Answer

Evaluation of Ethical Issues in Product Development

A product is always the first element in consideration when undertaking the marketing mix research. Different variables come into play in regards to product element. These variables include safety of the product, sustainability design, product warranties, product safety, and branding and packaging issues (Hornick, 2017). These variables have vital ethical obligations attributed to them. Besides, the variables also play critical roles in ensuring a product’s ethical standards (Stahl, 2018). The purpose of this paper is to cover ethical issues attributed to my childhood Doom shooters video game. The paper will achieve its objective by evaluating the external environment associated with the Doom video game at its purchase time. Besides, the paper will also engage in the video game’s ethical considerations based on today’s perspectives.

External Environment Related to the Video Game at the of Its Purchase

The gaming industry, for a long time, has been targeting the youths. However, the modern gaming industry widens its market scope by targeting both the young and the adults. Consequently, gaming has become an integral component of our existence regardless of age and gender. At the time of my Doom shooters video game, the developers were targeting children of ages between 10 and 15 years. Besides, young boys majorly played Doom shooters video games. It is because shooter video games had a close relationship with masculinity, and it was quite difficult to find girls playing it (Khan et al., 2019). Therefore, the shooter video game targeted young boys of ages between 10 years and 15 years.

Based on the gaming industry’s market conditions and regulatory requirements at the time of purchase of the shooters’ video games, the developers considered the following ethical considerations: The first ethical consideration that the developers of the shooters’ video game kept in mind is product safety (Stahl, 2018). At that time, Doom shooters video game was one of the few video games that provided safety evaluation of their products. Other video games did not offer any form of safety precautionary measures of the game’s impact on children (Khan et al., 2019). The second ethical consideration that the shooters video game fulfilled during that time was product quality (Stahl, 2018). At the time of its purchase, Doom video game was among the few top-quality video games in the market.

The aforementioned ethical considerations of the Doom shooters video might have influenced the development of the product during that time. Product safety has been an ethical requirement for product development and marketing strategies (Khan et al., 2019). At the time of its development, most video game developers were not keen on providing safe use of their products. Therefore, the Doom shooters video games developers imposed a parental guidance platform on the use of their product to fulfill the ethical requirements and marketing tool. Additionally, the Doom shooter video game developers purposefully produced top-quality products to overcome the competition in the market. At the time of its development, Doom Shooters video game was among the few existing First Person Shooter (FPS) shooters games (Khan et al., 2019).  First Person Shooter games were very quality video games at that time.

Ethical Considerations of Doom Shooters Video Game from Today’s Perspective

            Conventionally, Doom shooters video games targeted teenage boys of the ages between 10 years and 15 years. However, today, the developers have adjusted their product to attract wider market scope. From the time of purchase, the developers have come up with Third Person Shooter (TPS). TPS contains additional features that are appealing to both girls as well as adults. Therefore, the product is currently targeting young and adults’ individuals of different ages. Today, gaming is a vital aspect of human life beyond age and gender (Khan et al., 2019). Therefore, the Dooms shooters’ current market is important because they form the gaming industry market’s backbone.

Today’s development of the Doom Shooters video game would have required diverse ethical considerations. One such ethical consideration is ethical design. Under ethical design, Doom shooters video games could have been designed in a manner that conforms to the social, economic, and environmental needs of the target market (Stahl, 2018). Therefore, the Doom shooter video game should have been developed and sold cheaply and the content censored to have little negative influence on the users’ safety and well-being.  Moreover, the Doom shooter video game should have been developed currently to minimize the negative impact of the environment, such as the users’ noise and psychology.

From the time of purchase of the Doom shooters video game, changes have taken place as far as ethical considerations are concerned. Unlike in the past, the current ethical consideration put a lot of emphasis on sustainable design. The product must address three fundamental factors including social, economic, and environmental factors through sustainable design. Therefore, the product could not have been marketable today had it been developed the same way (Stahl, 2018). For the Doom shooter video game to be marketable in the current market; they should advance from First Person Shooter to Third Person Shooter platform. The game should also advance to three dimensions. The developers should also consider the full implementation of sustainable design in gaming development (Stahl, 2018). Therefore, sustainable design of product development promotes ethical values and the marketability of the product.

Conclusion

Ethical considerations are important while developing a product. It assists in promoting the usefulness, effectiveness, and marketability of the product. Besides, ethical considerations keep evolving based on the prevailing circumstances of the use and the product type. Moreover, sustainable design is one of the most effective ethical considerations that emphasize the societal, economic, and environmental impacts of the product. Ethical considerations also enhance the market value of the product.

REFERENCES

• Hornick, L. A. (2017). The evolution of product placement: Consumer awareness and ethical considerations. Ethical Business Journal.

  Khan, A., Jiang, F., Liu, S., & Omara, I. (2019). Playing a FPS Doom Video Game with Deep Visual Reinforcement Learning. Automatic Control and Computer Sciences, 53(3), 214-222.

  Stahl, B. C. (2018). Ethical Issues of Product Development. Ethical Governance of Emerging Product Development, 39-50.