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Marketing Ethics

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Marketing Research Ethics
The dictionary describes ethics as a system of moral principles that set the guidelines for the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group. Ethics are a branch of philosophy dealing with the values relating to the human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions (Webster).
There are numerous types of ethical issues involving marketing research. Marketing researchers have a social responsibility to provide the public with honest and accurate findings. It important that marketing researchers not mislead the public by providing misinformation or by participating in unethical practices in the process of obtaining marketing research information (Alsmadi, 2010). Marketing research firms can jeopardize their reputation by providing misleading conclusions, or bias results. It has been determined that a reputation for ethical behavior is important for a firm conducting marketing research, and that retaining the confidence of the public is critical for researchers to ensure that all findings are credible enough to be trusted in the society (Alsmadi, 2010).
An organization’s social responsibility is an acceptance of accountability to society for its actions, and that ethics are viewed as the principles, values, and standards of conduct (Alsmadi, 2010). What creates confusion in an organization is what exactly constitutes ethical behavior and what does not. While some may view an action as ethical, others may not. Situations can often time help define what is ethical and what is not. The funding and commercialization of research has created some ethical controversies in obtaining marketing research. Affiliations related to funding can potentially influence the way research is designed,

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