Perceptions of Organizational Ethicality: Do Inflated Perceptions of Self Lead to Inflated Perceptions of the Organization?

Scholars have suggested that the tendency for an individual to perceive him- or herself as more ethical than others might influence the individual's perceptions of his or her organization's ethics. The purpose of this study is to consider if and/or when such a relationship exists. A thorough consideration of the nature of perceptions of relative ethicality suggests that a positive self-bias would negatively influence perceptions of organizational ethicality. The results of an empirical study involving working managers and employees of a hospital support that argument. Furthermore, the results indicate that organizational identification, perceived organizational cohesion, and an individual's insulation also influence individual perceptions of relative organizational ethicality. The findings illuminate this particular phenomenon and further our understanding of the relationship between the individual and the organization, more generally.     

Are null results becoming an endangered species in marketing?

Editorial procedures in the social and biomedical sciences are said to promote studies that falsely reject the null hypothesis. This problem may also exist in major marketing journals. Of 692 papers using statistical significance tests sampled from theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, andJournal of Consumer Research between 1974 and 1989, only 7.8% failed to reject the null hypothesis. The percentage of null results declined by one-half from the 1970s to the 1980s. TheJM and theJMR registered marked decreases. The small percentage of insignificant results could not be explained as being due to inadequate statistical power.The authors thank Richard Bagozzi, Gilbert Churchill, James Engel, John Farley, Anthony Greenwald, Daniel Vetter, the editor, and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of this paper. Any errors remaining are our responsibility.     

Religiosity and Consumer Ethics

This article presents the results of an exploratory study that investigated the role that religiosity plays in determining consumer attitudes/beliefs in various situations regarding questionable consumer practices. Two dimensions of religiosity – intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness – were studied. Results indicated that an intrinsic religiousness was a significant determinant of consumer ethical beliefs, but extrinsic religiousness was not related to those beliefs.Scott J. Vitell is Phil B. Hardin Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from Texas Tech University. His recent publications have appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Retailing, the Journal of Business Ethics and the Journal of Consumer Marketing, among others. E-mail: svitell@bus.olemiss.edu Joseph G.P. Paolillo is a Professor of Management in the School of Business at the University of Mississippi. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, Eugene in Organization and Management. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Group and Organization Studies, The Accounting Review, Journal of Advertising and Journal of Business Ethics, among several others. E-mail: jpaolillo@bus. olemiss.edu Jatinder J. Singh is a Ph.D. student in marketing at the University of Mississippi. He received his masters from Punjab Technical University, India. He has coauthored a paper published for the American Marketing Associations winter Educators Conference, 2004.     

Consumer responses to characteristics of price-matching guarantees: The moderating role of price consciousness

The present study develops and tests a conceptual model of consumer response to different types of price-matching characteristics (i.e., refund depth, length, and scope) across consumer segments with varying levels of price consciousness. A computer shopping simulation results show that a deep refund is interpreted as a signal of low prices by nonprice conscious consumers. However, price conscious consumers are found to associate deep refunds with increased prices, an unintended outcome for the retailer. The effects of price-matching characteristics on search and purchase behavior were also found to vary across more and less price conscious consumer segments.     

Comparing nightclub customers’ preferences in existing and emerging markets

This research aims to compare the needs of nightclub and bar customers from two very different markets—the existing and well-established British late-night economy and emerging and developing Polish market by examining customer preferences towards the servicescape and service offerings provided by such venues in both countries. The findings point to the significant similarities and differences between British and Polish club goers, indicating the importance of various elements of the servicescape in influencing customer decisions to enter a venue. These findings can assist mainstream venues in the UK and Poland improve their competitive position by understanding and then providing both groups of customers with service offerings that match their preferences.     

Consumer protection: Corrective measures

The failure of contemporary economies to give consumers “what they really want” manifests itself in a set of “consumer problems” that give rise to the demand for consumer protection. The pivotal problems: monopoly, informationally imperfect markets, consumer dissatisfaction or grievances, the underrepresentation of consumers, disadvantaged consumers. This article deals with the entire spectrum of measures designed to eliminate or correct these problems. It suggests criteria for assessing any corrective measure and deals generally with the merits and drawbacks of regulatory and legislative approaches before considering specific corrective measures. The body of the paper focuses on specific measures, giving examples and citing advantages and disadvantages. The paper is summarized by posing the crucial questions in consumer protection on which policy-makers and citizens alike must make up their minds.     

Personal and professional values underlying the ethical judgments of marketers

This study explores the relative influences of two levels of value orientations, personal values and professional values, underlying the ethical judgments of marketing practitioners. The data were obtained from a mail survey of the American Marketing Association's professional members. The results generally indicate that a marketer's ethical judgments can be partially explained by his/her personal and professional values.Anusorn Singhapakdi is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Old Dominion University. His papers focusing on various topics in marketing ethics and corporate/consumer social responsibility have been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, as well as other journals and proceedings.Scott J. Vitell is Associate Professor and holder of the Michael S. Starnes Lectureship in Marketing and Business Ethics at the University of Mississippi. His work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, andResearch in Marketing as well as various other journals and proceedings.     

Knows Me and My Business: The Association between Preference for Relational Governance and Owners' Choice of Banks

We explore the relative importance of relational and economic preferences in small business owners' choice of a primary bank. We measured preferences directly at three points within 14 years and found that business owners' preference for relational versus economic governance was associated with the type of bank chosen and that the effect of relational preference remained relatively stable over time. Our findings support the idea that a preference for social relations might shape even the most straightforward economic decisions and suggest that variation in this preference is large, persistent enough to support business opportunities for small firms, including small banks.