How Important Are Ethics and Social Responsibility?

The research register for this journal is available at http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft

How important are ethics and social responsibility?
A multinational study of marketing professionals
Anusorn Singhapakdi and Kiran Karande
College of Business and Public Administration, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA

How important are ethics?

133
Received September 1998 Revised March 1999 June 1999 September 1999

College of Administrative Sciences, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait, and School of Business Administration, University of Mississippi, USA
Keywords International marketing, Ethics, Social responsibility, National cultures, Consumer behaviour Abstract States that in the present era of global marketing, as more companies enter international markets, ethical problems are likely to increase. As companies and their managers deal with their counterparts in different countries, there is a need to understand the latter 's ethical decision-making processes. Divergence in ethical behavior and attitudes of marketing professionals across cultures can be explained by, among other variables, differences in perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. This study investigates the variation in those perceptions among marketing professionals from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA. The variation is explained by country differences (cultural differences, differences in the economic environment, and differences in legal/political environment), organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic characteristics of the marketer (gender and age).

C.P. Rao

Scott J. Vitell

Introduction The study of ethics has become increasingly important with global business expansion, because of an increase in ethical and social responsibility ± concerns that businesses face

References: Armstrong, J.S. and Overton, T.S. (1977), ``Estimating non-response bias in mail surveys ' ', Journal of Marketing Research, No. 14 No. 3, pp. 396-402. Armstrong, R.W., Stening, B.W., Ryans, J.K., Marks, L. and Mayo, M. (1990), ``International marketing ethics: problems encountered by Australian firms ' ', European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 10, pp. 5-19. Beauchamp, T.L. and Bowie, N.E. (1993), Ethical Theory and Business, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ . Becker, H. and Fritzsche, D.J. (1987), ``A comparison of the ethical behavior of American, French and German managers ' ', Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 87-96. Czinkota, M.R. and Ronkainen, I.A. (1998), International Marketing, Dryden Press, Orlando, FL. DeConinck, J.B. (1992), ``How sales managers control unethical sales force behavior ' ', Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 11 No. 10, pp. 789-98. DeGeorge, R.T. (1990), Business Ethics, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Dubinsky, A.J., Jolson, M.A., Kotabe, M. and Lim, C.U. (1991), ``A cross-national investigation of industrial salespeople 's ethical perceptions ' ', Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 651-71. Dunfee, T. (1996), ``On the synergistic, interdependent relationship of business ethics and law ' ', American Business Law Journal, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 317-28. Ferrell, O.C. and Gresham, L.G. (1985), ``A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing ' ', Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49 No. 3, pp. 87-96. Ford, R.C. and Richardson, W.D. (1994), ``Ethical decision making: a review of the empirical literature ' ', Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 205-21. Franke, G.R., Crown, D.F. and Spake, D.F. (1997), ``Gender differences in ethical perceptions of business practices ' ', Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 82 No. 6, pp. 92- 4. Gilligan, C. (1982), In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Womens Development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Graham, J.L. (1985), ``The influence of culture on business negotiations: an exploratory study ' ', Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 81-96. Hair, J.F., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L. and Black, W.C. (1998), Multivariate Data Analysis, Macmillan, New York, NY. Hall, E.T. (1976), Beyond Culture, Anchor Books, Doubleday Garden City, NY. Hofstede, G. (1980), ``National cultures in four dimensions: a research based theory of cultural differences among nations ' ', International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 13 No. 1-2, pp. 46-74. European Journal of Marketing 35,1/2 152 Hofstede, G. (1983), ``Motivation, leadership, and organization: do American theories apply abroad? ' ', Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 42-63. Hofstede, G. and Bond, M.H. (1988), ``The Confucious connection: from cultural roots to economic growth ' ', Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 5-21. Hunt, S.D. and Vitell, S. (1986), ``A general theory of marketing ethics ' ', Journal of Macromarketing, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 5-16. Hunt, S.D. and Vitell, S.J. (1993), ``The general theory of marketing ethics: a retrospective and revision ' ', in Smith, N.C. and Quelch, J.A. (Eds), Ethics in Marketing, Irwin Inc., Homewood, IL, pp. 775-84. Hunt, S.D., Wood, V.R. and Chonko, L.B. (1989), ``Corporate ethical values and organizational commitment in marketing ' ', Journal of Marketing, Vol. 53 No. 3, pp. 79-90. Jansen, E. and Von Glinow, M.A. (1985), ``Ethical ambience and organizational reward systems ' ', Academy of Management Review, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 814-22. Jones, T.M. (1991), ``Ethical decision-making by individuals in organizations: an issue-contingent model ' ', Academy of Management Review, Vol.16 No. 2, pp. 366-95. Kohlberg, L. (1981), The Meaning and Measurement of Moral Development, Clark University Press, Worcester, MA. Laczniak, G.R. and Inderrieden, E.J. (1987), ``The influence of stated organizational concern upon ethical decision making ' ', Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 297-307. Laczniak, G.R. and Murphy, P.E. (1993), Ethical Marketing Decisions: The Higher Road, Allyn & Bacon, Needham Heights, MA. Malhotra, N.K., Agarwal, J. and Peterson, M. (1996), ``Methodological issues in cross-cultural marketing research: a state-of-the-art review ' ', International Marketing Review, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 7-43. Mittelstaedt, J.D. and Mittelstaedt, R.A. (1997), ``The protection of intellectual property: issues of origination and ownership ' ', Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 14-25. Singhapakdi, A. (1999), ``Perceived importance of ethics and ethical decisions in marketing ' ', Journal of Business Research, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 89-99. Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S.J. and Leelakulthanit, O. (1994), ``A cross-cultural study of moral philosophies, ethical perceptions and judgments: a comparison of American and Thai marketers ' ', International Marketing Review, Vol. 11 No. 6, pp. 65-78. Singhapakdi, A., Kraft, K.L., Vitell, S.J. and Rallapalli, K.C. (1995), ``The perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility on organizational effectiveness: a survey of marketers ' ', Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 49-56. Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S.J., Rallapalli, K.C. and Kraft, K.L. (1996), ``The perceived role of ethics and social responsibility: a scale development ' ', Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 15 No. 11, pp. 1131-40. Terpstra, D.E., Rozell, E.J. and Robinson, R.K. (1993), ``The influence of personality and demographic variables on ethical decisions related to insider trading ' ', The Journal of Psychology, Vol. 127 No. 4, pp. 375-89. Vogel, D. (1992), ``The globalization of business ethics: why America remains distinctive ' ', California Management Review, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 30-49. Weeks, W.A. and Nantel, J. (1992), ``Corporate codes of ethics and sales force behavior: a case study ' ', Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 11 No.10, pp. 753-60. Wotruba, T.R. (1997), ``Industry self-regulation: a review and extension to a global setting ' ', Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 38-5.