Navigating the righteous course: a quality issue

This paper argues that the quality of marketing research will be affected i n the long term by how successfully the industry is able to implement indus try codes of conduct, in particular the revised MRS Code of Conduct. Succes s will partly depend on understanding the ethical decision-making process o f individual researchers in order to tailor educational programmes. Crucial ly it will also depend on the extent to which MRS members fulfil the obliga tion in Code A6 of the current guide 'to ensure the people with whom they w ork are sufficiently familiar with this Code of Conduct'. The paper uses Hunt & Vitell's general theory of marketing ethics (1986) as a framework for developing the quality issues and guiding the research, wh ich consisted of a survey of MRS members. This research identifies the most frequent ethical concerns held by MBS members. The findings also suggest t hat deontological ('rules') influences prevail over teleological considerat ions ('consequences') and that there is a need for a significant number of organisations to appoint someone to be responsible for disseminating the Co de to non-members, handling queries and enforcing the Code. This will go so me way to enhance the quality of marketing research.