Vitell 1992

Consumer ethics: An empirical investigation of factors influencing ethical judgments of the final consumer

Business and marketing ethics have come to the forefront in recent years. While consumers have been surveyed regarding their perceptions of ethical business and marketing practices, research has been minimal with regard to their ethical beliefs and ideologies. This research investigates general attitudes of consumers relative to business, government and people in general, and compares these attitudes to their beliefs concerning various questionable consumer practices. The results show that consumers' ethical beliefs are determined, in part, by who is at fault in the unethical behavior (the seller or the buyer). The results also indicate that those with a more positive attitude toward business are less likely to engage in questionable consumer practices, but one's attitudes toward salespeople, the government and people in general arenot related to the consumer's ethical beliefs.

Think this is the initial development of the MVQ. Offers a good review of literature to date and how this study builds on it with a braoder scope and scale. Also introduces attitude towards certain things (gov, business) to add complexity to the work.
Good acknowledgment of the limitations of the work at the end.