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Are We Teaching Ethics in Marketing?: A Survey of Students' Attitudes and Perceptions

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Abstract

This is a descriptive study which examined the attitudes and perceptions of 273 business students at eight universities across the U.S. towards ethics education. The results indicate that students perceive that the level of discussion of ethics and ethical issues ranges from less than adequate in some marketing courses to adequate in others. Sales/sales management courses received the highest ratings for coverage of ethical issues, while transportation/logistics courses scored the lowest.

The study also finds that students believe, quite strongly, that the discussion of ethics and ethical issues is worthwhile and important. Many feel a course in business/marketing ethics should be required and more indicate that they would take such a course, if offered, even if it was not required.

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Shannon, J.R., Berl, R.L. Are We Teaching Ethics in Marketing?: A Survey of Students' Attitudes and Perceptions. Journal of Business Ethics 16, 1059–1075 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017922005651

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