Retailers' major ethical decision making constructs

The major constructs of the Ferrell and Gresham Ferrell OC, Gresham L. A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision-Making in Marketing. J Mark 1985; (Summer): 87-96.], Hunt and Vitell Hunt SD, Vitell S. A General Theory of Marketing Ethics. J Macromark 1986; 6 (Spring): 5-16.], and Ferrell et al. Ferrell OC, Gresham L, Fraedrich JP. A Synthesis of Ethical Decision Models for Marketing. J Macromark 1989; 9(2) (Fall): 55-64.] models were tested using LISREL. Our findings suggest that Friends, Superiors, Business Associates, and Formalization of the Organization are more significant than Moral Philosophy. A new construct Ethicalness, comprised of individual, organizational, and societal value structures yielded a tight multi-dimensional fit that supports Kerlinger's domain theory and is dissimilar to Reidenbach and Robin's (1991) multi-dimensional scale. This research is one of the first to test as many ethical decision making constructs while explaining the multi-dimensional conundrum of ethical/unethical and legal/illegal practices within retailing.