course material

1. MK7040 Marketing In The Digital Age And Corporate Social Responsibility
Answers:
Introduction
The following essay will contribute to my individual approach on presenting the report
based on the role Cambridge Analytics played in the latest American presidential election
and will also talk about the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. The essay will include
the thematic approach of self-realization and conclusion while conducting this research.
The essay will contribute my views on the topic and the outcomes I have learned while
doing this assignment. The essay will denote the future roles I have planned after realizing
the circumstances and the action plan that I have decided to follow for future growth and
responsibilities. The essay will preferably argue about the impact of technological factors
and unethical behaviour presented by social media platforms in the present American
election and will also brief my approach on the topic and outcomes and results I gained
from analyzing the topic. The essay will also include other frameworks that I have studied
and gained knowledge about throughout this assignment. The use of the unethical approach
in political marketing and its causes and benefits and how this results in harming the
privacy of an individual data. The essay will be discussed the difficulties and the analysis of
the report while doing this assignment and how this experience can help me in the future to
bring growth and efficiency in the performance of self-assessment. The essay will argue
about the various level of technological impact in political marketing and the consequences
of technology in different fields regarding corporate responsibility and ethical behaviours.
(Osiobor, 2022).
Discussion
Social media has played a prominent role in the communication of news and messages in
our society. People are using social media for approaching individuals through technology
media and also used by people to get in touch with each other digitally. Technology is very
much required for bringing efficiency in life while providing more information and
statistical data. These platforms have connected the whole world in one place where people
are sharing and receiving news from different parts of the world. I have learned that
technology has helped people in connecting and receiving information but misleading
technology can put a huge impact on people's lives. We always believe in the things we see

2. but don’t represent the consequences and never try to know the reason behind it. ( Mirjanic
and Cosabic, 2017). I have learned that political marketing is not only used in practice
where leaders present their views to people and representatives are chosen based on merit.
After researching I found out that technology is now been used as a weapon in diverting the
minds of the voters through spreading hate about opponents in communities finally leading
to misinformation. The same thing has happened when I was making the report of the data
breach cases of Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica. ( Ward, 2018). I have learned that
companies do say that maintaining the confidentiality of the users and data of the users will
be protected, and this trust of ethical behavior has put millions of people in danger.
Normally we are sharing our information on Facebook without thinking about the bigger
picture that can occur in our life. Talking about myself I always believed that my personal
information and data is maintained and safely handled in any social media portal because of
policies. But I have seen based on my interests I am receiving ads and suggestions and these
things are happening because of tracking of user experience and history which is enabling
brands in gathering data of the users. (Nelson and Simek, 2012). Well, this is legal but the
way Cambridge Analytica has performed is illegal. Cambridge Analytica has unethically
accessed the data of 87 million people to provide benefits to the political party. This
influencing strategy of providing fake and misleading news diverted many voters from
voting for their favourite person. I expected that this influencing strategy by adapting illegal
approaches and unethical behaviour will put a huge impact on society. (Berghel, 2018). I
learned from the research that after this scandal fake news circulation to diverse the
perception of the customers has become common in political field advertising. Ethical
behavior and the correct form of presenting news will help us make our society more
valuable in making decisions. I had experienced that users' fears are used by these
companies in the promotion of fake news. In my opinion, the true duty and core value of
every company are to provide true and actual data to the customers rather than using their
pain point for earning huge money from political parties, ( Hofacker, 2018). Cambridge
Analytica and Brexit have misguided the people by providing news that can be threatening
to the growth of the country. Instead, proper surveys and interviews should be conducted
by the companies for getting the true opinions of the people. Brand loyalty and reputation
are very much required by the company for customer retention. In my opinion, if any
unethical thing has happened by the company, then it should apologize to its customers and
should maintain the formality of providing valuable information to the customers. But
instead, both Cambridge Analytica and Brexit refused to present themselves in front of the
authorities and have also threatened the other firms in providing the news to the public.
(Busch and Matthes, 2016). I have learned data analytics is very much important today as
companies can gather information and can help the customers in meeting their
requirements but in this can misuse of technology lead to data breaches and personal pieces
of information being leaked in order to provide profitability to a right-wing political party.
Brand image and reputation are only used by these companies to gain profitability and not
help the voters to get the right information. My feelings suggest that never believe the news
until the credibility and sources of the news are verified as these companies use our
viewpoint to change the course of the election and spread panicking which results in the

3. loss of our own merits. ( Isaak and Hanna, 2018). I believe Cambridge Analytica and Brexit
should have used accurate data and information to the users ultimately helping them in
gaining brand loyalty and adequately promoting brand awareness. ( Cadwalladr and
Graham-Harrison, 2018).
While completing my assignment I realized that there is a deep agenda is revolving while
using this fake information and misleading users by providing wrong news. The political
parties are using big data analytics to capture user perception towards certain matters but
at the same time diversify the perception of the user for their benefit. I have learned about
human rights and corporate responsibilities by helping users to meet their requirements
and also at the same time providing ethical behavior of marketing. Cambridge Analytica not
only breached the human rights of confidentiality but also violated the data of millions of
users for political benefit. ( Richterich, 2018). I learned that in this digital era companies do
try to read users' minds and realize the requirements tries to implement the strategy of
products. While researching I realized that this method was used by the data company but
for unethical purposes. The company's main agenda was to help Trump win the elections by
misleading the perception of customers in order to capture votes. Cambridge Analytica
without informing the users steal their data for political benefit. ( Illing, 2018). The
company first violated the rule by accessing data of the users and using it in the marketing
campaign of Donald Trump. We as a user always have rights and freedom to choose our
leader but certain circumstances reveal when the losing party tries this unethical method to
change the course of the election by manipulating the thinking of the user. This
psychological analysis of users is then captured by the company to spread hate news and
wrong information leading to the loss of the favourite party that voters want to win. I
realized that this type of technique harm society also breaks the unity of a nation. The
corporate social responsibility of any firm is to provide accurate data to its users but
Cambridge Analytica has used this information for its profitability by earning revenues from
political parties. ( Laterza, 2018). while doing this research I expected to learn about why
the companies are trying to manipulate data and not considering user safety and rights of
information. From the research, I learned because of generating revenues constantly
through misinformation. These users' data are used by companies to spread hate by
maintaining the profit of the company getting from different sources. In order to create a
strong bond between voters and Donald Trump, the company has used this unethical means
of communication to create an environment favourable for the party to win the elections.
While globalization has led different companies to apply marketing strategies for market
penetration, I learned that companies are using data of clients to provide better customer
satisfaction. If any company meets the requirements of my need, I will automatically be
brand loyal to that company. Every customer wants to be satisfied and the better the
satisfaction rate of the company, the better will the goodwill of the organization. I
researched and found that word of mouth is the strong point of marketing. Due to social
media trends are being circulated very quickly all over the globe through social media
platforms. With the perfect approach, companies use this trend for generating revenues,
and sales of companies get double in a single day. ( Liu et al., 2018).

4. I have learned that though we are in a digital era where it is very important to learn various
technologies to be ahead of the race it is also important for us to be conscious about our
safety and personal information. Facebook is a popular site that provides free access to koi
millions of people on one platform so that users can express their views and expression to
others and can share their personal experiences. Almost in today's world, each and every
individual has a Facebook account and we are using this platform every day to
communicate to others risking our personal data to be leaked by the company to other big
companies. Suppose I want to buy something and I have searched about the item on
Facebook. The company has recorded my behavior and my purchasing pattern of mine and
will show ads based on my interest. This technique is used by various companies to attract
customers. Facebook claims that users' data safety is their primary concern and will be
handled with priority. But the company has failed in controlling the data breach as every
day millions of data leakage are caused and the fraudsters are using this data for
blackmailing users for their benefit. (McLaughlin and Vitak, 2012). Fake accounts have
major also been a major issue in circulating misinformation and fake news. I have learned
that though the company claim in controlling these activities in reality almost everyone is
getting affected by these accounts. ( Punj, 2017). Certain fake ads and companies also get
posted on Facebook which is beyond controllable for the company. These crimes are not
being posted and completely blacked out without a trace. (Chaudhry and Sharma, 2018).
I have decided to report about any news that will cause or is causing societal threats.
Without knowing about the reason and the fact we always tend to take steps that cause
harm to us eventually. I realized that certain apps require location and permission to share
your data and we always ignore those small things leading to bigger impacts and threats to
our safety. I always try to reject permissions when it is not required for my own safety.
Technological advancements have made our life easier but at the same time pose threats to
users' data. I have analyzed the report for getting more safer individually in the future and
considering every factor before making decisions. This assessment has helped me to gather
more information in the data information field and the way companies manipulate the data
of the users for their own benefit. Brexit has manipulated the data of the users to provide
fake news about Turkish immigrants in the European Union. This level of fake news results
in degrading the reputation of the company in front of the customers. In my opinion, this
strategic approach will not be effective for any company in surviving long-run. ( Davida,
2021). I think companies should try to approach customers in a formal and ethical way by
providing accurate information to the customers, conducting reviews and surveys to gather
the reality of requirements the customer has and providing efficiency in customer
satisfaction. The companies should try to increase brand loyalty by performing ethical ways
of using technology so that customers' safety information rights and confidentiality of users
don’t get breached causing stress and threats to the nation as well as to the society.
(Karimi, Stoev and Zander, 2017).
My action plan includes the strategic approach of being safe in the digital era where data

5. breach and personal data is being leaked by the companies for their benefit. The action plan
includes proper reporting of unethical practices if been observed by myself. If we want to
change the perception of society first, we need to change ourselves and apply every safe
method to ensure to are secure from these digital threats of data hampering.
Communication is the perfect method to aware individuals of the risk of losing data and
what are the steps that are required to eliminate these threats like fake news circulation
and misinformation provided to the users. I will try to be much more conscious while
handling my social media account and will report any cybercrime threats. I will try to aware
people of the consequences of data breaches and how any person can mark safe from being
the victim of data hampering. The misinformation and fake news not only disrupt society
but also pose a serious threat to the security of the nation. I will suggest everyone report
any news if the source of the news is not up to the mark and is published in an unethical
way or from an unknown identity. Million of fake news and misinformation is being posted
on social media sites and we as users just ignore the threat and never report it leads to
generating more revenues for these companies. Well, organizations are trying hard to put
strict regulations in controlling these unethical acts happening in the social media platforms
like Facebook but as a vast number of users is using the portal posing difficulties in tracking
the actual source of the news. ( Steel and Fowler, 2010). We need to communicate and join
hands together to control this data breach. I will personally communicate with all my
contacts to stop following news and information which is a threat to society and will cause
social instability. Companies like Cambridge Analytica and the Brexit case have provided
information to us on how technology can cause disruption in society and change the
perception of the users. (Tetlow and Stojanovic, 2018). The companies asking for user
permission to use user data should be thoroughly considered by everyone what is the true
nature of the permission and the reason as well as the consequences. ( Shipman and
Marshall, 2020). These factors will ensure users are safe and secure from user data violation
and will help maintain the security of the whole nation. In my opinion, I will try to gather
more information and will analyse the strategies of companies in digital marketing to get
more ideas on how companies are using technology and what are the changes in techniques
applied by the companies to get user data. I am requesting everyone not to believe in the
news which has no credibility and should not change the viewpoint after listing to the news.
Modern technology is posing threat to our society but is unable to regulate the unethical
activities happening on social media platforms. I have considered using social media
platforms by enabling every privacy that is required to eliminate threats and provide a
more secure and safe environment. Most importantly I have decided to help every
individual who got victimized due to social media fraud and data breach and violation and
will try to gain knowledge about ethical rights practically in order to implement these
methods to secure myself and the society. This research has helped me to be stricter and
more professional towards handling social media accounts and has also provided
information on different data violation techniques used by companies and strategies to
eliminate these unethical ways of marketing as much as possible. ( Baeth and Aktas, 2018).
Conclusion

6. The above essay has provided the self-reflection on views and ideas of Cambridge Analytica
and Brexit's unethical practices to gain political benefit by violating user data. The essay has
provided information on social media marketing and the consequences of misusing
technology by companies to pose a serious threat to society. The essay has discussed what I
have learned from this assessment and the experience and knowledge I have gained while
conducting the research. The social media platforms like Facebook have posed a great
threat to individual data by providing information about the users to big companies. This is
breaching user safety protocols and is also causing the circulation of fake news and
misinformation leading causing instability in the minds of the customers. The essay has
elaborated on the theoretical self-approach of learning gained while making this assessment
and has also elaborated on my opinions on this topic. Technology is changing making our
life easier and we are dependent and addicted to this new digital world without knowing
the consequences which are happening and we are not serious about the threats. This
unethical practice of providing wrong information is not only changing our minds but also
controlling us in making wrong decisions. The essay has argued about the cases that
happened using technology by companies without informing the users in order to provide
political benefit. We are smart enough to make decisions but sometimes brainwashing by
big companies through technology poses a great threat to our security and personal life. We
need to be serious and conscious about our methods of handling our social media platforms
in order to make our accounts more secure. The essay has also discussed my action plan on
this topic and the ways I am going to implement it to regulate my account in order to be safe
from data violation in the future as much as possible.
References
Baeth, M.J. and Aktas, M.S., 2018. An approach to custom privacy policy violation detection
problems using big social provenance data. Concurrency and Computation: Practice and
Experience, 30(21), p.e4690.
Berghel, H., 2018. Malice domestic: The Cambridge Analytica dystopia. Computer, 51(5),
pp.84-89.
Bloom, N., Bunn, P., Chen, S., Mizen, P., Smietanka, P. and Thwaites, G., 2019. The impact of
Brexit on UK firms (No. w26218). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Busch, B. and Matthes, J., 2016. Brexit-the economic impact: A meta-analysis (No. 10/2016).
IW-Report.
Cadwalladr, C. and Graham-Harrison, E., 2018. Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles
harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach. The guardian, 17, p.22.
Chaudhry, R.S. and Sharma, A., 2018. Ethical issues in digital marketing-A review. ITIHAS

7. The Journal of Indian Management, 8(1), pp.10-18.
Davida, Z., 2021. CONSUMER PERSONAL DATA DRIVEN DIGITAL MARKETING. New
Challenges in Economic and Business Development–2021: Post-Crisis Economy, p.150.
Hofacker, C.F., 2018. Digital marketing: Communicating, selling and connecting. Edward
Elgar Publishing.
Illing, S., 2018. Cambridge Analytica, the shady data firm that might be a key Trump-Russia
link, explained. Vox. https://www. vox. com/policy-and-
politics/2017/10/16/15657512/mueller-fbi-cambridgeanalytica-trump-russia. Accessed,
13.
Isaak, J. and Hanna, M.J., 2018. User data privacy: Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and
privacy protection. Computer, 51(8), pp.56-59.
Karimi, S., Stoev, Y. and Zander, O., 2017. Ethical Issues in E-Permission Marketing: A study
of how consumer behaviour is affected by unethical practices involving E-Permission
Marketing.
Laterza, V., 2018. Cambridge Analytica, independent research and the national interest.
Anthropology Today, 34(3), pp.1-2.
Liu, L., Han, M., Wang, Y. and Zhou, Y., 2018, June. Understanding data breach: A
visualization aspect. In International Conference on Wireless Algorithms, Systems, and
Applications (pp. 883-892). Springer, Cham.
McLaughlin, C. and Vitak, J., 2012. Norm evolution and violation on Facebook. New media &
society, 14(2), pp.299-315.
Mirjanic, Z. and Cosabic, J., 2017. Advantages and disadvantages of the information
technology use in the whistleblowing process. Economic and Social Development: Book of
Proceedings, pp.130-138.
Nelson, S.D. and Simek, J.W., 2012. Common Ethical Pitfalls of Digital Marketing. Fam.
Advoc., 35, p.24.
Osiobor, 2022. The Role Cambridge Analytica played in the latest American presidential
election and the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. 1st ed. UNICAF.
Punj, G., 2017. Consumer intentions to falsify personal information online: unethical or
justifiable?. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(15-16), pp.1402-1412.

8. Richterich, A., 2018. How data-driven research fuelled the Cambridge Analytica
controversy. Partecipazione e conflitto, 11(2), pp.528-543.
Shipman, F.M. and Marshall, C.C., 2020, April. Ownership, privacy, and control in the Wake
of Cambridge Analytica: The relationship between attitudes and awareness. In Proceedings
of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-12).
Steel, E. and Fowler, G., 2010. Facebook in privacy breach. The Wall Street Journal, 18(1).
Tetlow, G. and Stojanovic, A., 2018. Understanding the economic impact of Brexit. Institute
for government, pp.2-76.
Ward, K., 2018. Social networks, the 2016 US presidential election, and Kantian ethics:
applying the categorical imperative to Cambridge Analytica’s behavioral microtargeting.
Journal of media ethics, 33(3), pp.133-148.