消费者营销道德观念的跨文化研究.doc

标题：A cross-cultural study ofconsumer perceptions about marketing ethics原文：International growthGrowing numbers of marketing firms are expecting more of their profits to be derived from international sales (Topol and Sherman, 1994). To a large extent, such international growth is fore-ordained in todays world, given the ever-increasing globalization of economies. But moving into foreign markets does not guarantee larger profits; it may, in fact, guarantee more headaches for marketing managers, because different cultures employ varied methods of communication. The pioneering work of Hall (1959) included a map of culture that included ten different message systems or ways of communicating. Marketers working abroad must learn these systems in order to build the trust that, according to Morgan and Hunt (1994), becomes the foundation of relationship commitment. Gone are the days when a goodproduct was all a company needed to prosper. Global competition is ferocious; thus, developing long-term partner relationships often becomes a significant competitive advantage. But how does a massive, diverse multinational corporation develop relationship commitment and trust with business partners? Morgan and Hunt (1994, p. 34) propose that relationship commitment and trust develop when firms attend to relationships by . maintaining high standards of corporate values and allying oneself with exchange partners having similar values. If this is true, corporate ethics are of pivotal importance in global business, though globalization also complicates ethical questions, because an individuals culture affects his/her ethical decision making (e.g. Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Hunt and Vitell, 1986). This assertion is also consistent with the pioneering theory of marketing ethics by Bartels (1967). As he stated, Contrasting cultures of different societies produce different expectationsand become expressed in the dissimilar ethical standards of those societies(Bartels 1967, p. 23). Accordingly, as also argued by McDonald (1994), failures to account for the effects of differences in consumers culturallybased ethical values will hinder a marketers efforts to expand internationally.Ethical issueAccording to ethics theories, ethical decision making is also situation specific. For example, Ferrell and Gresham (1985) specify ethical issue or dilemma as a component preceding the ethical decision process. In their general theory of marketing ethics, Hunt and Vitell (1986) specify perceived ethical problem as the catalyst of the whole ethical decision process. Jones (1991, pp. 371-2) also believed the situation was critical: ethical decision making is issue contingent. He provided an important construct for examining ethics-related characteristics of situational factors in decision making, which he termed moral intensity. According to Jones, moral intensity, which he defines as the extent of issue-related moral imperative in a situation, is an important determinant of how an individual recognizes moral issues, makes moral judgment, establishes moral intent, and engages in moral behavior. One objective of this study is to compare consumers from Malaysia and the USA in terms of their perceptions regarding the intensity of different marketing ethics situations. According to most marketing ethics theories, an individual will apply ethical guidelines based on different moral philosophies or ideologies when making decisions involving ethical problems (e.g. Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Hunt and Vitell, 1986). In this study, Malaysian and US consumers will also be compared in terms of their personal moral philosophies. Moreover, the two groups of consumers will be compared regarding their attitudes toward business, in general, and toward salespeople. The USA and Malaysia were chosen for comparison because of some fundamental differences between the two countries. For example, according to Hofstedes (1980, 1983) cultural typology, the two cultures are different in certain important values (a detailed discussion will be given later). In an empirical study, Burns and Brady (1996) consistently found genuine differences in ethical perceptions of business students in Malaysia compared to their counterparts in the USA.Help with understandingKnowledge regarding the differences, if any, between the consumers from these two cultures in terms of their attitudes, ethical perceptions, and moral philosophies will not only help us with our understanding of cross-cultural ethics but will have significant implications for international marketing management. Onkvisit and Shaw (1989) believe that the secondary status of some US marketers in Asia is a result of a combination of ignorance of tradition and the difficulties associated with understanding cultural differences. Ethical judgments of business practices are also made by consumers and these judgments, at least in the long run, can influence the consumers acceptance or rejection of business activities (Laczniak and Murphy, 1993). In fact, in his study of urban consumers, Stone found a category of shoppers he designated as ethical: responses in this category signified that the informants feel a moral obligation to patronize specific types of stores. They perceive shopping in the light of a larger set of values (Stone, 1954, p. 38). Therefore, an empirical investigation of how consumers in different cultures perceive certain ethical issues in marketing, their attitudes toward business and salespeople, and the personal moral philosophies that form the bases for these perceptions and attitudes would provide marketers with significant insights about how to design appropriate marketing policies. Cultural typology and consumer ethics Culture can be defined as the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from those of another (Hofstede and Bond, 1988, p. 6). The work of Hofstede (1979, 1980, 1983,1984) suggests that national cultures can be classified along four primary dimensions:(1) power distance;(2) individualism;(3) uncertainty avoidance; and(4) masculinity.Power distance and individualismMalaysia and the USA are quite far apart on two of these dimensions, power distance and individualism; therefore, these will be used as bases for the hypotheses tested in the present study. Power distance addresses the degree to which a societys weaker members accept injustices in how power is exercised. While injustices arise in every society, different cultures accept varying levels of inequity. Members of cultures characterized by a highpower distance (e.g. Malaysia) are expected to obey a superiors dictates blindly. Individuals socialized in such cultures tend to use formal standards and ideals for guidance on appropriate behavior in consumption situations having ethical content (Vitell et al., 1993). Individuals nurtured in cultures that have low-power distance (e.g. the USA) do not automatically confer respect to their superiors. Respect generally must be earned in these cultures. Individuals in low-power distance societies generally turn to their colleagues or peer group for guidance. Individualism addresses the extent to which members of a culture are concerned mainly with their own interests and familys welfare. Collectivist cultures (e.g. Malaysia) view individuals as part of a larger group, such as an extended family or tribe. The group protects its members interests and they, in return, are expected to show loyalty to and concern for the group as a whole. Members of individualistic cultures (e.g. the USA) frequently question the ethical norms and standards established by their societies. By contrast, members of collectivist cultures are inclined to accept them (Vitell, et al., 1993).Ethical contentCulturally-based differences influence how consumers perceive business practices, including those practices that have ethical content. Such effects should become increasingly relevant as marketers expand their efforts from one culture to the next. Marketers must understand the necessity to familiarize themselves with the culturally-based ethical norms that are dominant in the countries they have targeted for entry. Consider the following illustration. Acts such as compact disk piracy or brand counterfeiting are illegal and likely to be considered unethical by consumers in most Western countries. These same activities, however, are quite common business practices in many East Asian nations. For example, China has recently been accused of intellectual property theft of products such as movies, music and computer software originating in the USA. Other Asian markets are similarly flooded with Taiwanese and Korean knock-offs such as Rolex watches and Swiss army knives. Questionable practices suchas these might discourage marketers from expanding into certain cultures or,at least, affect their mode of entry (McDonald, 1994).Standards declinedThere have recently been a number of business ethics studies of business students and managers in Malaysia. For example, according to the study by Zabid and Alsagoff (1993), Malaysian managers feel that some unethical business practices exist because they seem to be generally accepted in thebusiness world. While the perceived values of the Malaysian managers responding appeared high, respondents felt that standards had declined over the past 15 years. Alam (1995) found that a majority of Malaysian business students also felt that ethics had declined in recent years. The results from his study indicate that Malaysian business students believe that more emphasis should be placed on ethics and the development of a more caring environment in business schools. Tsuruoka (1993) cites a philosophy in Malaysia that embraces the idea that all business should have a socioeconomic and not just an economic function. This supports the research findings of Alam (1995) indicating the belief that Malaysia needs an orientation toward values rather than profits. These studies are related to unethical activities as perceived by either future managers or those directly involved in the everyday business practices. The present research, in contrast, compares the ethical beliefs held by consumers toward businesses in a foreign market with those held by US consumers. The implications should help international marketers better understand how to target foreign consumers. The risks of new market entry can then be lessened to some extent. Research hypotheses A culture exists anywhere where a group of people share a distinctive set of beliefs, norms, and customs. As pointed out by Bartels (1967) in his pioneer work, fundamental cultural factors such as religion, national identity, and loyalties, values, and customs are known to be important influences on ethical decisions. The primary underlying dimension of a culture is the values of its members. Values are described as the basic convictions that a group of people share regarding what is right or wrong (Hofstede et al., 1990). Individuals learn the cultural values from the society in which they are reared. Invariably, they help to mold the persons behavioral patterns.Different viewsAccordingly, we would expect that consumers from different cultures will tend to hold different views of ethical issues. For example, what is perceived as outside the limits of ethical behavior in one country might represent a completely ethical practice in another. In Germany, for instance, tax manuals state that bribes to domestic officials are not deductible as business expenses, while bribes to foreign officials are (Kaikati and Label, 1980). US citizens typically believe such behaviors are wrong. In the Middle East, Lebanese consumers are less sensitive to questionable market practices, more machiavellian, less idealistic, and more relativistic than Egyptian consumers (Rawwas et al., 1994). Lebanons extended episodes of brutal civil war and terrorism over recent times may have acculturated Lebanese consumers to devalue the worth of human life, morality, values, and laws. In that particular market, global applications of US marketers domestic standards may jeopardize their operations success. Trusting individuals from cultures that habitually exhibit ethical standards that differ from the standards predominating in the USA could be disastrous to multinational marketers. This assertion brings us to the central research question: How do ethical values of individuals differ when they are reared in different cultures?.Research societyMarketers must research the society to observe whether differences exist. Prudent marketers will align their marketing strategies before entering new market arenas to be successful in their efforts. The present study focuses specifically on two countries for comparison, the USA and Malaysia. These two nations are similar in that each has been blessed by long-standing political stability. By traditional global standards, both countries have also enjoyed widespread economic prosperity over an extended period of time. One may thus reason that any differences existing in terms of ethical perceptions and beliefs held by US and Malaysian consumers are likely to result from some cultural differences across the two nations. Perceived moral intensity As pointed out earlier, one objective of this study is to compare consumers from Malaysia and the USA in terms of their perceived intensity of different marketing ethics situations. The construct moral intensity, as conceptualized by Jones (1991), has six components:(1) magnitude of consequences;(2) social consensus;(3) probability of effect;(4) temporal immediacy;(5) proximity; and(6) concentration of effect.According to Jones, if the intensity of a moral situation is perceived as weak in terms of these six components the situation will not be viewed as being an ethical problem and vice versa.出处：Anusorn Singhapakdi，Mohammed Y.A. Rawwas，Janet K. Marta，Mohd Ismail Ahmed. A cross-cultural study of consumer perceptions about marketing ethicsJ. Consumer Marketing, Vol. 16 NO. 3 1999, pp. 257-272标题：消费者营销道德观念的跨文化研究译文：简介：鉴于日益全球化的经济，越来越多的营销公司都期待得到更多的来自国际销售的利润。全球竞争是激烈的，因此，经常发展长期合作伙伴关系通常称为一个比较明显的竞争优势。企业道德的关键重要性在全球业务中，虽然全球化还使道德问题变得复杂，因为一个人的文化影响其道德决策。对于满足消费者基于文化的道德价值的失败将会阻碍营销扩大国际的影响。比较从马来西亚和美国的消费者对营销道德情况的看法，他们对业务和销售人员以及他们个人的道德哲学的态度。调查结果显示了一些这两个国家消费者之间的差异。国际增长越来越多的市场营销公司都期待着更多的来自国际的销售利润( Topol and Sherman, 1994)。鉴于日益全球化的经济体系，在一个大的程度上这种国际的增长是在今天的世界。但进入国外市场并不能保证更大利润，事实上它有可能给市场营销经理带来更多麻烦，因为不同的文化通过不用的方式来交流。会场的开放性工作（1959）包括一种含有十个不同邮件系统或通信方法的“地图文化”。在国外工作的营销人员必须学习这些制度，以便建立信任，根据Morgan and Hunt（1994），会成为承诺关系的基础。当一个好的产品是一个蓬勃发展所需的所有公司的日子已经一去不复返了。全球竞争是激烈的，因此，经常发展长期合作伙伴关系变成明显的竞争优势。但是，怎样与一个大规模、多样化的跨国公司发展合作关系并且和业务合作伙伴相互信任？Morgan and Hunt（1994）提出“发展公司参加的承诺和信任的关系维持高水准的企业价值观和自己联合有相似值的交流合作。”如果这是真的，企业道德的关键在全球业务中的重要性，虽然全球化也变成复杂道德的问题，因为一个人的文化影响其伦理决策（例如：Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Hunt and Vitell, 1986）。这种说法也是符合Bartels(1967)的营销道德的开拓理论。像他说的：“对比不同的社会文化产生不同的期望，并成为表示在不同社会的道德标准“(Bartels 1967)。因此，McDonald（1994）同样认为对于满足消费者基于文化的道德价值的失败将会阻碍营销扩大国际的影响。伦理问题根据道德理论，道德决策也是具体的情况。例如，Ferrell and Gresham (1985)指出“道德问题或困境”作为符合道德决策过程的一个组成部分。在他们营销道德的理论里，Hunt and Vitell (1986)指出“道德问题的认为”作为符合整个道德决策过程的催化剂。Jones (1991)同样认为环境是关键“道德决策时问题特遣队”他提供了一个重要的在决策中的与道德有关特性的检查的构造情境因素，这个被他称为到的强度。根据Jones，他定义道德强度为“在一种情况下相关道义责任的问题”是一个重要的个人如何认识到道德问题的决定因素，建成道德判断，建立道德的意图，以及从事道德的行为。这项研究的目标之一是比较消费者从马来西亚和美国的有关强度不同的营销道德情况的看法。根据大多数营销道德理论，个人涉及伦理问题的决策时将基于不同的道德哲学或意识形态的道德准则(e.g. Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Hunt and Vitell, 1986)。在这项研究中，马来西亚和美国消费者也将他们个人的道德哲学角度进行比较。此外，两个组将比较消费者，总的来说及其对销售人员就其业务的态度。选择比较美国和马来西亚是因为两国之间的基本的一些差异。例如，根据Hofstedes (1980, 1983)文化类型学，在某些重要价值方面两种文化是不同的。在一项实证研究中，Burns and Brady (1996)不断在马来西亚和美国业务学生对比中找到真正的道德观念差异。权利距离与个人主义马来西亚和美国在权利距离和个人主义这些方面分歧很大。因此，这些将用作于作为基地在本研究中测试的假说。权利距离解决了一个社会的弱势成员接受不公正现象中如何行使权利程度的问题。虽然在每个社会中出现不公正现象，不同的文化接受产生不同程度的不平等现象。具有高权利距离的文化成员（例如：马来西亚）预计服从上级的盲目支配。在这种文化中，社会化的个人倾向于正式标准和理想的使用有关适当行为的道德内容和消费情况的指南(Vitell et al., 1993)。个人在文化培育具有低功耗的距离（如美国）不要自动赋予他们的上级尊重。在这些文化中通常必须赢得尊重。在低的权利距离社会中的个人一般由他们的同事或同等组提供指导。在某种程度上个人主义解决的主要是文化成员所关心的以自己的利益和家庭的福利。集体主义文化（例如马来西亚）将个人作为一个较大的组的一部分，就如一个大家庭或一个部落。那个组保护其成员的利益然后他们作为回报期待显示其忠诚和对整个组的关注。个人主义文化的成员（例如美国）经常就道德规范和社会所确立的标准提问。与此相反，集体主义的文化成员倾向于接受他们(Vitell, et al., 1993)。道德强度（1996年），美国市场营销协会执业会员将营销道德作为重点调查。他们的研究使用了道德强度的六个组成部分，这个是被琼斯确定的为道德强度的规模发展奠定基础的。他们的调查结果普遍表示，这六个强度组件是道德观念和营销意图的重要因素。目前特别相关的研究中，他们的探索性因素分析表明，道德强度的六个组成部分，实际上可能是两个方面综合到一起：（1）感知潜在的危害/无危害;与领悟社会的压力。（2）在这项研究中，马来西亚和美国的消费者将比较在这两个方面的条款。鉴于显示的重要性的认识程度在伦理道德问题上做出决定。消费者之间的潜在的两种文化的差异调查，将不仅会大大增加我们的市场营销伦理决策的理解，而且也将对国际市场营销提供一些有益的影响。常见福利的支持作为一个预测消费者行为的态度的重要性是被公认的文学(e.g. Engel et al., 1995)。总的说来，我们可以假定有一个更积极的态度对待商业和销售人员的消费者将更容易接受企业和销售人员的产品。来自不同文化的人可能会在态度的角度方面有所不同，这将对国际市场营销管理有重大影响。本研究将从马来西亚和美国方面的业务和销售人员对消费者的态度进行比较。营销道德方案方案通常用于作为研究工具在营销伦理研究中的一部分（e.g. Chonko and Hunt 1985; Laczniak et al., 1981; Singhapakdi et al., 1996）。这项研究方案被Dornoff and Tankersley (1975)和 Reidenbach et al. (1991)通过感知道德强度使用一些预测试和调整来制定多种方案营销道德去实