Ethical Perception from Students' Perspective: Understanding Instructors' Effect on Students' Ethical Sensitivity in Personal Selling (original) (raw)

2010, Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics

Abstract

Today business ethics is one of the most popular area subject for research and discussion. Press reflects a widespread interest in business ethics and academicians are reporting more concern for ethical standards in every business function today than in the past. Among those functions, sales and marketing are the most frequent targets for criticism. Ferrell and Gresham (1985) explained this situation due to their "boundary spanning role" for the organization. The interest in improving ethics can be seen across all business functions, because all are vulnerable to charges of unethical practice. However, the promotional component of marketing, particularly the sales function, is especially vulnerable to accusations of unethical practice. This is a descriptive study which examined the attitudes and ethical perceptions and sensitivity of 270 university students regarding the ethics and acceptability of various sales practices. This study is conducted on students who took Marketing Management course at two major business schools in Turkey by using Kellaris and Dabholkar's Personal Selling Ethics Scale (PSE), an instrument designed to measure the sensitivity of students in personal selling to sales-related ethical issues. This scenario-based study explores whether sales practices were thought to be ethical or not, and whether or not such behaviors would be acceptable. The purpose of this study is to measure the instructor's effect on students' ethical sensitivity. Students' academic background was also examined to understand whether it has an effect on attitudes and ethical perception.

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What findings indicate an instructor's impact on ethical sensitivity in students?add

The study demonstrates that students taught by an ethics-focused instructor exhibit significant differences in ethical perception compared to peers, particularly in scenarios 1, 2, and 20.

How was the ethical sensitivity measured among the student groups?add

Students' ethical sensitivity was assessed using the Personal Selling Ethics (PSE) Scale, which involved rating responses to twenty ethically controversial sales scenarios on a 5-point scale.

What differences were observed between student backgrounds on ethical perceptions?add

The research revealed statistically significant differences in ethical perception based on students' backgrounds, notably between business administration and public administration students.

What was the role of the Marketing Management course in the study?add

The Marketing Management course served as a common curriculum across groups, enabling the study to isolate the instructor's effect on students' ethical perceptions despite similar course content.

What statistical methods were utilized to analyze the data collected?add

The study applied one-way ANOVA to test group mean differences and employed Dunnett's T3 and Bonferroni corrections to ensure robustness in pairwise comparisons.

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