An Objective Study of Some Moral Judgments

Consumers' moral philosophies: identifying the idealist and the relativist

“…Several streams of research in consumer ethics have been advanced: studies of unethical consumer behaviors (e.g., Kallis et al, 1986), consumers' double standards regarding their perceptions toward their own and marketers' ethically questionable behaviors (e.g., Davis, 1979), theoretical development of ethical decisions made by individuals and organizations (e.g., Whalen et al, 1991), and strategies for firms to deal with unethical behaviors of consumers (e.g., Schubert, 1979). In addition, previous researchers have noted the importance of considering individual differentiae when investigating ethical perceptions (Forsyth, 1980;Sharp, 1998). Indeed, this issue has been empirically tested by examining the impact of individual differences, such as age, income, occupation, education, and cultural background, on ethical decision making (Fullerton et al, 1996;Muncy and Vitell, 1992;Rawwas, 1996;Rawwas and Singhapakdi, 1998;Singhapakdi and Rawwas, 1999).…”

Ethical ideologies: Efficient assessment and influence on ethical judgments of marketing practices

“…This phenomenon, long recognized in the field of psychology (e.g., Sharp, 1898), poses a vexing practical problem in marketing because arriving at a consensus of opinion concerning the ethics of various controversial marketing practices is often difficult and sometimes impossible. Witness the ongoing controversies over back-door selling, slotting allowances, alcoh-pop drinks, tobacco promotions, and ambush marketing (e.g., O'Sullivan & Murphy, 1998) to mention only a few issues.…”

Belief in a just world: Review and critique of the individual difference literature

“…Psychologists have been interested in the perception of justice and moral judgements since the last century (Sharp, 1898). Several distinct individual difference approaches have been proposed on such issues as moral conduct (Hogan, 1973), cognitive-developmental stages in moral judgement (Kohlberg, 1969;Rest, 1973), ethical ideologies (Forsyth, 1980) and perceptions of equity (Walster, Berscheid & Walster, 1973).…”