Problem
Honesty, the Only Policy?
Research provides the scientific mechanism through which disciplines grow the respective accumulated body of knowledge. Researchers who pursue motivations other than discovering and testing the validity of knowledge threaten the reputation of the research field and distort a truthful depiction of real-world phenomena. Customers of research and the producers of research have an ethical responsibility to act in ways that will promote truthful results as well as an accurate interpretation of results.
However, client or societal forces can sometimes create demands for research only if it seems consistent with a conventional viewpoint. Researchers sometimes succumb to pressures and end up violating this principle. While "truth" is sometimes difficult to determine, when researchers become advocates of a particular point of view, the truth may become even more obscure.
Answer the following questions:
• What is the definition of marketing ethics? How are marketing ethics relevant to research?
• List at least one research obligation for research participants (respondents), marketing researchers, and research clients (sponsors).