Went in for Botox and left with a rhinoplasty: The ethics of customer relationship marketing practices for non-surgical cosmetic procedures

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate how customer relationship marketing (CRM) activities are utilized by plastic surgery providers to encourage the sale of non-surgical cosmetic procedures (such as Botox). These procedures are considered to be an important gateway for future, more invasive (and profitable) services. As a result, the techniques used to build relationships with clients may be unethical, as they prioritize increased financial performance and profitability over customer well-being. Design/methodology/approach - Conceptual models are presented that compare and contrast the CRM activities, mediators and expected outcomes for plastic surgery providers, motivated primarily by profit, with those primarily motivated by mutual betterment. Findings - It is suggested that when accompanied by sales promotions, problem augmentation - an approach used by plastic surgeons to broaden the scope of a patient's aesthetic problem to other areas of concern - may generate increased sales in the short term, but reduce the opportunity of positive word-of-mouth to recruit new clients. Originality/value - This paper applies relationship marketing to a novel context to demonstrate how practices to retain and improve clients may harm their well-being and commoditize the service, unless mutual betterment is a key objective.