Accounting Ethics.

When examining the effect of open marketing on the profession of

accounting it is important to view it from three perspectives: the

client's, the profession's, and society's. Additionally, two key areas

that are affected by marketing must be addressed,

these are concerning competition, and ethical implications. Marketing in

public accounting is here to stay therefore making an argument against its

existence would be fruitless; however, in order to achieve maximum benefit

to the firm, the client, and s ociety more stringent guidelines must be

implemented at the firm level.

The first, and most obvious, of the effected areas is competition.

Within competition several points are discussed. First, the implications

advertising has on public accounting-- the model of perfect competition

versus the model of monopolistic compet ition. Secondly, the relationship

between firm size and advertising expenditures. Thirdly, the effect of

advertising on firm specialization, the implications of client turnover on

public accounting practice.

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Before making the comparison, a brief explanation why the two

models are chosen is in order. Monopolistic competition has been chosen

for the pre-advertising era because it most closely resembles the market

structure in an extreme sense. The elements o f monopolistic competition

are as follows: product differentiation, the presence of large numbers of

sellers, and nonprice competition. Although accounting services between

firms offer very little service differentiation, the absence of

advertising serve s as a replacement because clients are not necessarily

aware that other options are easily attainable. The post-advertising era

is explained through the model of perfect competition for which the

qualifications are as follows: very little or no service d ifferentiation,

many sellers, and price as the only means of distinguishing one firms

service from anothers.

In a perfectly competitive market the price of a particular

service is established solely by the interaction...