Representing the perceived ethical work climate among marketing employees

This research develops and tests a measurement model representing the ethic al work climate of marketing employees involved in sales and/or service-pro viding positions. A series of studies are used to identifypotential items a nd validate four ethical-climate dimensions. The four dimensions represent trust/responsibility, the perceived ethicalness of peers' behavior the perc eived consequences of violating ethical norms, and the nature of selling pr actices as communicated by the firm. Both first- and second-order levels of abstraction are validated. Relationships with role stress, job satisfactio n, and organizational commitment are described and discussed. The scale is unique from previous attempts in its scope, intended purpose (marketing emp loyees), the validation procedures, and in that it is not scenario dependen t. The results suggest the usefulness of the marketing ethical climate cons truct in both developing theory and in providing advice for marketing pract ice.