cancer research focus on the particular smoking issue and attempt to reduce smoking. And Friend s of the Earth are a multiple cause group who seek to influence the decisions made concerning the environment. Greenpeace seek to promote environmental issues to its members and supporters. Marketing must include promotion to get people intrested. Consumerism is ‘a social movement seeking to augment the rights of buyers in relation to sellers’