Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ethical Issues Draft 2 (JK)
Ethical Issues Draft 2 (JK)
Name of Class
2
Ethics in Marketing Research
Integrity in market research is defined as “honesty and of moral character” (Timpany,
2012, para. 1). There should be no dishonesty from the respondents or the researcher. The
answers should be used as they were intended and not used to pretend that the results stand for
something else. Market research is used to make decisions therefore, integrity of the market
research must be upheld (Timpany, 2012). Researchers also face integrity issues if they
deceive respondents.
According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, privacy is, “the
rights and obligations of individuals and organizations with respect to the collection, use,
retention, disclosure, and disposal of personal information” (AICPA, n.d., para. 1). Privacy is
important in market research because personal information is collected. The respondent has the
right to know who will receive their information. The participant should have the right to choose
There are also the ethical issues of confidentiality. If a respondent gives their personal
information, that information should go no further than the researcher. The researcher should not
in turn give out that information to other companies or even the sponsor of the research study.
Also, if information is identified, it should be held in confidence and not told to any other
agency. An example of this could be an employee survey. If an employee tells his or her
feelings toward his or her supervisor, that information should not be provided directly to the
supervisor.
The Belmont Report was created to describe how ethical research affects humans.
… One of the charges to the Commission was to identify the basic ethical principles that
should underlie the conduct of biomedical and behavioral research involving human
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Ethics in Marketing Research
subjects and to develop guidelines which should be followed to assure that such research
These principles also apply to informed consent. One of the required principles is the principle
of respect for persons. To have informed consent, the respondent must have enough information
about the market research that they can make a clear decision whether or not they want to
participate or not. They respondent should be able to ask questions and/or leave the study at any
time. The respondent should fully understand the risks and rewards of the market research.
The Belmont Report also addresses adults with diminished capacity. Diminished
capacity refers to those adults who do not have the ability to understand what has been told to
them. Maybe the subject has some form of mental retardation, they could be an older subject, or
they could have some sort of illness that prevents them to be able to make decisions for
themselves. One example that was used in the Belmont report is prisoners. It was stated that
even prisoners should have the ability to volunteer for market research. However, in prison, a
prisoner may be coerced to participate in a market research rather than by choosing to participate
from their own free will *The Belmont Report, 1979, para. 14).
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Ethics in Marketing Research
References
http://www.aicpa.org/InterestAreas/InformationTechnology/Resources/Privacy/Pages/def
ault.aspx.
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.html#.
Timpany, G. (2012, May 4). Ensuring Market Research Integrity. Retrieved from:
http://survey.cvent.com/blog/customer-insights-2/ensuring-integrity.