ETHICAL BELIEFS OF CHINESE CONSUMERS IN HONG-KONG

In recent years, there has been increased awareness of unethical consu mer practices in Asian countries. Asian consumers have gained a bad re putation for buying counterfeit products, such as computer software, f ashion clothing and watches. In 1993, the estimated losses to US softw are 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 judgment s from a Chinese perspective. The result shows that consumers in diffe rent cultures utilize similar rules to assess the ethicality of a give n situation. However, findings also show certain cultural elements tha t are unique in influencing Chinese consumers' ethical judgments. The results also indicate the need for the continued development of and in vestment in consumer education in Asia.