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An Empirical Examination of Marketing Professionals Ethical Behavior in Differing Situations

Daulatram B. Lund

ABSTRACT. The ethical behavior of a national sample of marketing professionals was examined by analyzing their responses to four different types of ethical dilemmas presented in vignette form. The ethical situations operationalize the concepts of coercion and control, deceit and falsehood, conflict of interest, and self integrity, within the context of the marketing mix elements place, promotion, price, and product. Responses were examined to determine whether behavior varied by type of ethical situation, and whether demographic factors affected their responses. The results indicate that marketing professionals vary their ethical decisions depending on which marketing mix decision they face. Among demographic variables, age, gender, and education level had significant but mixed influence on respondents ethical decisions across the different situations.

Ethics has been defined as . . . inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality where the term morality is taken to mean judgements, standards, and rules of conduct (Taylor, 1975, p. 1). It involves fundamental human relationships and the conflicts in duties and responsibilities deriving therefrom. Of the functional areas of business, marketing has been identified as the one most charged with unethical practices (Baumhart, 1961; Brenner and Molander, 1977; Murphy and Laczniak, 1981). In marketing, the issue of ethics

Daulatram B. Lund is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Nevada, Reno. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Retailing, Transportation Research, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Proceedings of the American Marketing Association, Academy of Marketing Science, and elsewhere.

derives from marketing professionals relationship with the parties in the exchange process, including organizational members, customers, competitors, and the general public. Each of the parties is owed duties and responsibilities. To the extent that the fulfillment of these duties and responsibilities conflicts, this creates an ethics problem. For example, sales representatives have a responsibility to treat all their customers fairly by providing them with accurate information concerning, for instance, competition pricing. At the same time, they have a responsibility to meet the profit goals of their organizations. However, if in their effort to meet their organizations profit goals they quote less competitive prices to buyers who use their firm as a sole source of supply than for buyers who have multiple supply sources, this creates an ethics problem. Thus, ethical problems in marketing revolve around marketing professionals balancing their duties and responsibilities toward the parties in the exchange process (Bartels, 1967; Chonko and Hunt, 1985; Hunt, Chonko, and Wilcox, 1984). In recent years the thrust of marketing ethics studies has shifted from identifying practices that pose ethical problems towards examining factors that underlie ethical/unethical behavior. In this regard, researchers have investigated the influence of organizational factors as ethics correlates, including code of ethics (Chonko and Hunt, 1985), corporate ethical values (Hunt, Wood and Chonko, 1989), organizational climate (Akaah, 1993), peer group influence (Izraeli, 1988), and influence of organizational rank and role (Akaah and Riordan, 1989; Akaah, 1996). In addition, a number of studies have also focused on individual decision makers demographics characteristics as potential ethics correlates. However,

Journal of Business Ethics 24: 331342, 2000. 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Daulatram B. Lund experimental setting. Jones and Gautschi (1988) preferred open-ended questions to examine respondents business ethics. In addition to the questionnaire format, presenting participants with situations or scenarios depicting potentially unethical business practices appears to have been favored by many researchers (Crawford, 1970; Dornoff and Tankersley, 1976; Goodman and Crawford, 1974; Hawkins and Cocanougher, 1972; McNichols and Zimmerer, 1985; White and Rhodeback, 1992). Yet others have utilized the vignette approach to pose conditions of fraud, coercion, conflict of interest, personal integrity, influence dealing, deceit and other unethical constructs (Fritzsche, 1988; Fritzsche and Becker, 1983; Harris, 1990). Alexander and Becker (1978) articulate that the vignettes provide (1) the detail lacking in simple questions, (2) help to standardize the stimuli across respondents, and (3) results in improvement in the quality of data collected. Demographic factors which are uniquely associated with the individual decision maker, have received considerable research attention in empirical literature on ethics (Ford and Richardson, 1994). Drawing from Kohlbergs (1969) cognitive developmental theory of moralization, Braverman et al. (1972) and Freeman and Giefink (1979) have suggested that gender, age, and education affect the level of outlook of individuals moral development. However, empirical investigations examining demographic factors and ethical/unethical behavior have provided mixed results. Gender of the decision maker appears to have been examined in more empirical studies than any other demographic variable. Studies by Chonko and Hunt (1985), Ferrell and Skinner (1988), Whipple and Swords (1992), among others, reported that females tend to act more ethical than men in certain situations. However, studies by Browning and Zabriskie (1983), Callan (1992), Hegarty and Sims (1979), McNichols and Zimmerer (1985), among others, found no significant sex bias in ethical beliefs. Literature on the effect of age on individuals ethical behavior follows a pattern similar to that of gender. Callan (1992), Izraeli (1988), Stevens (1984), among others, found that the influence

ethical literature reveals a paucity of studies that examine marketing professionals ethical behavior across different types of ethical problems that they are likely to encounter. In a preliminary study, Fritzsche and Becker (1983) examined five different categories of ethical dilemmas and concluded that the behavior of managers was not invariant across different types of ethical problems. Given the potential implication for generalization and ethical theory development, the authors suggested further research. Therefore, to fill this void in the published literature, the present investigation was undertaken. More specifically, the study focuses on two questions. 1. Does ethical behavior of marketing professionals vary across different types of ethical problems? 2. To what extent demographic factors affect marketing professionals ethical behavior across different types of ethical problems? Literature overview Much of ethics research in business has focused on the ethical behavior of marketing professionals, including that of marketing researchers (Akaah and Riordan, 1989; Crawford, 1970; Hunt, Chonko, and Wilcox, 1984; Tybout and Zaltman, 1974), marketing executives (Chonko add Hunt, 1985; Ferrell and Weaver, 1978; Trawick and Darden, 1981), advertisers (Krugman and Ferrell, 1981; Hunt and Chonko, 1987), purchasers (Browning and Zabriskie, 1983; Rudelius and Bucholz, 1979), salespersons (Chonko and Burnett, 1983; Dubinsky, Berkowitz, and Rudelius, 1980), and retailers (Dornoff and Tankersley, 197576). While ethics literature is extensive, the review that follows is limited to areas pertaining to the specific objectives of this study. Past studies suggest researchers have utilized different research instruments to examine marketing professionals responses to the many ethical dilemmas they encounter. Hegarty and Sims (1979) examined influence of informal corporate policy on participants unethical behavior through a decision-making game in a laboratory

Empirical Examination of Marketing Professionals Ethical Behaviour of age as not significant, while Browning and Zabriskie (1983), Ruegger and King (1992) and Serwinek (1992) reported a significant relationship between age and ethicality. Interestingly, while Browning and Zabriskie (1983) found younger managers to subscribe to a more ethical viewpoint than older managers, Serwinek (1992) on the contrary, reported that older insurance employees adhered to stricter interpretations of ethical standards. Studies examining the influence of type of education and years of education have also reported mixed results. McNichols and Zimmerer (1985) found no significant differences in type of education and ethical responses. However, among studies reporting significant differences in ethical behavior due to type of education, the results tend to be contradictory. For instance, Hawkins and Cocanougher (1972) found business students to be more tolerant of unethical behavior than non-business majors, while Beltramini, Peterson, and Kozmetsky (1984) reported that business majors were more concerned about ethical issues than others. Literature on the effect of number of years of formal education on respondents ethical behavior has also documented mixed results. Browning and Zabriskie (1983) and Jones and Gautschi (1988) reported that more educated individuals held higher ethical standards than less educated individuals, while Dubinsky and Ingram (1984), Harris (1990), and Serwinek (1992), found no significant relationship between ethical behavior and years of formal education. Individuals organizational rank has also been investigated as a correlate of ethical behavior. While Ferrell and Gresham (1985) contend that by virtue of their rank, upper organizational members command esteem and authority which translates into the ability to influence subordinates behavior, Trevino (1986) suggests that upper organizational members wield influence through the ability to punish or reward. Yet others (e.g., Jackson and Cashon, 1993) have postulated the organizational socialization process. As part of the organizational socialization process, members learn to adopt the mindset of the organization by internalizing its values, norms, and standards. Hence, upper organiza-

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tional members might be expected to reflect higher ethical judgements than their lower rank counterparts provided the organization espouses high ethical standards.

Study design Ethical situation vignettes To examine marketing professionals responses to a series of ethically challenged business situations, the vignette approach was utilized to pose different types of ethical dilemmas. The study research instrument included four ethical situation vignettes which operationalized the constructs of (1) coercion and control, (2) deceit and falsehood, (3) conflict of interest, and (4) personal integrity. The vignettes correspond to the marketing mix elements, namely, place, promotion, price, and product. These vignettes were developed, pretested, and reported by Fritzsche (1988). In the original vignettes, Fritzsche (1988) tested the severity of the consequences of marketing professionals engaging in the questionable behavior over three level, low, medium, and high. In the present study, only the medium level of the severity of the consequences was presented in each vignette. The four vignettes and response scale utilized are presented in Figure 1. Briefly, a coercion and control problem arises when some external force attempts to compel an individual to respond to threats, extortion, or other sources of power. In vignette 1, an attempt at extortion of a bribe for market entry or distribution channels is examined. The ethical dilemma arising from a case of false advertising aimed at deception and falsehood is presented in vignette 2. A conflict of interest situation, as described by Beauchamp and Bowie (1979), is one where an individual has more than one interest, which if mutually pursued may result in personal gain at the expense of other individuals or the firm. Thus, vignette 3 poses a pricing problem in which a marketing executive is involved in a personal business venture which conflicts with his company responsibilities. Finally, a problem involving personal integrity is presented in vignette 4. This vignette deals with

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Daulatram B. Lund
Vignette 1 [Place]: Coercion and control

Company X has been barred from entering the market in a large Asian country by collusive efforts of the local bicycle manufacturers. The company could expect to net $5 million dollars per year from sales if it could penetrate the market. Last week a businessman from the country contacted the management of Company X and stated that he could smooth the way for the company to sell in his country for a price of $500,000. If you were responsible, what are the chances that you would pay the price? Definitely would Probably would Neither would nor would not Probably would not Definitely would not ( ( ( ( ( ) ) ) ) )

Vignette 2 [Promotion]: Deceit and falsehood Dave Smith is developing an advertisement for a new housing development his firm is about to start. The development is located in a low area which has flooded in the past. The company has recently done some work to reduce the danger of flooding in the future. In the preliminary advertisement, Smith has included a statement indicating that the firm has solved the flooding problem. The fact is that if a flood occurs, the homes are still likely to be flooded with up to five feet of water. If you were Smith, what are the chances that you would include the statement in the advertisement? Definitely would Probably would Neither would nor would not Probably would not Definitely would not ( ( ( ( ( ) ) ) ) )

Vignette 3 [Price]: Conflict of interest Jack Brown is vice president of marketing for Tangy Spices, a large spice manufacturer. Brown recently joined in a private business venture with Tangys director of purchasing to import black pepper from India. Browns private venture is about to sign a five-year contract with Tangy to supply its black pepper needs, but the contract is set at a price 3 cents per pound above contracts available from other spice importers that provide comparable service and quality. If you were Brown, what are the chances that you would sign the contract? Definitely would Probably would Neither would nor would not Probably would not Definitely would not ( ( ( ( ( ) ) ) ) )

Figure 1. Vignettes of present study.

Empirical Examination of Marketing Professionals Ethical Behaviour


Vignette 4 [Product]: Personal integrity

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John Ward is working in product development for an auto parts contractor. Wards firm received a large contract last summer to manufacture transaxles for use in a new line of front wheel drive cars. The contract is very important to Wards firm because prior to obtaining it, half of the firms employees, including Ward, had been scheduled for an indefinite layoff. Final testing of the assemblies ended last Friday, and the first shipments are scheduled for three weeks from today. As Ward was examining the test reports, he discovered that the transaxle tended to fail when loaded at more than 120% of rated capacity and subjected to strong torsion forces. Such a condition could occur with a heavily loaded car braking hard for a curve down a mountain road. While the driver would not lose control of the car, the resulting damage to the car would cost several thousand dollars to repair. The manufacturers specifications call for the transaxle to carry 130% of its rated capacity without failing. Ward showed the results to his supervisor and the company president both of whom indicated that they were aware of the report. If they did not deliver the assemblies on time, they would lose the contract. If you were Ward, what are the chances that you would notify the auto manufacturer of the defect? Definitely would Probably would Neither would nor would not Probably would not Definitely would not ( ( ( ( ( ) ) ) ) )

Figure 1. (Continued).

a product defect which if not reported could potentially result in the death of innocent people. For each ethical dilemma presented in the vignette, marketing professionals expressed the action they would take on a five-point balanced response scale ranging from 1 (definitely would) to 5 (definitely would not).

Sample and data collection As part of a larger study, the data were obtained by self-administered questionnaire mailed to a systematic random sample of 1500 marketing professionals. The 1989 American Marketing Association directory comprised the sampling frame. Prior to compiling the study sample, marketing professional with foreign addresses, educators, and students, were excluded from the sampling frame. The pretested questionnaire, along with a cover letter, and a stamped pre-addressed return envelope, was mailed in the summer of 1990. A copy of the summary of results was offered as response inducement. Three weeks after the

initial mailing a reminder letter was mailed. A total of 413 usable questionnaires were received from respondents, and 56 questionnaires were returned by the post office, for a response rate of 28.6 percent. This response rate compares favorably with past studies (Akaah and Riordan, 1989; Hunt, Chonko and Wilcox 1984) using AMA directory as the sampling frame. Table I presents a profile of the study sample. As the table indicates, the sample comprised of individuals of varied demographic and organizational backgrounds. Regarding organizational characteristics, the respondents spanned a wide range of industries, with a majority belonging to service industries, and represented organizations employing 250 or more employees. Regarding the demographic profile of respondents, the majority were males, married, in the 3039 years age group, with graduate education, majoring in business disciplines, held middle management ranks, and had an annual household income exceeding $60 000.

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Daulatram B. Lund
TABLE I Profile of study sample

Characteristic Organizational charactertistics Industry category Manufacturing For-profit services Research agency Health care Telecommunication Advertising agency Not-for-profit services Distributive trade Marketing consulting Size (number of employees) Less than 10 10 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 249 250 to 499 500 to 999 1000 to 4999 5000 or more Demographic characteristics Gender Male Female Marital status Single Married Divorced/separated Age 2029 3039 4049 5059 60 or more
a

Percenta

Characteristic Education High school graduate Some college Bachelors degree Some post bachelors Masters degree Some post masters work Doctorate degree Organizational rank Top management Middle management Lower management Major General business Business-marketing Business-accounting Business-management Business-statistics Business-finance Engineering Other technical Humanities Other-liberal arts Income (before taxes) Less than $20 000 $20 000$29 999 $30 000$39 999 $40 000$49 999 $50 000$59 999 $60 000$69 999 $70 000$79 999 $80 000$89 999 $90 000$99 999 $100 000 and over

Percenta

25.9 22.5 21.5 09.9 08.9 03.7 03.7 02.8 02.5 03.5 14.5 08.6 12.7 11.6 07.4 24.3 17.2

01.0 04.6 19.9 20.6 41.9 08.0 04.1 36.6 45.8 17.6 06.4 45.8 01.2 08.7 00.7 01.7 02.7 02.7 10.6 19.3 01.0 04.0 09.0 10.8 13.5 10.3 12.5 08.5 06.8 23.3

53.3 46.7 22.3 69.2 08.5 16.3 42.5 29.9 08.9 02.7

n = 413.

Results Ethical situation vignettes Table II presents the results of analyses related to the first research question. Descriptive statis-

tics indicate that the ethical behavior of marketing professionals varied by the type of ethical problem presented in the vignettes. Although a majority of marketing professionals exhibited ethical behavior across all four ethical dilemmas, 87.1 percent of respondents chose ethical

Empirical Examination of Marketing Professionals Ethical Behaviour


TABLE II Summary of results: Marketing professionals ethical behavior across study vignettes Action ( Judgement) Place: Vignette 1 (Coercion and control) % 2.0 0 18.6 14.8 33.9 30.7 20.6 14.8 64.6 Promotion: Vignette 2 (Deceit and falsehood) % 3.5 0 4.1 0 05.3 17.7 69.4 07.6 05.3 87.1 Price: Vignette 3 (Conflict of interest) % 2.1 0 9.2 0 09.0 30.0 49.7 11.3 09.0 79.7

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Product: Vignette 4* (Personal integrity) % 4.4 0 22.2 14.5 27.9 31.0 26.6 14.5 58.9

Definitely would (very unethical) Definitely would not (unethical) Neither would nor would not (neither unethical/ethical) Probably would not (ethical) Definitely would not (very ethical) n Mean (SD)

398 3.73 (1.14)

395 4.59 (1.12)

395 4.16 (1.06)

387 3.56 (1.23)

* Scale reversed to be consistent with vignettes 1, 2, and 3. Paired t-test Pairs Vignette Vignette Vignette Vignette Vignette Vignette 1 1 1 2 2 3 [Place] Vignette 2 [Promo] [Place] Vignette 3 [Price] [Place] Vignette 4 [Prod] [Promo] Vignette 3 [Price] [Promo] Vignette 4 [Prod] [Price] Vignette 4 [Prod] Mean Diff 0.68 0.43 0.18 0 0.30 0 0.89 0 0.61 0 SD 1.51 1.52 1.65 1.37 1.62 1.63 SE 0.076 0.078 0.085 0.071 0.084 0.085 t 8.87 5.46 2.06 0 4.17 0 10.58 7.17 0 df 390 377 376 375 373 369 p 0.0001 0.0001 0.0400 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001

MANOVA (Repeated measures) Dependent variables Vignette 1 [Place], Vignette 2 [Promo], Vignette 3 [Price], and Vignette 4 [Prod] Vignette 1 [Place] Vignette 2 [Promo] Vignette 3 [Price] Vignette 4 [Prod] df F p WilksLambda

3371 1374 1373 1373 1373

47.39 00 3965.23 6891.44 5697.77 3142.31

0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001

0.7230

decision choices when faced with deceit and falsehood ethical dilemma (vignette 2 involving false advertising). Similarly, 79.9 percent of respondents chose to avoid conflict of interest ethical dilemma (vignette 3 approving higher purchase price), while 64.9 percent of respondents chose ethical decision choices when con-

fronted with a coercion and control dilemma (vignette 1 offering a bribe), and only 58.7 percent of respondents opted for ethical decision choices when faced with personal integrity dilemma (vignette 4 involving whistle blowing). Differences in marketing professionals responses to the study vignettes were subjected to

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Daulatram B. Lund when faced with deceit and falsehood dilemma (vignette 2). Like age, overall MANOVA results indicate significant differences in ethical behavior by education level. However, only conflict of interest construct (vignette 3) elicited significantly different ethical choices among respondents. Respondents with doctoral level of formal education are significantly more intolerant to conflict of interest issues than respondents with masters and bachelors degrees. Level of education did not significantly influence respondents ethical/unethical decision choices in the remaining three vignettes. Other results of posthoc analyses indicated that individual factors such as marital status, education level, annual household income, and self-reported organizational rank failed to account for any meaningful differences in respondents ethical behavior.

further statistical analyses. Given that each decision maker rated all the four vignettes, the responses are deemed dependent. Hence, paired t-tests, comparing response ratings of marketing professionals across vignettes in pairs, and repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were performed across all the four vignettes. The results presented in Table II, indicate statistically significant differences among all pairs of vignettes, and for all vignettes together. Therefore, both analyses confirm that marketing professionals vary their ethical decisions depending on which marketing mix decision they face.

Effect of individual factors Table III summarizes the results of analyses related to the second research question. Again, given that each decision maker rated all the four vignettes, the responses are deemed dependent. Hence, MANOVA is utilized to examine the effect of individual characteristics of gender, age, marital status, level and type of education, income, and self-reported organizational rank category, on marketing professionals ethical/unethical behavior across the four ethical dilemmas. The results indicate that marketing professionals gender, age, and educational level significantly (at p < 0.05) influence their ethical behavior. Concerning respondents gender, the results show that with the exception of personal integrity construct (vignette 4), where women are significantly more intolerant of unethical conduct than their male counterparts, in all other types of ethical dilemmas, men and women are not significantly different in their ethical/unethical behavior. While age of the individual respondent significantly influences the level of ethical behavior, the pattern is not consistent across the four vignettes. Generally, older individuals react more ethically in situations involving coercion and control (vignette 1) and conflict of interest (vignette 3), while respondents age produced no discernable pattern in the case of personal integrity (vignette 4). Age did not significantly influence respondents ethical/unethical behavior

Conclusions Concerning the primary focus of the study, the results indicate that ethical behavior of marketing professionals is not invariant across different types of ethical problems as presented within the context of the marketing mix elements. Thus, this aspect of the study results lends credence to similar results reported by Fritzsche and Becker (1983) concerning managers, and those reported by Hawkins and Cocanougher (1972) and McNichols and Zimmerer (1985) who used business students as subjects. It must be noted that respondents in the study were presented with the medium level of the severity of the consequences in each vignette. In the original vignettes, Fritzsche (1988) tested the severity of the consequences at three levels in each vignette. He found no significant differences in responses to the three levels for the deceit and falsehood (vignette 2) and personal integrity (vignette 4), but noted differences in responses to levels for bribery (vignette 1) and conflict of interest (vignette 3) situations. However, the question whether the magnitude of the consequences in each vignette was objectively comparable was not addressed by Fritzsche (1988) nor within the scope of the present study. Nevertheless, the study results implore the need to use caution

TABLE III Summary of MANOVAs: Effect of individual factors on ethical behavior across vignettes Wilks Lambda Gender: Manova Vignette Vignette Vignette Vignette 0.967 1 2 3 4 3.12 0.14 0.55 3.64 7.47 0.0152 0.7041 0.4598 0.0573 0.0066 n Age: Manova Vignette Vignette Vignette Vignette 0.881 1 2 3 4 2.95 2.45 0.62 6.53 2.83 0.0001 0.0462 0.6623 0.0001 0.0247 n Education: Manova Vignette Vignette Vignette Vignette 0.953 1 2 3 4 2.23 1.49 1.40 6.32 0.16 0.0236 0.2277 0.2479 0.0020 0.8531 n F p Male Female Mean (SD)

Empirical Examination of Marketing Professionals Ethical Behaviour

3.70 4.40 4.25 3.40

(1.2) (1.1) (1.1) (1.3)

3.74 4.48 4.04 3.75

(1.1) (1.0) (1.0) (1.1)

204 2029

170 3039 4049 5059 > 60

3.5 4.3 3.7 3.6

(1.2) (1.1) (1.2) (1.0) 59

3.6 4.5 4.1 3.7

(1.1) (1.0) (1.1) (1.2)

3.8 4.4 4.3 3.3

(1.1) (1.1) (0.9) (1.3)

3.9 4.6 4.7 3.9

(1.2) (0.9) (0.8) (1.4) 33

4.6 4.8 4.1 3.2

(0.5) (0.7) (1.4) (1.4) 9

160 M.S.

112 Ph.D.

B.S.

3.65 4.30 3.88 3.63

(1.2) (1.1) (1.2) (1.3)

3.80 4.45 4.18 3.54

(1.1) (1.1) (1.1) (1.2)

3.50 4.61 4.54 3.54

(1.3) (0.7) (0.7) (1.2)

89

235

46

339

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Daulatram B. Lund to past studies and to a certain extent fill a void in ethics literature, perhaps, more importantly, they identify areas of future research essential for a better understanding of marketing professionals ethical behavior. Future researchers need to examine marketing professionals ethical behavior across marketing mix decisions wherein the severity of the consequences are objectively comparable. Such an examination would establish whether more egregious ethical violation would be less likely chosen regardless of marketing mix composition. Additionally, research is needed to examine the ethical theory managers subscribe to when making their decisions. Researchers need to examine normative theory in philosophy which may help explain the rationale for the variation in behavior among categories of ethical problems. Data need to be collected which offer respondents more flexibility to express their action, rather than a forced-choice single behavioral response scale, given the likelihood for multiple behavioral responses to an ethical dilemma. Likewise, the need for more research on the influence of and rationale for demographic factors as ethics correlates will enable a better understanding of individuals ethicality. Finally, the study findings are not without limitations. In addition to the usual caveats about inferring causality from cross-sectional data, and the extent to which the findings can be generalized to the universe of marketing professionals, it is emphasized that the findings are based upon what actions respondents said they would take and not upon actual behavior. The gap between professed behavior and actual behavior remains unknown.

when interpreting past and future studies of ethical behavior and to question generalizations across categories of ethical problems. As in past studies (Fritzsche and Becker, 1983; Hawkins and Cocanougher, 1972), this study found that a majority of marketing professionals made decisions that tend more toward the ethical side rather than the unethical side. If we interpret a scale response of 3 as being neutral with respect to ethics, the data in Table II clearly indicate that most of the marketing professionals had some sense of ethics in their decision behavior. The extent of this sense appears to vary significantly depending upon the type of ethical dilemma they encounter. While this study did not set out to investigate the reason(s) for different responses across different vignettes, the pattern of response elicited suggests that marketing professionals appear to be subscribing to an evaluation process based more upon the consequences of the decision rather than any set of rules they may follow. For example, in the study when the potential consequences involved considerable loss of revenue (vignette 1: market entry) or the frightening prospect of huge layoffs (vignettes 4: whistle blowing), a greater proportion of marketing professionals were inclined to make ethically questionable decisions. Concerning the influence of individual decision makers demographics as ethics correlates, the study results are mixed. The results indicated that respondents gender, age, and education level significantly influence marketing professionals ethical behavior, while marital status, type of education, income, and organizational rank category did not. Mixed results apart, as Ford and Richardson (1994) emphasize, the need to examine the individual factors is essential even though not all of them may have explanatory power. Equally important is the need to develop conceptual frameworks that shed light on the reasons why these factors might influence marketing professionals ethical behavior. Clearly, it is insufficient to posit, for example, that respondents age category significantly influences ethical judgements in a particular dilemma without offering sound rationale as to reasons for the effect. While the above conclusions provide credence

Acknowledgements The author gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the late Dr. Ishmael Akaah, Wayne State University, towards the database and other aspects of this study.

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Managerial Sciences Department, College of Business Administration, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557-0016, U.S.A. E-mail: lund@scs.unr.edu

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