Ethical Issues in Business Relationships between ...

Ethical Issues in Business Relationships between New Zealand Marketing Research Practitioners and Clients Corresponding Author: Dr Anca C. Yallop Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Winchester Business School University of Winchester Email: anca.yallop@winchester. ac.uk Keywords: Codes of ethics, marketing research, ethical issues, client relationships

ANCA C. YALLOP, PhD SENIOR LECTURER, WINCHESTER BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER SIMON MOWATT, PhD ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, AUT UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL, AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the marketing research companies and researchers who generously gave their time for this study. AUTEC Reference no: 05/175 Abstract: Marketing research, as part of the marketing discipline, encompasses complex relationships between the general public, respondents, clients, and researchers. The ethical issues between clients and researchers have been under-researched generally. No studies have been conducted in New Zealand until now. This paper presents the first empirical research on the ethical issues that arise between New Zealand-based marketing researchers and their clients. A qualitative study of twenty-nine interviews with marketing research practitioners was conducted to identify ethical conflicts they experienced in client relationships. The study presents rich data on ethical issues in practitioner-client relationships and finds that while New Zealand researchers face the same ethical issues as those in the international literature, they also confront some locally distinctive features. The two most frequent ethical issues are related to the identification of respondents and the reporting of research results. The findings are discussed in relation to the Market Research Society of New Zealand Code of Practice and accompanying suggestions are made for the future improvement of ethical awareness in the industry.

INTRODUCTION The ethical issues in business relationships between marketing research practitioners and their clients are an important but under-researched part of the marketing research industry. Not enough is known about whether issues identified in previous studies are specific to particular national contexts, and the wide range of issues has not been fully explored. This paper presents the first empirical research to examine ethical issues in the New Zealand context, brings new issues to light through qualitative research, and adds a rich understanding of the issues relating to the specific local context. The paper reviews how the accepted Market Research Society of New Zealand (MRSNZ) code of practice in VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1, 2014

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the New Zealand industry addresses the ethical issues identified. The results provide new information that could be used for later comparative studies to add to our development of the theoretical understanding of the area. A focus on marketing research has wider implications, as ethical issues in marketing research may have wider interest within other fields where there are ethical issues between clients and researchers and where a code of ethics is in place to govern these relationships. Marketing research makes a compelling case for studies in ethics, as Lund (2001) believes that marketing research is the most challenging from an ethical perspective. It ‘revolves around a researcher’s relationship with four parties in the research process, namely, the general public, respondent, client, and the researcher . . . and in fulfilling his/her duties and responsibilities to these constituents, the marketing researcher encounters many ethical dilemmas’ (Lund, 2001, p. 6). Similarly, Malhotra and Miller (1998) suggest that marketing research is more complex because of its relationship with the client and supplier. The marketing profession is, therefore, understood to be a very dynamic one that involves a higher degree of risk-taking and pressures from the business and organisational environments in which it operates. Following an examination of the nature of the complex relationships between various parties in marketing research, Ferrell, Hartline and McDaniel (1998) proposed that understanding these relationships represents the first step in an attempt to control the potential for ethical conflict among marketing research participants. These issues are currently not fully understood within the literature. Giacobbe and Segal (2000) reviewed the literature on marketing research ethics and stated that ‘research from studies in marketing and marketing research ethics can be described as fragmented and mixed’(p. 230) and that ‘the extent of unethical behaviour among marketing research professionals has virtually remained unchanged’ (p. 239). A more recent review of the literature conducted by Schlegelmilch and Öberseder (2010) revealed that while research in marketing ethics carried out in the 1990s had a particularly strong focus on the area of marketing research since 2000 most of the published research addressed issues relating to consumers, norms and codes, and decision-making. Moreover, their literature survey identified that ethical issues related to marketing research have not achieved great importance within the mainstream marketing community (Schlegelmilch and Öberseder, 2010). Nevertheless, seminal studies in the area of ethics in marketing research have involved the analysis of ethical issues with which marketing researchers are confronted and the attitudes of marketing research professionals towards ethics (Aggarwal, Vaidyanathan & Castleberry, 2012; Akaah & Riordan, 1989; 1990; Ferrell & Skinner, 1988; Kelley, Skinner & Ferrell (1989); Kelley, Ferrell & Skinner (1990); Lund, 2001; Malhotra & Miller, 1998; Michaelides & Gibbs, 2006; Murphy & Laczniak, 1992; Peterson, 1996). An emerging research theme is the consideration of new-ethical challenges raised by new technologies and online research methods, particularly with regard to issues related to confidentiality and privacy of data (Boyd & Crawford, 2012; Hair & Clark, 2007; Nunan & Di Domenico, 2013). Most of these studies have focused on the interaction between marketing research practitioners and respondents, with few studies conducted around the practitioners’ perspective on their interaction with their clients (i.e. any individual or organisation that requests and commissions a marketing research project). In addition, most of this research stream has been undertaken in the United States, studies in the international context are limited, and those examining the New Zealand marketing research industry are non-existent 36

NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH

(Segal & Giacobbe, 2007). For this reason, this study proposed to identify and examine the ethical issues in the relationships between New Zealand marketing research practitioners and their clients by presenting the marketing research practitioners’ perspective with regard to these issues. The paper investigates whether the ethical issues identified in the literature are present in the New Zealand context, refines our understanding of these issues and identifies new themes to forward our understanding. LITERATURE REVIEW Studies in marketing research ethics can be classified by the type of the dyadic relationship under examination (Giacobbe & Segal, 2000). Consequently, ethical issues involving marketing researchers are generally divided into two main categories: studies that address ethical problems faced when interacting with respondents, which has been extensively examined in the literature, and ethical problems and issues that appear in the relationships with clients. Marketing ethics research focusing on the unethical behaviours undertaken by marketing research organisations and practitioners in their relationships with clients are fewer than those investigating the relationship with the respondents, despite Skinner, Ferrell and Dubinsky (1988) having emphasised that ethical conflict between clients and marketing researchers is prevalent and that these relationships are complex. Skinner et al. (1988) suggest that a better understanding of these ethical conflicts can help establish open and candid client relationships. The importance of generating and maintaining good and ethical client relationships has been discussed in the literature, and Giacobbe and Segal (2000) maintain that the success of the marketing research profession depends on the level of trust built with clients. They also suggest that relationship building has been long recognised in the marketing research industry as important in maintaining and improving the market position and profitability of marketing research firm. Murphy and Laczniak(1992, p.16) identified three main categories of ethical abuse in the relationship between market researchers and clients that can serve to provide a framework for organising our understanding of research in the area providing additional insights in each of the categories. The three categories of ethical issues identified are: 1) research design, 2) the researcher’s responsibility to the client, and 3) the client’s responsibility to the researcher. Ethical Issues in Research Design Ethical issues concerning the design of a research project were brought to the attention by Malhotra and Peterson (2001) and Hunt, Chonko and Wilcox (1984). The literature has found that these issues encompass the integrity of the research design: conducting unnecessary research, researching wrong or irrelevant problems, use of unwarranted shortcuts to secure contracts or save expenses, misrepresentation of limitations of the research design, inappropriate analytical techniques, lack of sufficient expertise to conduct required research, overly technical language in research reports, and overstating validity or reliability of conclusions. Ethical Issues in the Researcher’s Responsibility to the Client The main focus of previous research has been on the researcher’s responsibility to the client and this is responsible for the general focus from the client’s perspective in the VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1, 2014

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wider literature. Those issues that have been identified concern over-billing the project, failure to maintain client confidentiality, failure to avoid possible conflicts of interest, data reliability and accuracy, deception and abuse, ethical issues in the research analysis and the presentation of research findings. The themes explored have related to deliberately withholding information, falsifying figures, altering research results, misusing statistics, and misinterpreting the results of a research project. Some of these issues have been the focus of more in-depth studies, especially those concerning confidentiality and the protection of data sources and the use of research data obtained within the project for a particular client for other projects or clients (Hunt et al., 1984). The fair treatment of outside clients has also focussed on hidden charges, pricing issues, conflicts of interests between research firm and client, and budget issues, such as requiring subcontractors to follow all specifications demanded by clients when costs are running higher than estimated (Hunt et al., 1984). Boggs (2003) reports deceit and abuse in different situations – e.g. in the selection of research, and outcomes of commercial focus groups used to test new product development. On the same note, Michaelides and Gibbs (2006) believe that the potential for ethical wrong-doing exists from research methodology through to research reporting and conclusion drawing. Ethical Issues in the Client’s Responsibility to the Researcher From the extant literature, there has been little exploration of the issues around the client’s responsibility to the researcher. This major part of the research relationship in particular lacks research from the research agent’s perspective. Murphy and Laczniak (1992) identified the inappropriate use of research proposals, disclosure or use of the researcher’s specialised techniques and models, cancellation of the project (or refusal to pay) without cause, conducting research solely to support a priori conclusions, and failure to act upon dangerous or damaging findings, and misuse of research data (Phillips, 2010). Also, there have been situations noted where the client asked the research firm for unfair concessions for the current project by making false promises relating to future research projects (Murphy & Laczniak, 1992; Malhotra & Peterson, 2001). The New Zealand Research Context Although it is apparent that ethical issues in marketing research have received increased attention in recent decades, there are significant limitations to the existing body of knowledge. One significant limitation is that the majority of previous empirical research has been conducted on samples in the United States (Tsalikis & Fritzsche, 1989; Giacobbe & Segal, 2000; 2001; Segal & Giacobbe, 2007; Rottig & Heischmidt, 2007) whilst studies in other countrys’ contexts appear to be scarce. In the context of Australia, in particular, Segal and Giacobbe (2007) claim that no empirical study reported in the marketing literature has focused exclusively on research ethics issues, and there have been no studies based on New Zealand. Consequently, it is not clear whether the issues identified in the literature are the results of local business culture and institutions or reflect systemic issues within the wider industry. Equally, it is not clear whether business cultures and institutions outside of the United States exhibit different ethical issues. To date, no published studies examine the New Zealand marketing research industry and the ethical issues faced by marketing research practitioners. With a generally smaller firm size than the United States and Australia, the New Zealand marketing research industry could have distinctive features. New Zealand practitioners could be faced with distinctive ethical issues as a 38


result of the level of influence and authority they have in the relationships with their clients that may influence their ability to maintain appropriate ethical standards. The research findings presented in this paper represent a first step in understanding the range of ethical issues that New Zealand marketing research practitioners’ face. The Context of Industry Codes of Ethics Codes of ethics are variously described in the literature as codes of conduct, codes of practice, ethical codes, ethical guidelines, operating principles, and so on (Fisher, 2001; Marnburg, 2000; Schlegelmilch & Houston, 1989, cited in Schwartz, 1998). The literature also distinguishes between corporate codes of ethics and professional codes (Kaptein & Schwartz, 2008; Schwartz, 1998; Stevens, 1994) such as codes developed by professional institutions and associations. In New Zealand the Market Research Society of New Zealand (MRSNZ) is the professional body for New Zealand marketing research practitioners. The association has a code of ethics that its members adopted based on the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)/The European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR) International Code on Market and Social Research. This is the ethical code to which the majority of New Zealand marketing research organisations and practitioners subscribe. The joint ESOMAR and ICC code was formed in 1976 after it was agreed that it would be preferable to have a single international code. Following this decision, a joint ICC/ ESOMAR code was published in 1977. The joint code was revised and updated in 1986, 1994 and 2008. The 2008 code clarifies expectations through specific description of acceptable practices in marketing research. The existence of a code highlights the accepted importance of business ethics in the marketing research industry and the fact that there is a perception of widespread ethical problems (Aggarwal et al., 2012; Akaah & Riordan, 1989; Phillips, 2010). The MRSNZ code will be examined alongside the ethical issues raised in the paper to contextualise the issues within the local context. METHODOLOGY This addresses gaps in our current knowledge by addressing the client-researcher relationship from the researcher’s perspective within the New Zealand context. The literature review was used as the basis of constructing a research frame to explore the ethical conflicts perceived by marketing researchers with their clients. This allowed an exploration of whether local relationships were subject to the same ethical issues as those found in the literature largely based on North American samples. A qualitative research approach was used with a semi-structured interview designed to cover the issues identified in the literature and explore any emergent themes. The participants in this study were selected from a wide range of New Zealand marketing research organisations, i.e. large, medium and small organisations as well as members and non-members of the MRSNZ. In order to assess the size of the marketing research industry in New Zealand, a thorough examination of New Zealand businesses databases was conducted. The search identified 97 organisations that are active in the industry (18 large, 8 medium, and 71 small marketing research organisations). Following the stratified purposive sampling procedure, 29 in-depth interviews were undertaken with marketing research practitioners from nine large marketing research organisations (all members of the MRSNZ), five medium marketing research organisations (three members and two nonVOLUME 12, NUMBER 1, 2014

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members of the MRSNZ), and 15 small marketing research organisations (five members and 10 non-members of the MRSNZ). In order to add to the under-researched marketing researcher perspective on industry ethical issues the interviews provided the marketing research practitioners with the opportunity to discuss their views and opinions on situations of ethical conflicts encountered in their relationships with clients. The majority of these participants held managerial positions in which regular contact with clients was required, and all 29 participants had over five years marketing research experience in New Zealand. Qualitative data generated by means of in-depth interviews was analysed to identify different themes in the relationships between practitioners and their clients as regards the ethical problems they encounter, coded against literature and the MRSNZ code of ethics. Specific qualitative data analysis methods, including manual and computer-assisted methods (the nVIVO qualitative analysis software) were used, and new themes coded to analyse the participants’ responses and narratives. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The semi-structured interviews explored the participants’ perceptions of ethical issues and problems they encountered when working with clients. The following sections present research findings related to the MRSNZ code and organised following Murphy and Laczniak’s (1992) framework of research design, the researcher’s responsibility to the client, and the client’s responsibility to the researcher. The two most common themes that emerged from the interview data were ethical issues relating to the identification of respondents and issues related to reporting of research results, both instances of the client’s responsibility to the researcher. In order of prevalence, the other identified themes were the identification of respondents, reporting of research results, release of information to third parties, ownership and access to data, and research design. Although the literature identified many of these classes of issue, the range of issues presented as the client’s responsibility reported here was much higher and covered a broader range of issues. Locally specific concerns were also raised, such as the contextual factor of working within a small industry population. The following sections examine the interview findings and relate the ethical issues to the code of ethics adopted by the MRSNZ, which being based on the ICC/ESOMAR code, also gives the findings broader international comparability. Research Design The professional responsibility of marketing research practitioners to use appropriate scientific principles so that truthful and reliable results are generated and presented in the research findings is emphasised in the MRSNZ code of ethics. Interview participants referred mainly to problems related to the design of survey questions. In these cases, several participants described situations when clients interfered in the design process, instructing the marketing researcher on how to design the questions and what sort of questions to ask. Some examples included those of clients who wanted respondent businesses to identify names of suppliers; another client made unrealistic requests for questions that were too intrusive, and in yet another example the questions that the client wanted to be asked were biased. One participant said: ‘… I’ve got my credibility to think of as a researcher, but I’m also thinking of [client’s] credibility … so we needed to make sure that the questions and the 40


information provided are really very much from a neutral view, that we get as much bias out of it … so that it can be credible.’ The Researcher’s Responsibility to the Client Ethical issues were brought to the attention by a couple of participants around researchers’ responsibility to the client in avoiding conducting unnecessary research (Murphy & Laczniak, 1992). Participants also reported issues around the release of information to third parties. In previous research, these issues are referred to as situations where client confidentiality is not maintained by the marketing research organisation or practitioner (Murphy & Laczniak, 1992) or research data and information obtained within the project for a particular client is used and / or made available to other clients. The MRSNZ code stipulates the requirement that the client’s name and any other information about them are to be kept confidential by the researcher and are not to be disclosed to third parties. Closely related to this ethical issue is the aspect of off-limits clients. Several participants described this issue as purposefully avoiding conducting any research for their clients’ competitors. However, as a few participants explained, doing so can have consequences for the organisation’s future workflow and financial situation, particularly for small organisations; it also proves to be more difficult in a small market, such as New Zealand: ‘We guard ourselves by only working for one supplier or company within an industry... And that has issues. Today we’re finding more and more companies want contracts signed and often those contracts are tied with several years that you cannot work for another competitor for maybe a number of years afterwards.’

‘In a country like New Zealand, it’s very difficult not to bump into each other and often you’ll get into situations where there is a potential conflict of interest.’

Situations of conflicts of interest between marketing research organisations and clients have been identified and discussed in previous research – Hunt et al.(1984) refer to the need to treat outside clients fairly that involves the avoidance of conflicts of interest between the research firm and client; likewise, Murphy and Laczniak (1992) discuss researchers’ responsibility to the client, that of avoiding possible conflicts of interest. The Client’s Responsibility to the Researcher The exploratory nature of this research and the focus on the researcher’s perspective highlighted many issues where marketing researchers identified ethical issues relating to client requests and behaviour. The identification of respondents where the client asked for the names of respondents was the most-recurrent ethical issue that participants referred to in the interviews. In most cases clients wanted to receive information on who said what, or they wanted to be provided with a list of respondent names along with respondents’ comments made within a survey or interview. The responsibility of the marketing researcher in these cases is stipulated in the MRSNZ code, and this identification is not allowed unless prior permission to do so is sought from respondents. This requirement has been emphasised in the latest revised version of the code within the section that states ethical principles specifically related to client relationships, providing clear guidelines about when the disclosure of respondents’ identity is acceptable. All participants stated that they simply refuse to reveal the respondents’ identity or seek to obtain respondents’ permission to do so. VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1, 2014

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Revealing the identity of respondents is an ethical issue that has been identified and discussed within previous research; in some cases this issue is attributed to confidentiality and anonymity issues – i.e. protection of data sources, with the marketing researcher having the responsibility to maintain respondents’ anonymity and treat all personal information collected as confidential (Hunt et al., 1984; Kelley et al., 1990). One New Zealand industry specific issue, however, seems to be the difficulty in maintaining the required level of confidentiality and anonymity due to the smaller scale of some sectors in which research is conducted. One participant explained:

‘I was working on a big proposal recently where we’re doing intensive stakeholder work, and we’d want to be able to inform our client about how people in [various] sectors might view them. We would aim never to divulge information that could easily identify who’d participated, but then when you quote verbatim and little stories and so on, it can get tricky.’

This situation seems to be both an ethical and technical issue related to reporting of results and ability to maintain respondents’ anonymity. Although names that would allow identification of people or organisations are not included in the research findings, due to the small size of specific sectors and markets, there is the concern that deductions about who might have said what may be drawn by clients. This concern asks for closer attention from practitioners when using different styles and ways of handling the research findings. Another issue in the area of anonymity and confidentiality described by participants in the interviews is particularly in relation to qualitative research that involves focus groups and video recordings – i.e. assuring and maintaining participants’ anonymity when clients are there to observe these sessions. In these cases, clients are often asked to sign a confidentiality agreement that binds them to treat any information about participants’ confidentially. Issues relating to the reporting of research results were the second most frequently occurring ethical issue that became apparent from the interview data. The MRSNZ code has clear guidelines on reporting and publishing of research findings. It emphasises the need for the findings of the marketing research project not to be misleading and that the client should consult and obtain the researcher’s consent prior to publication of research findings; in addition, they specify measures to be taken by the researcher in the eventuality that these principles are not adhered to by the client (i.e. refusing permission for the researcher’s name to be used in connection with the published findings, publishing the appropriate technical details of the project, correcting any misleading aspects of the published findings). Despite all these guidelines, participants referred in the interviews to situations when a client puts pressure on the marketing research practitioner to edit the research findings according to their views and agenda and / or to alter the research results. Compared to corporate clients, it was suggested that clients from the public and government sector (i.e. government agencies) are more concerned about the way research outcomes come across and are more likely to want to monitor closely and control the process of editing research findings as they are much more risk averse. This finding has not been reported in the literature from other studies. As suggested by Murphy and Laczniak (1992), another ethical issue related to research findings is clients conducting research solely to support a priori conclusions. One 42


participant described this situation as a case where the client wanted to engage them in conducting research in order to confirm their views on an issue:

‘Basically they wanted us to do some research to confirm a theory they had… they had an agenda which they wanted to follow through and we basically said well the agenda you want to follow through is not what the reality is.’

The marketing research practitioner’s duty is to convey objective and accurate research results (Akaah, 1990; Kelley et al., 1990; Malhotra & Peterson, 2001). One participant explained: ‘…[clients] like to hear that everybody loves their product but I think my ethical obligation to them is to tell them the truth as I know it and to the extent that I can understand it from the data…’ There were also instances relating to the ownership and access to data: the ethical issues participants referred to in this area comprise situations when clients request ownership rights on data collection tools, such as questionnaires, and / or solicit the right to have access to data collected (i.e. interview transcripts; focus group data and videos). Also there were ethical concerns about situations when clients use a questionnaire designed for them by the marketing research organisation/practitioner for internal research purposes. The MRSNZ code includes clear guidelines about what type of documents remain the property of the client (i.e. marketing research briefs, research data and findings) and those that remain in the researcher’s property (i.e. research techniques and methods used in the marketing research project, marketing research proposals, discussion papers and quotations unless these have been paid for by the client, and the contents of a report in the case of syndicated or multi-client projects). Researchers also highlighted the clients’ responsibility to the researcher to treat them fairly (Murphy & Laczniak, 1992.) This is the situation of tenders for research proposals when marketing research organisations feel that the tender process has not been entirely transparent and there was an imbalance between their effort put into the preparation of the proposal and the outcome of the tender:

‘I think that ethically, they could be more responsible in their approach to actually briefing research companies and going through a more rigorous selection process before they ask people to tender.’

This highlights the complex and dynamic nature of the researcher-client relationship. A similar issue was signalled in previous research by Malhotra and Peterson (2001) as a situation in which the client was behaving unethically by not describing clearly the parameters of the research needed and in which the researcher will operate. Table 1 summarises the ethical issues New Zealand marketing practitioners identified in their client relationships, the corresponding ethical guidelines within the MRSNZ code, and the ethical issues identified earlier in the literature review. The results highlight that, although the issues faced by marketing researchers in New Zealand are broadly similar to those identified in the wider literature, there are also New Zealand industry specific issues. The implications of this will be explored in the conclusion.

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Table 1: Ethical issues in client relationships: Literature vs. actual data and corresponding MRSNZ code guidelines PREVIOUS RESEARCH ACTUAL ETHICAL STUDIES ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN THIS STUDY

NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRY SPECIFIC ISSUES

MRSNZ CODE’S GUIDELINES

Research design Malhotra & Peterson (2001) Murphy & Laczniak (1992)

Research design:

Use of appropriate scientific principles so that truthful and reliable results are generated and presented in the research findings

Client’s interference in the survey design process

The researcher’s responsibility to the client Akaah (1990), Boggs (2003) Hunt, Chonko & Wilcox (1984)

Reporting of research results: Integrity of research results

Kelley, Ferrell & Skinner (1990)

Both the client and the researcher have a responsibility to ensure that published results are not misleading; the client should consult and obtain the researcher’s consent prior to publication of findings

Clients from the public and government sectors are more likely to monitor closely and control the process of editing research findings

Malhotra & Peterson (2001) Michaelides & Gibbs (2006) Hunt, Chonko & Wilcox (1984)

Ethical and technical issues related to reporting of results and ability to maintain respondents’ anonymity in small markets and sectors;

Client confidentiality

Murphy & Laczniak (1992)

The case of off-limits clients/conflicts of interests due to the small size of the New Zealand market sectors and organisations

The client’s name and any other information about them are to be maintained confidential by the researcher

Difficulty in maintaining confidentiality in small size sectors in which research is conducted with implications on the reporting of results and ability to maintain respondents’ anonymity

Identification of respondents is not allowed unless prior permission to do so is sought from respondents

The client’s responsibility to the researcher Hunt, Chonko & Wilcox (1984) Kelley, Ferrell & Skinner (1990)

Murphy & Laczniak (1992) Hunt, Chonko & Wilcox (1984) Murphy & Laczniak (1992) Phillips (2010) Hunt, Chonko & Wilcox (1984) Malhotra & Peterson (2001) Murphy & Laczniak (1992) 44

Identification of respondents (clients asking to know respondents’ identity)

Release of information to third parties

The client may not disclose the findings to any third party other than in direct connection with their own business

Ownership and access to data, misuse of research data

The code includes clear ownership principles relating to documents, data, methods and findings Market research shall be conducted with professional responsibility and conform to the principles of fair competition

Other issues: fair treatment of marketing researchers by clients, e.g. fair and transparent tender process, clear description of research parameters


CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS This study set out to examine the ethical issues in marketing research between practitioners and their clients from the perspective of the marketing researcher. The researcher client relationship and the perspective of the researcher in particular have both been underexamined in the literature. This paper has added to the field by providing the first empiricalevidence from New Zealand. The previous literature has so far failed to produce strong conclusions, suggesting that more qualitative research is needed to understand the dynamics involved and more needed to be understood about the specifics of the ethical issues involved. The results of the study found that the two most frequent ethical issues noted by marketing researchers in the practitioner-client relationship are both issues of the client’s responsibility to the researcher. These were the identification of respondents where clients require the respondents’ names and contact details and for the reporting of research results, in cases when clients call for editing or altering of research results to suit pre-determined organisational objectives or agendas. The results showed that these issues are worth further research from both academics and practitioners, as they are being experienced by participants from firms of all sizes and both members and non-members of the MRSNZ. The study also found that other issues of the client’s responsibilities related to the release of information to third parties, ownership and access to data, and research design situations when clients interfered in the research design process, making unrealistic and unethical requests for use of intrusive and biased questions. Rich qualitative data was reported that examines the complex client-researcher relationships. Whilst one limitation of this paper is that these issues were only reported from the under-researched marketing researcher’s perspective, this does suggest that the client perspective should be the focus of future research. As the majority of previous empirical studies have been based on data from the United States this paper also contributes by offering a comparative study making the findings relevant to both New Zealand academics and researchers interested in ethics, and practitioners in general. The findings of this New Zealand study show that regardless of the marketing research organisation’s size, it appears that clients pose similar challenges to practitioners as no significant differences between large, medium and small marketing research organisations were identified with regard to ethical issues faced in client relations. As New Zealand practitioners face the same ethical issues as those identified in overseas studies this confirms with an empirical case the theoretical assumption that these ethical issues may be expected in the industry in different national settings. As a country sharing many Anglo-Saxon cultural characteristics with the United States, further studies could be undertaken in the industry in different national cultural settings, as local cultures and institutions may emphasise particular issues or create new ones. Within the limited context of the current paper, for example, some issues were especially prominent, such as the increased risk around confidentiality due to the small size and nature of the New Zealand market. This finding could also be relevant to relationships in close-knit industries, as well as to other small nation contexts. The finding that public sector clients are more likely to attempt to become involved in the research interpretation process is one that could be persued in other countries, and the causes for this explored, as this may have policy implications. Future comparative studies could examine these issues further. For industry actors in New Zealand and more broadly this paper highlights the importance of improving practitioners’ and clients’ awareness and understanding of ethical issues VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1, 2014

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throughout the industry. This research shows that an industry code, such as the MRSNZ code, is important and that continuous efforts and resources need to be put aside by marketing research organisations to create a greater moral awareness among marketing research practitioners to maintain high ethical standards to avoid conflicts of interests. Ethical issues between marketing research practitioners and their clients can be dealt with and, in many cases, can be avoided, by making sure that marketing research practitioners are fully aware of the existence of the MRSNZ professional code of ethics and its content or a local comparable code. As the MRSNZ code is based on the predominant international code this suggests that in other countries the presence of the code is not in itself sufficient to prevent ethical issues arising. Both professional and industry bodies (such as MRSNZ) and New Zealand marketing research organisations should endeavour to create higher awareness around ethical codes through regular training and workshops focused on potential ethical issues in marketing research and use of ethical codes. At the same time, as stipulated in the MRSNZ code, marketing research practitioners have the obligation to ensure clients are fully aware of the existence of the MRSNZ code and that they comply with the code’s requirements. Many of the ethical issues identified by the participants in this study may be resolved in future by educating the clients with regard to ethical principles and regulations in the marketing research industry. Also, the inclusion in the current MRSNZ code of clearer and more detailed guidelines regarding specific ethical issues, particularly following the emerging online technologies and research methods, such as netnography, the ‘gamification’ of research, and new ethical challenges posed by big data sets, may assist marketing research practitioners in making ethical decisions. The present study has also highlighted the role of trust in relationships between marketing researchers and clients, with the example of cases where ethical conflicts are created around the research design. The literature suggests that close trust-based partnerships could help to resolve such ethical issues as ethical issues become less of a concern when trust is present within these relationships (Malhotra & Peterson, 2001.) These conclusions can be broadened to include industries and business relationships with similar characteristics.

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