Abstract
This paper addresses the growing concern over violation of research ethics in marketing, in particular rights of human subjects in fieldwork, notably the right to informed consent; right to privacy and confidentiality; and right not to be deceived or harmed as a result of participation in a research. The paper highlights the interaction of the three main parties involved in most marketing research: the sponsoring organization (client or user), researcher, and participant in the survey, focusing on researcher’s ethical responsibilities in interacting with human subjects in surveys. The paper stresses the importance of ethical integrity in marketing research and emphasizes the need to establish a universal model for regulatory requirements and well institutionalized practice of ethical research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beckman, S. C. (2005). Sensitive research topics: netnography revisited. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 8(2), 189–203.
Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2007). Business research methods (2nd ed.). London: Oxford University Press, chapter 5.
Clarke, B. (2006). Viewpoint: response to ‘Commercialisation of Childhood? The ethics of research with primary school children’ by Agnes Nairn. International Journal of Market Research, 48(4), 388–390.
Dalton, M. (1959). Men who manage: fusion of feeling and theory in administration. New York: Wiley.
Erikson, K. T. (1967). A comment on disguised observation in sociology. Social Problems, 14, 366–373. doi:10.1525/sp.1967.14.4.03a00040.
Holliday, R. (1995). Investigating small firms: nice work? London: Routledge.
Lee, C. K. (1998). Gender and the South China miracle: two worlds of factory women. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Lund, d. B. (2001). Deontological and teleological influences on marketing research ethics. Journal of Applied Research, 17(2), 65–82.
Michaelides, P., & Gibbs, P. (2006). Technical skills and the ethics of market research. Business Ethics: A European Review, 15(1), 44–52.
Murphy, P. E., et al. (2005). Ethical marketing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.
Reynolds, J. (1993). Note on participant observation and the pursuit of truth. Journal of the Market Research Society, 35(1), 77.
Sekaran, U. (2003). Research methods for business: A skill building approach (4th ed.). New York: Wiley, chapter 10.
Thomas, H. (2003). Market research provides comfort credibility concerns. Computerworld, 37(41).
Zikmund, W. G. (2003). Business research methods (7th ed.). Ohio-USA: Thomson, South-Western, chapter 5.
AOM (Academy of Management): (http:// login.aomonline.org/Membership/Governance/AOMRevisedCodeOfEthics.pdf)
BSA (British Sociological Association): (www.britsoc.co.uk/new_site/index.php?area=equality&id=63)
MRS (Market Research Society): (www.mrs.org.uk/standards/codeconduct.htm)
MRA (Marketing Research Association): (www.mra.net.org)
Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) HIPAA/Privacy Rule (www.http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alsmadi, S. Marketing Research Ethics: Researcher’s Obligations toward Human Subjects. J Acad Ethics 6, 153–160 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-008-9060-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-008-9060-1