BODY SHOP INTERNATIONAL

Body Shop International

Body Shop International

Introduction

Body Shop International is a skin and hair care retailer operating in around 52 countries through around 2050 outlets as well as growing direct selling organization. The Body Shop has only one manufacturing facility, "Soapworks" in Scotland. The remainder of production is outsourced to suppliers around the world.

The Body Shop manufactures, and markets a range of over 600 products and approximately 400 accessories. The company sells a wide range of high quality values-driven health and beauty products as shampoos, bath products, soaps, skin creams and conditioners, beauty related accessories, special children's and men's toiletry ranges, perfumes and seasonal products. The company also sells a line of cosmetics.

None of the company's products are tested on animals, and many of the company's stores offer recycling facilities. The Body Shop develops trading relationships with communities in need and company's ultimate goal is to be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable.

The company operates through a number of retail formats including stores in railway stations, units in large shopping malls, town center stores and airports. It has grown through the opening of franchises.

The Body Shop International operates company owned stores in the UK, the US, France, Germany and Singapore, with the remaining 45 markets owned and operated by independent franchisees.

In this paper we can see that The Body Shop is an organization with Social Corporate Responsibility concept. Besides providing high quality beauty products, they considering the social responsibility to make a positive difference in the world. This ethical behavior beauty company founder actually is a social and environmental activist who works on the basis of being a business model of positive social change named Dame Anita Roddick. The Body Shop support the Social Corporate Responsibility by campaigning on domestic violence, campaigning on HIV&AIDS, promoting self-esteem, giving their voice on causes ranging from the protection of whales and rainforests to human trafficking, and having Community Trade program. Providing a fair deal to suppliers in some of the poorest areas of the world is their commitment and this action is one of The Body Shop's strategic branding efforts.

Marketing Ethics and Body Shop International

Traditionally, marketing ethics research has focused on three theories - utilitarianism, deon-tology, and justice. Recently, however, the ability of these theories to provide the necessary guidance for marketers to address ethical issues has been questioned (Robin and Reidenbach, 1993). In particular, it has been noted that the advancement of marketing ethics theory is at a critical juncture, requiring two important developments. First, theorists need to expand and refine normative ethical theories to make the theoretical basis more appropriate for ethical reasoning in marketing contexts (Robin and Reidenbach, 1993). Second, theorists need to evaluate positive models of marketing ethics with respect to their philosophical implications for how marketers make ethical decisions (Laczniak, 1993). This paper addresses the second call in the marketing literature. We propose that marketing professionals consider the potential of another moral philosophy - virtue ethics - for analyzing the ethical implications of their own character along with their marketing ...