RT Article
T1 Ethical Ideology and the Ethical Judgments of Marketing Professionals
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 17
IS 7
SP 715
OP 723
A1 Barnett, Tim
A1 Bass, Ken
A1 Brown, Gene
A1 Hebert, Frederic J.
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 1998
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1785610503
AB The present study extends the study of individuals' ethical ideology withinthe context of marketing ethics issues. A national sample of marketing professionals participated. Respondents' ethical ideologies were classified as absolutists, situationists, exceptionists, or subjectivists using the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980). Respondents then answered questions about three ethically ambiguous situations common to marketing and sales. The results indicated that marketers' ethical judgments about the situations differed based on their ethical ideology, with absolutists rating the actions as most unethical. The findings are consistent with those of two earlier studies that utilized samples of business students (Barnett et al., 1994, 1995). The results suggest that personal moral philosophy is an important influence on ethical decision making that should be considered in empirical studies of business ethics. The results also support the utility of the Ethical Position Questionnaire (Forsyth, 1980) as a means for researchers and practitioners to assess individuals' ethical ideology.
K1 Business Ethic
K1 Empirical Study
K1 Marketing
K1 Economic Growth
K1 Decision Making
DO 10.1023/A:1005736404300