Bateman 2002

Framing Effects Within the Ethical Decision Making Process of Consumers

There has been neglect of systematic conceptual development and empirical investigation within consumer ethics. Scenarios have been a long-standing tool yet their development has been haphazard with little theory guiding their development. This research answers four questions relative to this gap: Do different scenario decision frames encourage different moral reasoning styles? Does the way in which framing effects are measured make a difference in the measurement of the relationship between moral reasoning and judgment by gender? Are true framing effects likely to vary with the situation? and Are true framing effects likely to vary by gender? The conclusions reached were that (1) different scenario frames encourage both types of reasoning, but rule based moral reasoning is dominant regardless of frame, (2) accounting for formal equivalency in the measurement of true framing effects is likely to enhance the interpretation of studies in moral reasoning and judgment, (3) True framing effects are more likely to occur in situations with low to moderate perceived ethicality, and (4) true framing effects are not likely to vary by gender. Explanations as to why these results occurred are discussed.

All about Framing effects - how they can influence reasoning and behavioural preferences.
Need to go back to this article when re-framing situations.

Chan 1998

Ethical Beliefs of Chinese Consumers in Hong Kong

In recent years, there has been increased awareness of unethical consumer practices in Asian countries. Asian consumers have gained a bad reputation for buying counterfeit products, such as computer software, fashion clothing and watches. In 1993, the estimated losses to US software companies due to Chinese counterfeiting stood at US $322 million (Kohut, 1994). The present study uses a consumer ethics scale developed by Muncy and Vitell (1992) to investigate consumers' ethical judgments from a Chinese perspective. The result shows that consumers in different cultures utilize similar rules to assess the ethicality of a given situation. However, findings also show certain cultural elements that are unique in influencing Chinese consumers' ethical judgments. The results also indicate the need for the continued development of and investment in consumer education in Asia.

Uses MVQ on studies form Hong Kong - and also uses the MUncy-Vitell method of looking at allignment with business etc.
No particularly interesting findings.
Interesting that they do not modify MVQ at all.
Need to have a really close look at the buyer/seller dyad. There must be more than buyer vs seller - what about society???? environment???

Polonsky 2001

Consumer Ethics in the European Union: A Comparison of Northern and Southern Views

There is a growing interest in understanding consumer ethical actions in relation to their dealings with firms. This paper examines whether there are differences between Northern and Southern European Union (EU) consumers' perceptions of ethical consumer behaviour using Muncy and Vitell's (1992) Consumer Ethics Scale (CES). The study samples 962 university students across four Northern EU countries (Germany, Denmark, Scotland, The Netherlands) and four Southern EU countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece). Some differences are identified between the two samples, which might question the ability of organisations to consider the EU as one homogeneous market.

employs MVQ (known here as CES) to look at North v South using uni students.
No earth-shattering results

Muncy 1998

Materialism and Consumer Ethics: An Exploratory Study

As the issue of marketing's social responsibility grows in significance, the topic of materialism surfaces. While many marketing efforts encourage materialism, the materialism that is encouraged may have negative societal effects. An understanding of the effects of materialism on individuals, families, society, etc., is important in evaluating whether or not it is socially irresponsible for marketers to encourage materialism. However, the adequate empirical work has not yet been done on the overall effects of materialism. The current paper asks and addresses one important empirical question in this area. Do consumers who are more materialistic have different ethical standards than those who are not? Empirical evidence is presented which would indicate that materialism is negatively correlated with people's higher ethical standards as consumers. The implications for this in understanding social responsibility are discussed.

not particularly relevant - looks more at materialism and it link with ethics
a strong link is found and the authors discuss where causality may lie.

Erffmeyer 1999

An Empirical Investigation of Japanese Consumer Ethics

One of the gaps in the current international marketing literature is in the area of consumer ethics. Using a sample drawn from Japanese consumers, this study investigates these individuals' reported ethical ideology and their perception of a number of different ethical situations in the realm of consumer behavior. Comparisons are then made across several demographic characteristics. The results reveal differences which provide theoretical support for expanded research in the area of cross-cultural/cross-national consumer ethics and highlight the need for managers to consider possible differences in the ethical behavior of consumers when entering a new international market. In addition, this study extends current knowledge in international marketing ethics by utilizing a research design and survey instruments similar to previous studies on consumer ethics.

Excellent article - uses MVQ - EPQ- MACH IV for Japnaese consumers
brings in the new ideas of looking at the scales as independent variables(MACH IV, EPQ) and dependent variables (MVQ)
also uses a diagramatic scale with machiavellian - relativist - idealist

Mentions that Mach, relativism, idealism, are designed to reflect the consumers ideological mindset p40

Wheeler 1995

Tourism Marketing Ethics: An Introduction

Good introduction into tourism marketing ethics - really why it has come about and different angles on it. More a case of why things like "green" tourism or "alternative tourism" have come into being.
Initially touches on some literature outside of the tourism field but then goes back into tourism and makes reference to TOs and some campaigns.
Asks the key question of why companies market ethical products - because they are good? or because they want to tap into a changing market?
No really useful specifics.

Rawwas 2001

Culture, personality and morality

very much focused on the X-cultural aspects of EC.
Looks at a number of different countries and their cultures
Uses Hofstede's idea of PDI (power distance) and UAV (uncertainty avoidance) and other kinda indexes to type to group the features of foreign cultures.
Uses MVQ, MACH, Forsyth
Very much with marketing in mind - how companies can make more money by understanding consumers.