Ethics in marketing research

Abstract

At a time when ethical and moral standards in business are under scrutiny, it is instructive to look at some of the problems encountered in one area of marke t ingtha t of the client-consultant relationship in marketing research. The American Marketing Association's Marketing Research Code of Ethics refers only briefly to this problem: To the extent that there is involved in a research project a unique design involving techniques, approaches or concepts not commonly available to research practitioners, the prospective user of research shall not solicit such a design from one practitioner and deliver it to another for execution without the approval of the design originator. This code is concerned with general standards throughout marketing research and deals mainly with abuses by practitioners and interviewers as one part of the ethical problems of marketing research. This article will deal with ethical conduct from a different perspective, that of the practicing marketing researcher who may at times suffer from unfair actions by clients. We base our analysis on the findings of a survey of 420 marketing research firms, the authors' experiences, and numerous interviews with research practitioners. It is hoped that by airing the issues and possible solutions, gea te r firm/client cooperation and satisfaction will result.