Cultural influences on agency practitioners' ethical perceptions: A comparison of Korea and the US

Patterns of cross-cultural differences in ethical perceptions can be explai ned by Hofstede's typology of cultural dimensions. To test hypothesized dif ferences, we conducted a survey of practitioners at Korean advertising agen cies and compared their responses with results from previous surveys in the U.S. Evaluations of ethical issues in hypothetical scenarios that are cons istent with the two cultures' relative levels of masculinity / femininity a nd individualism / collectivism. Agency practitioners in the two countries also vary in the ethical problems they face in their daily work. Differing perceptions that the problems are a concern of top management, or are a hin drance to performance and relations with coworkers, are consistent with rel ative levels of power distance, long-term orientation and individualism / c ollectivism. The findings illustrate the influence of cultural dimensions o n ethical perceptions and practices in the advertising industry.