I'm sure most of you have heard something about the molestation incident involving Josh Duggar and his younger sisters. It is the topic of many news broadcasts and the center of multiple magazine covers. However, there was one magazine that received the most media attention from this issue and that magazine is InTouch. InTouch is the magazine that illegally leaked the police reports from years ago when Josh Duggar was 14 years old. Looking at this issue in more detail made me think about the choice that InTouch made by leaking those reports from a marketing standpoint.
Any choice that is made in marketing has ethical problems or decisions attached to it. In my marketing class, ethics has been the topic of many discussion boards. Before InTouch leaked these police reports they had to decide whether it would help them or hurt them. Personally, I think it could be helping them sell magazines while the issue is still being discussed, but once that subsides it could ruin their credibility. This relates to brand association in marketing terms. A brand association is the link a consumer makes between a brand and its key attributes. Plus, this could effect InTouch's brand loyalty. Brand loyalty occurs when a consumer buys the same brand's items repeatedly over time.
When InTouch released this story illegally, it made me think of InTouch as a product. In fact, a consumer product that is for personal use. As a product, InTouch also has packaging. The packaging for InTouch is the most important part because it draws the consumer in. If the consumer isn't interested in what the cover says the issue has to offer, she won't buy it. This could be the main reason InTouch chose to act illegally to draw in readers.
On a personal note, InTouch clearly wasn't thinking about the effect his would have on the victims in this situation. At the time of the incident, they disclosed completely personal information, feeling that it would be kept confidential forever. The original wrongdoing was when the police department provided InTouch with the reports, but InTouch made the decision to out the Duggars. I watched The Kelly File on Fox News last Friday and it was heart-wrenching to listen to two of the victims talk about the incident, their revictimization, and the emotional trauma they have been forced to deal with for a second time.
The Duggars' show, 19 Kids and Counting on TLC, has been temporarily pulled. However, the permanent fate of the show has not been determined. We will have to wait and see what happens.
When InTouch released this story illegally, it made me think of InTouch as a product. In fact, a consumer product that is for personal use. As a product, InTouch also has packaging. The packaging for InTouch is the most important part because it draws the consumer in. If the consumer isn't interested in what the cover says the issue has to offer, she won't buy it. This could be the main reason InTouch chose to act illegally to draw in readers.
On a personal note, InTouch clearly wasn't thinking about the effect his would have on the victims in this situation. At the time of the incident, they disclosed completely personal information, feeling that it would be kept confidential forever. The original wrongdoing was when the police department provided InTouch with the reports, but InTouch made the decision to out the Duggars. I watched The Kelly File on Fox News last Friday and it was heart-wrenching to listen to two of the victims talk about the incident, their revictimization, and the emotional trauma they have been forced to deal with for a second time.
The Duggars' show, 19 Kids and Counting on TLC, has been temporarily pulled. However, the permanent fate of the show has not been determined. We will have to wait and see what happens.
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