Ethics in Aesthetics: The Ethical Principles of the Beauty Clinic Business

Abstract

Aesthetics or the appreciation of beauty undeniably secured its place in the society. It influenced the people regardless the class, age and even gender. People seek and venture all means to transform their flaws to perfection. Ethics, in nature, is very contentious and delicate, it has no specific rules and regulations, only guidelines. It is the law that aids to keep the society in order. It is the principle a person possesses that characterizes his decisions, actions and general outlook in life. The beauty clinic business is primarily composed of three stakeholders: the beauty experts, marketers and patients. These stakeholders have different roles in the aesthetic setting, thus their ethical principle may vary from one another. The primary objective of the study is to know the ethical principles observed in the beauty clinic business, from the tripartite perspectives of the expert, marketer, and client. It also aims to determine the level of ethical principles the beauty experts apply in their profession. Plus, it aspires to ascertain the ethical principles of the marketers of the aesthetic industry regarding their marketing strategies. Lastly, it intends to identify the ethical principles the beauty clinic's patients practice. For this study, the descriptive design was the most appropriate. The nature of this study was best complemented with qualitative procedures specifically, interview schedules. This process extracted meanings, techniques, processes with depth and clear grasp of the topic. Purposive sampling was the most effective way to particularize comprehensively the population. The nature of this study needed a sampling technique that will specify only the concerned individuals. The purposive sampling was the only option to gather the data. Three sets of guide questions were formulated, and were asked to the respondents. There were uniform questions for the three parties that identified their basic outlook of beauty and personal philosophies in life. This enabled the study to capture their individual traits. Moreover, it also verified the relationship of their answers with their current profession and status in life. The study used the Potter Box model. It is structured with four boxes that are interconnected. All boxes display a tripartite point of view that gives each stakeholder their respective perception about the particular element of the box. The first box clearly illustrates the situation of the beauty clinic business. This is the point where lying down of the cards of whatever circumstance occurs. The sizing up and the definition of the condition are stated in this portion, it introduces the scenario and builds the atmosphere of the event. Next in line are the values that motivate the decision. These values reflect the presuppositions about social life and human nature. They are encompassing, in a sense that they are categorized according to a person’s way of thinking and grasping the situations such as aesthetic values, professional values, logical values, socio-cultural values and moral values. In the third quadrant, principles, ethical considerations arise. This is where the values are put into application. The execution of the actual decision based on personal understanding and scrutiny. The principles are the path taken to take a stand. Moreover, these are according to the criteria for ethical considerations. Lastly, the loyalties are the indications of the effects it obtained. This is to be measured based on the pointed out details of the previous quadrants. Loyalties are the assessment of allegiance of the stakeholders with whom. The beauty experts strictly adhere to the code of ethics set by their superiors to be able to guarantee the quality of service to be rendered to its patients. Moreover, their ethical principles transcend to the correctness and truthfulness of information and data they present to their marketers who handle their promotional strategies. The marketers highly respect the insights given to them by their clients (beauty experts). They give importance to the partnership they have with their clients as part of their professionalism trait. Regarding their promotional tactics, they subject themselves to thorough research and analysis on how to accurately convey the message to the market (patients). The patients build trust between the beauty experts. They are confident that every procedure to be conducted will be result outstandingly. They develop the good relationship they have with the experts. This is the reason why they are loyal to the experts. They trust the clinic to the point that they undertake their beauty procedures only to that particular clinic. They have the tendency though to disobey the experts sometimes out of carelessness. Therefore, the experts and marketers have professional ethical principles that bind their duties and responsibilities. They firmly abide with the guidelines set because it of the development of their careers in their respective fields and personal growth. The patients are not restricted with such rules and regulations because they are the receivers of the service.