Ethics in retailing – perceptions of management and sales personnel

Abstract

Ethics in retailing pose certain critical issues. Retailers may use certain ethical standards that guide decision making when confronting questionable situations that may not be covered by law. Retail sales has been selected as an important frame of reference as the retail salespeople are likely to encounter situations that could be ethically troublesome. The aim of this paper is to investigate the ethical practices of retailers and the ethical beliefs of retail salesforce. Little is known about the ethical perceptions of retailers despite the fact that retailing plays a vital role in the economy. This paper reports on the ethical beliefs of 62 retail sales personnel from 8 major retailers in Guwahati.Findings indicate that the retailers have not developed ethical code of practice. They have developed certain norms which may not guarantee ethical behaviour. The salespeople are concerned with ethical behaviour and doing the right thing. Since ethical conduct is largely and individual...