CONSUMER ETHICS - THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF TERRORISM AND CIVIL UNREST ON THE ETHICAL VALUES OF CONSUMERS

Research investigating the consumer's ethical beliefs, ideologies and orientation has been limited. Additionally, despite the repeated call in the literature for cross cultural research, virtually no studies ha ve examined the ethical beliefs and ideologies of consumers from cultu res other than those in North America. This study partially fills this ''gap'' in the literature by investigating the ethical beliefs, prefe rred ethical ideology, and degree of Machiavelhanism of consumers from Egypt and Lebanon. The results indicate that consumers in Lebanon, wh ich has been tom by civil unrest and terrorism, tend to be more Machia vellian, less idealistic, and more relativistic than their Egyptian co unterparts. Additionally, the Lebanese consumers tend to be more accep ting of ''questionable'' consumer practices.