Marketing Research Ethics

Asi f Jamal

Vis i t ing Lecturer

Univers i ty Of S indh, Mi rpurkhas campus

MARKETING RESEARCH

ETHICS

CLASSIFYING RESEARCH

z BASIC RESEARCH

z APPLIED RESEARCH

BASIC MARKETING RESEARCH

Expands existing knowledge base

Becomes part of public domain

Published in scholarly journals

Conducted primarily by individuals with terminal degrees

Used for purposes of theory discovery and theory verification

APPLIED MARKETING RESEARCH

Conducted in order to solve specific real -world problems

Usually propriety information

Employs knowledge gained in basic research

Research Suppliers

Internal External

Full Service Limited Service

FULL SERVICE

Syndicated Data Services - collect information that is

available to multiple subscribers

Standardized Services - the service used to collect

the data is standardized but the data collected is

unique to each buyer

Customized Services - the research service provided

to each client is tailored to meet needs of that client

LIMITED SERVICE

Field Services - specialize in data collection

Market Segment Specialists - specialize in conducting research pertaining to particular market segments

Data Entry Services - specialize in editing and coding questionnaires and entering data

Sample Design & Distribution Services - provide distribution lists to firms and/or conduct surveys

Data Analysis Services - analyze data already collected

Specialized Research Technique Firms - employ highly -specialized services such as eye-tracking, skin-response testing, brand naming, packaging services

ETHICS IN MARKETING RESEARCH

Objectivity in Interpretation

purposely withholding information

changes in wording from original survey

overstating generalizability of findings

Integrity in Data Collection

false data

failure to abide by agreed-upon data collection

procedures


Proper treatment of subjects

lack of privacy in responses

harmful treatment of subjects

Plagiarism

copying another’s survey instrument

reporting another’s results as your own


Deontology - Focuses on individuals ’ rights

Teleology - Focuses on trade-offs between individual costs and

group benefits


Sugging - selling under the guise of a survey (Illegal)

Frugging - fund raising under the guise of a survey (Unethical)


If you think you might be doing something unethical,

it probably is unethical.

What are ethics?

What are ethical

principles

Ethical business

behaviour

Brief history of

evolution of ethics in

research

Ethical principles

Ethics in research

Qualitative vs

quantitative data

WHAT ARE ETHICS?

Societal norms adopted by a group

A conception of conduct that is right or wrong

Deal with fundamental human relationships

Are a universal human trait

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES – WHAT ARE THEY?

Guides to moral behaviour

Good: honesty, keeping promises, helping others, respective

rights of others

Bad: lying, stealing, deceiving, harming others

Universality of ethical principles: should apply in the

same manner in all countries, cultures, communities

Relativity of ethical principles: vary from country to

country, community to community

ETHICAL RELATIVISM

Defined by

Various periods of time in history

A society’s traditions

The special circumstances of the moment

Personal opinion

Meaning given to ethics are relative to time, place,

circumstance, and the person involved

REASONS FOR ETHICAL BUSINESS

BEHAVIOUR

Fulfill public expectations for business

Prevent harming others

Improve business relations

Improve employee productivity

Reduce penalties

Protect business from others

Protect employees from their employers

Promote personal morality

BUSINESS ETHICS ACROSS

ORGANIZATIONAL FUNCTIONS

Accounting ethics – honesty, integrity, accuracy

Marketing ethics (Professional Codes of Conduct in Marketing

& Information Systems – from American Marketing

Association)

Information systems ethics

Others

HISTORY OF ETHICS IN RESEARCH

In the past – not given attention

Changed with Nuremberg trial findings

Nuremberg Code (1948)

Thalidomide (late 1950s)

Declaration of Helsinki (1964)

Tearoom Trade (1960s)

Milgram (1963)

Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972)

ETHICS IN RESEARCH – WHY?

To protect rights and welfare of

research participantsand

to protect the wider society or community within which the

research is being conducted

MECHANISMS OF PROTECTION

Ethical regulations or guidelines

Law

Universal principles of human rights

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

In research, help to make and to justify decisions

Are abstract and difficult to implement in practical

situations

Key phrases:

Voluntary participation

Informed consent

Risk of harm

Confidentiality

Anonymity

HUMAN SUBJECTS

Canada

Tri-council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving

Humans

Medical Research Council of Canada

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/english/policystatement/policystatement.cfm

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES GUIDING

RESEARCH

Respect for human dignity

Respect for free and informed consent

Respect for vulnerable persons

Respect for privacy and confidentiality

Respect for justice and inclusiveness

Balancing harms and benefits

Minimizing harm

Maximizing benefit

1. HUMAN DIGNITY

Cardinal Principle

Basis of ethical obligations

Two essential components

The selection and achievement of morally acceptable ends

The morally acceptable means to those ends

Protect the multiple and interdependent interests of

the person (bodily, psychological, cultural integrity)

2. CONSENT

Presumption that individuals have capacity and right

to make free and informed decisions

In research = dialogue, process, rights, duties,

requirements for free and informed consent by the

research subject

Your research cannot proceed without consent

Consent must be maintained throughout

3. VULNERABLE PERSONS

Ethical obligations towards vulnerable persons

Diminished competence

Diminished decision-making capacity

Entitled to special protection, special procedures to

protect their interests

Entitlement (based on grounds of human dignity,

caring, solidarity, fairness) to special protection

against abuse, exploitation, discrimination

4. PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY

Fundamental to human dignity

Standards protect the access, control, dissemination of

personal information

Helps to protect mental, psychological integrity

9-11

5. HARMS AND BENEFITS

Balance critical to ethics of human research

Foreseeable harms should not outweigh anticipated benefits

Harms-benefits analysis affects welfare and rights of subjects

6. JUSTICE AND INCLUSIVENESS

i .e., fairness and equity

Procedural justice

Application process

Distributive justice

Harms and benefits

7. NON-MALFEASANCE

Duty to avoid, prevent or minimize harm

No unnecessary risk of harm

Participation must be essential to achieving scientifically and societally important aims that cannot be realized without the participation of human subjects

Minimizing harm requires smallest number of human subjects that will ensure valid data

8. BENEFICENCE

The duty to benefit others

The duty to maximize net benefits

Produce benefits for subjects themselves, other individuals

Produce benefits for society as a whole and for the

advancement of knowledge (usually the primary benefit)

QUALITATIVE VS QUANTITATIVE DATA

Quantitative

Logic rests on generalizability & representativeness

Sample size is criterion for judging rigour

Respondents can refuse to answer questions

Qualitative approaches

Designed to best reflect experiences

Therefore most qualitative research less formally structured

Logic rests on notice of saturation – the point at which no new insights are likely to be obtained

Saturation guides sample size

QUALITATIVE ISSUES

More invasive therefore ethical issues more subtle

Tendency to investigate more completely

Reliance on observations, interviews, stealthy methods can

lull subjects

Easy to violate confidentiality and trust

Power and status dif ferentials

CONFIDENTIALITY & ANONYMITY

Quantitative

Techniques

Can be easier

Anonymity of the firm

sometimes impossible

Pseudonyms common

but do not eliminate

problem

Qualitative

Techniques

Smaller sample sizes

Informed consent more

critical

Problems with data

presentation/

publication

OBLIGATIONS OF THE RESEARCHER

Follow code of ethics

Objectivity

No misrepresentation

Preserve anonymity and confidentiality

Competing research proposals

RIGHTS & OBLIGATIONS OF SUBJECT

Right to informed consent

Obligation to be truthful

Right to privacy

Right to confidentiality

Right to no harm

Right to be informed

RIGHTS & OBLIGATIONS OF CLIENT

(USER)

Ethical conduct between buyer and seller

Obligation to reduce bias

Do not mis-represent data

Privacy

Commitment to research

Pseudo-pilot studies

Advocacy

LANGUAGE

The language you use is very, very important. What may be

clear to you may not be clear to the reader. The reader, who

is your prospective participant, is in a dif ferent world than you

– don ’t expect the reader to read your mind, to know your

intentions….

CASES

QUESTIONS?