Gene Brown

Religiosity, ethical ideology, and intentions to report a peer's wrongdoing

Peer reporting is a specific form of whistelblowing in which an individual discloses the wrongdoing of a peer. Previous studies have examined situational variables thought to influence a persons decision to report the wrongdoing of a peer. The present study looked at peer reporting from the individual level. Five hypotheses were developed concerning the relationships between (1) religiosity and ethical ideology, (2) ethical ideology and ethical judgments about peer reporting, and (3) ethical judgments and intentions to report peer wrongdoing.Subjects read a vignette concerning academic cheating, and were asked to respond to a question-naire concerning the vignette. Data were analyzed using structural equation methodology.Results indicated that religiosity was positively associated with an ethical ideology of non-relativism. Individuals whose ethical ideologies could be described as idealistic and non-relativistic were more likely to state that reporting a peers cheating was ethical. In turn, individuals who believed reporting a peers cheating was ethical were more likely to say that they would report a peers cheating.

Individual Difference Variables, Ethical Judgments, and Ethical Behavioral Intentions

This study examined the relationship between the individual difference variables of personal moral philosophy, locus of control, Machiavellianism, and just world beliefs and ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. A sample of 602 marketing practitioners participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships. The results either fully or partially supported hypothesized direct effects for idealism, relativism, and Machiavellianism. Findings also suggested that Machiavellianism mediated the relationship between individual difference variables and ethical judgments/behavioral intentions.

Male Nudity in Advertisements: A Modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product Effects

This article explores the relatively unknown effects of male nudity in print ads on selected consumer responses. A previously used experimental design that examines different model dress levels in conjunction with two different products was replicated to test dress level, respondent, and product effects. Multivariate analysis of variance results indicated that respondent gender and dress level of the model significantly affect measures of mood, attitude toward the advertiser, attitude toward the ad, and attitude toward the brand. These findings provide important information to advertisers considering using male nudity or suggestive poses in ads and provide support for oppositesex and product congruency effects found previously in other research.

Personal Moral Philosophies and the Moral Judgments of Salespeople

During the last decade, Donelson R. Forsyth has developed a taxonomy of personal moral philosophies of relevance to sales managers and sales researchers concerned about the ethicality of salespeoples decisions. Forsyths Ethical Position Questionnaire (EPQ), which measures a respondents tendency to consider injury to others (idealism) and/or to disregard universal moral rules (relativism) when making moral judgments, can be used to classify salespeople into one of four personal moral philosophies: situationists, subjectivists, absolutists, and exceptionists. After a brief overview of Forsyths work and its place within sales research on ethics, the results of an empirical study of life insurance agents show that agents with different moral philosophies a la Forsyths taxonomy differ in their moral judgments about some ethically- questionable actions by life insurance agents.

Ethical Judgments about Wartime Ads Depicting Combat

Are all modern wartime ads that depict combat judged as ethical? The results of a study conducted during the recent Persian Gulf conflict suggest that the social marketing uses of such ads (e.g., t...

The association of ethical judgment of advertising and selected advertising effectiveness response variables

This study examines the potential effects of unethically perceived advertising executionson consumer responses to the ad. The study found that the unethical perceptions of the advertisement shown significantly and negatively affected all advertising response variables examined in the study.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE ETHICAL CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE

The purpose of this study was to provide additional empirical evidence concerning the factor structure of the Ethical Climate Questionnaire. A random sample of 1,000 members of the American Marketing Association were selected and mailed a copy of the survey. Usable responses were received from 207 marketers, representing 207 organizations from various industries across the United States. The results provide relatively strong support for the dimensions of ethical work climate conceptualized by Victor and Cullen (1988). Factor analysis yielded six dimensions of ethical work climate, namely, (1) Team Spirit, (2) Rules and Codes, (3) Social Responsibility, (4) Self-interest, (5) Efficiency, and (6) Personal Morality.

Customer satisfaction and corporate culture: A profile deviation analysis of a relationship marketing outcome

Customer satisfaction has been identified as an important relationship marketing outcome. As such, firms should continually track and assess customer satisfaction. The following study examines how four elements of corporate culture combine to form an optimal mix that encourages attention to and measurement of customer satisfaction. Culture is operationalized as a pattern of values and beliefs that aid individuals in understanding organizational functioning. A profile deviation analysis reveals that an optimal mix of the marketing corporate culture elements of adhocracy, clan, market, and hierarchy does exist and is positively related to customer satisfaction assessment activities.

Freight transportation carrier selection criteria: Identification of service dimensions for competitive positioning

Abstract Deregulation has seriously impacted the competitive climate of the transportation industry. Competition for customers has manifested itself in a recognition by transportation providers that they must understand the needs of different types of customers in order to create service attribute bundles tailored to specific customer segments. The research reported here is based on a study of a Midwest freight transportation market. A methodology for segmenting transportation markets on the salient transportation service dimensions utilized in the selection of specific providers of transportation is presented. The findings suggest that six natural groups of transportation service users exist, with the differences among the segments largely explained by five service dimensions.

Distinguishing Between the Roles of Customer-Oriented Selling and Adaptive Selling in Managing Dysfunctional Conflict in Buyer–Seller Relationships

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the relationships among selling behaviors, trust, conflict, and sales outcomes, such as performance and anticipation of future interaction. Results indicate that trust mediates the effects of selling behaviors on sales outcomes, and conflict moderates this mediating effect. While salespeople could use customer-oriented selling as an antidote for the ill effects of dysfunctional conflict on trust, adaptive selling only serves to enhance salesperson trust in customers. Thus, the results of the study distinguish between the roles of customeroriented selling and adaptive selling in relationship marketing. Furthermore, when salespeople perceive that their sales managers are highly customer oriented and highly adaptive, they themselves become more customer oriented and more adaptive. Thus, as role models, supervisory selling behaviors contribute to salespeople’s ability to leverage their trust in customers. Based on these results, the managerial implications for selling organizations are discussed.