Ethical Dilemma and Marketing Decisions: A Case Analysis of Food Products

Abstract

This paper attempts to examine the ethical dilemmas faced by the managers in making decisions in the marketing of food products. In the prevailing business environment, most of the organisations primarily aim to optimize profits in the long term survival what has emerged critical for feel-factor among the existing and prospective consumers and commitment among employees. A decade ago concept of ethical marketing was restricted to few known companies or selected brands but as a general marketing phenomenon it is only in the recent times that it has come to be accepted as critical to sustaining long term growth of the business across the global marketing spectrum. The dictates of the intense competition and global access to the goods and services have made ‘social responsibility’ as the cardinal mantra for transacting business. In the emerging market scenario, business practices and transparency in the market are not only found to be essential but have also become a basic requirement under the existing laws of the land and as such the role of marketers in decision making functions has changed under emerging new realities.

Full text

ETHICAL DILEMMA AND MARKETING DECISIONS:
A CASE ANALYSIS OF FOOD PRODUCTS
Naresh Sharma*
Abstract This paper attempts to examine the ethical dilemmas faced by the managers in making decisions in the marketing of food
products. In the prevailing business environment, most of the organisations primarily aim to optimize prots in the long term survival what
has emerged critical for feel-factor among the existing and prospective consumers and commitment among employees. A decade ago concept
of ethical marketing was restricted to few known companies or selected brands but as a general marketing phenomenon it is only in the recent
times that it has come to be accepted as critical to sustaining long term growth of the business across the global marketing spectrum. The
dictates of the intense competition and global access to the goods and services have made ‘social responsibility’ as the cardinal mantra for
transacting business. In the emerging market scenario, business practices and transparency in the market are not only found to be essential
but have also become a basic requirement under the existing laws of the land and as such the role of marketers in decision making functions
has changed under emerging new realities.
Keywords Ethical Challenges, Marketing Decisions, Food Products, Legal Issues, Exploitation.
PROLOGUE
Till recent past concept of ethical marketing was restricted
to few well-known companies or selected brands but as a
practicing marketing code across the world more so in
Indian context it was hardly being adhered to. However
in the recent times growing public debate and stringent
legislative measures adopted in different part of the world
fair trade practices for the benet of the consumers has
become mandatory in conduct of business. Ethical and fair
practices in marketing are now a cardinal mantra and are
being accepted as critical for sustaining long term growth
of the business across the global marketing spectrum. The
pressure of intense competition and global access to the
goods and services has made ‘social responsibility’ core
value for transacting business. In the emerging market
scenario, business practices and transparency in the market
are not only found to be essential but have also become basic
requirement under the existing laws of the land.
Ethical marketing is an honest and factual representation of
a product, delivered in a framework of cultural and social
values for the consumer. Fair trade is the trust and the faith
which a company is able to generate among the consumers,
which goes a long way to establish brand loyalty. Consumers
perceive that what they pay is just a price for the purchases
being made by them and meets the qualitative requirements
of the product as claimed by the seller. Factor inputs used to
manufacture goods and services and as a consequence the
environmental benets which accrue for ensuring a healthy
balance between business and ecology which is perceived to
be ethically sound.
In today’s life parameters across the global frontiers, ethical
practices are mandated by a universal charter to protect the
gullible humans from exploitation of prot-seekers. As a
consequence business ethics form an important component
in making goods and services available to the consumers
who otherwise would not be aware about the intended
malpractices of sellers aiming to make a quick prot thereby
adversely impacting healthy balance between the growth
of the business and well being of the society. Prevalence of
unethical marketing practices often impregnate the entire
social fabric with mistrust, deceit and the acrimony which
may undo the efforts made by government and business
sector to enhance the value of delivered products or services
to the end customer. To arrest the deteriorating state of
social psyche which is detrimental to all forces of growth
and development, it becomes imperative for people and
government to stop or even penalize all those who violate
the basic ethical norm of “greatest good to greatest number”.
The unethical practices adopted by some manufacturers
and marketers of goods and services cannot be controlled
by government or legislative measures alone but have to be
countered by awakened public consciousness and awareness
of the rights and privileges of consumers. It would bind them
together as unied force to prevent exploitation practices of
unscrupulous traders. The protection of consumer rights is
now a constitutional propriety for which there is provision
for legal and compensation remedy.
* Assistant Professor, The Management School, Kathua Campus, University of Jammu, India. E mail: sharmank14@gmail.com,
Sharmank14@rediffmail.com
Article can be accessed online at http://www.publishingindia.com

Ethical Dilemma and Marketing Decisions: A Case Analysis of Food Products 25
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The foundation of business success lies in the relationship
between the marketers and customers as both are reliant
on each other. In the changing business scenario where
consumers are well informed and conscious in making
buying decisions, it has become intricate for the marketers
to deceive consumers for long to earn hefty prots. It indeed
has forced the marketers to abide by all the prescribed
ethical and legal norms to create an environment of trust,
harmony, and reciprocity with consumers. The changing
industry developments have created a great challenge for
the marketers of the food products to create afrmative
image to win market share. The focus of this review was
on the ethical marketing research that has been published
from 1978 through 2012. Despite lot of challenges, ethical
marketing continued to grow as a specic sub-discipline
within marketing (Fern and Brown’s, 1984). In the 1970s
signicant research was conducted to describe the beliefs
of managers about marketing ethics where they found
young managers went along with their supervisors to show
loyalty in dealing with matters related to judgments on
morality (Bowman, 1976; Carroll, 1975). Another study
providing insights into organisational relationships that
inuence marketing mangers’ ethical beliefs and behaviour
indicated that respondents perceived the ethical standards
of their peers and top management lower than their
own standards (Ferrell and Weaver, 1978). Empirical
research in the 1970s set the stage for framework that
described ethical decision making within the context
of a marketing organisation. Further, “A Contingency
Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making
in Marketing” emphasised the interaction of the individual
and organisation, including organisation culture, co-
workers, and opportunity to explain how ethical decisions
are made (Ferrell and Gresham, 1985). Most of the
propositions in this model had been tested to provide a
grounded understanding of ethical decision making. “A
General Theory of Marketing Ethics” which has wider
acceptance provides us an empirically grounded model
to illustrate how ethical decision making occurs in an
organisation (Hunt and Vitell, 1986). Research followed in
both marketing and management literature had helped to
test the Ferrell and Gresham, and Hunt and Vitell models
(Hunt and Vitell, 2005). The research by Murphy built a
normative framework for relational marketing exchanges
based on the ethical exchange dimensions of trust, equality,
responsibility, and commitment (Gundlach and Murphy,
1993). They developed a foundational understanding of the
interrelationship of ethics and law in marketing exchange.
This was a signicant contribution because some observers
attained the viewpoint that the legal and ethical dimensions
of exchange are independent. The ndings concluded
that ethical marketing exchanges require a managerial
emphasis on ethical corporate culture, ethics training
programs, and ethical audits. Integrative Social Contract
Theory (ISCT) linked the decision-making process,
multiple communities, hyper norms, and ethical judgments
based on the dominant legitimate norms. The framework
developed can be used for resolving ethical issues that arise
among different stakeholders because marketers frequently
engage them self in boundary-spanning relationships and
cross-cultural activities. This normative framework was
signicant to marketing as it emphasized on the symbiotic
relationship between the rm and its stakeholders, including
the right to exist and even prosper in society. This theory
can be used to bridge normative and descriptive research
in marketing ethics (Dunfee, Smith and Ross, 1999).
Further a study revealed that there are seven types of
marketing practices which are used by the marketers and
their practitioners consider none of them unethical as all of
them are successful. These marketing practices are treated as
creative devices by smaller and regional focused businesses
to improve the sale of goods and services (Withey, 2011).
NEED OF THE STUDY
The present study is an exploratory initiative to formulate
a holistic mechanism whereby it could be possible to
suggest policy initiatives both at the governmental and non-
governmental level to arrest unethical practices in business.
This study has attempted to identify measures which
should help to create an environment of trust, harmony
and reciprocity between the consumers and marketers as
ofcial reports and published evidences has conrmed about
massive adulteration and price manipulation in food products
in the rural markets of J&K state and at country level. The
study was conducted in two districts of Jammu province
i.e., district Jammu and district Doda for undertaking eld
survey among the sample respondents in context of select
food products. The study has made an in depth analysis
of the problems of ethical issues in all its dimensions of
marketing and distribution of goods and services. An attempt
has been made to identify means which could check the
economic exploitation of the innocent consumers which in
certain cases has proved to be life threatening. The canvass
of suggestions in the study covers both the legislative and
social measures to prescribe commensurate punishment to
violators. There is dearth of literature on ethical marketing
practices particularly in Indian context. On the basis of
research gap emerged from the review of literature, the
present study examines the perceptions of marketers about
marketing ethics especially in three types of food products
viz. Edible Oils, Food Grains and Milk and Milk products.
OBJECTIVES
1. To make an in-depth analysis of marketing practices
followed by the marketers of food products.

26 International Journal of Business Ethics in Developing Economies Volume 2 Issue 2 December 2013
2. To conduct gap analysis in terms of compliance and
violations of the ethical standard practices.
3. To study the impact of ethical practices on marketing
decisions.
4. To suggest suitable measures to strengthen compliance
to fair business practices.
HYPOTHESES
H1 Marketers do not follow ethical norms in the
distribution of food products.
H2 There is a gap in terms of prescribed and practiced
legal and ethical norms.
Table 1: Demographic Analysis of Marketers
Variables Frequency Percentage
Age
Between 20-30 12 6.15
31-40 76 38.97
41-50 59 30.26
51- Above 48 24.62
Gender
Male 195 100
Female - -
Qualication
10th 3 1.54
12th 23 11.79
Graduation 133 68.21
PG & Above 36 18.46
Number of Employees
0-10 40 20.51
11-20 56 28.72
21-30 56 28.72
31-Above 43 22.05
Experience
0-5 18 9.23
6-10 37 18.97
11-15 74 37.95
16-above 66 33.85
Monthly Sales
0 - 25 Lacs 49 25.13
25 - 50 Lacs 62 31.79
50-75 Lacs 34 17.44
75- Above 50 25.64
Member of Association
Yes 195 100
Code of Ethics
No 4.00 2.05
Yes 191.00 97.95
Do Govt. Agencies Visits
No 4 2.05
Yes 191 97.95

Ethical Dilemma and Marketing Decisions: A Case Analysis of Food Products 27
H3 There is a positive relationship between ethical
practices and marketing decisions.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The logical steps in research process after the formulation
of research objectives, identication of research hypotheses
and generation of scale items, have been designed in such a
manner that the requisite data collected can be analysed in
conformity with the laid down objectives and hypotheses.
The present research study being exploratory in nature,
based upon both secondary and primary data. The secondary
data have been taken from books, journals, magazines, and
the Internet. The primary data have been collected by using a
specically developed questionnaire based upon ve points
Likert Scale from marketers selected through census method.
Questionnaire Design and Development
The nal draft questionnaire was adapted from the scale
used by Vitell, Rallapalli, and Singhapakdi (1993) by
making needed changes in the dimensions formulated using
the same scale consisting of items covering six dimensions
viz. Pricing Norms, Information Norms, Product Quality
and Promotion Norms, Legal/Awareness and Obligation
Norms, General Honesty and Integrity Norms and Product
Quality and Packaging Norms. The questionnaire was based
on demographic items and other items based upon ve point
Likert scale ranging from 5 to 1 (5<…..>1) where 5 means
strongly agree and 1 means strongly disagree.
Data Collection
Present research is an in-depth study about the ethical
practices followed by the marketers in the marketing of
goods to the consumers. The study also examines the extent
of compliance to the established legal and ethical norms
by the marketers. For this purpose 195 marketers were
contacted dealing with the marketing of food products viz.
Edible Oils, Food Grains and Milk and Milk products. The
marketers were contacted by using census method in two
districts of Jammu province i.e., district Jammu and district
Doda.
STATISTICAL TOOLS USED
For analysing data and testing the hypothesis, various
statistical tools and tests such as mean, standard deviation,
exploratory factor analysis, correlation, ANOVA, one Sample
t-test and independent t-test were used. The exploratory factor
analysis was used for data reduction and data purication.
It was carried out by using Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS, 17.0 Version) with principal component
analysis along with varimax rotation for summerisation
of total data of six dimensions into minimum factors. The
statements having factor loadings less than 0.5 and Eigen
value less than 1 were ignored for further analysis.
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY
To check the internal consistency in the data collected the
reliability tests viz. Cronbach’s Alpha and Split half values
Table 2: ANOVA Analysis
Dimensions Sum of
Squares Df Mean
Square F Sig.
Age
Between Groups 1.573 3 0.524 14.593 <0.05
Within Groups 6.863 191 0.036
Total 8.436 194
Education
Between Groups 0.374 3 0.125 2.952 <0.05
Within Groups 8.062 191 0.042
Total 8.436 194
No. of Employees
Between Groups 0.216 3 0.072 1.677 >0.05
Within Groups 8.219 191 0.043
Total 8.436 194
Experience
Between Groups 1.248 3 0.416 11.056 <0.05
Within Groups 7.188 191 0.038
Total 8.436 194
Monthly Sales
Between Groups 0.453 3 0.151 3.615 <0.05
Within Groups 7.983 191 0.042
Total 8.436 194

28 International Journal of Business Ethics in Developing Economies Volume 2 Issue 2 December 2013
have been worked out. The split half analysis has been
examined by dividing the data of respondents into two equal
halves. The value of Cronbach’s Alpha came to be above .7
which also proves reliability of the data. The content validity
has been established by evaluating the relevance of test items
individually and as a whole by consulting the literature on
the subject and discussions with the experts.
RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE
Marketers: The survey was conducted on one hundred and
ninety-ve (195) marketers selected as respondents through
census method. All the respondents were male whereas sixty
eight percent of them were graduates (68%). Almost all the
marketers (97%) think that they follow code of ethics while
dealing with consumers and most of them responded that
govt. agencies regularly visit their premises.
ANOVA ANALYSIS
For nding the signicant mean differences in various
demographic variables viz. age, education, number of
employees, experience and monthly sales, ANOVA has been
applied on all the dimensions viz. price and distribution
norms, information and contract norms, product and
promotion norms, legal and obligation norms, general
honesty and integrity norms, and product quantity and
packaging norms. The following table exhibits the overall
analysis for marketers.
FACTOR ANALYSIS
Analysis of marketers’ perception about the ethical practices
being followed by them in the select food product category
viz. milk and milk products was carried out by considering
all the six dimensions separately. Factor analysis was carried
out on different norms such as: pricing, information, product
quality and promotion, legal awareness and obligation,
general honesty and integrity, product quantity and packaging.
Step by step, process of data purication was carried out for
each dimension. After factor analysis, fourteen factors were
tested for empirical analysis which included distribution,
pricing, code of ethics, promotion, product policy, customer
response, adulteration and deception, obligation, legal
awareness, ethical products, social-honesty, quantity and
packaging.
Pricing and Distribution Norms
This dimension covered two factors namely Distribution
Policy and Pricing Practices
Factor 1) - Distribution Policy: This factor included ve
items viz. “Manipulating the availability for Exploitation”,
“Use pressure in Selling”, “Undue Inuence”, “Predatory
Pricing”, and “Price Discrimination”. Factor Loading of this
factor ranges from 0.73 to 0.88. About 80% of the marketers
conrmed that they didn’t manipulate the availability of
products to exploit consumers (M= 2.19) and 60% of them
declined about using any pressure in selling (2.63). About
66% of the marketers denied about using any inuence over
the channel members (2.42) whereas half of the respondents
believed that they didn’t indulge in price discrimination
(2.61).
Factor 2) - Pricing Practices: This factor took in “Charge
fair Price” and “Charge hidden Costs”. Majority of the
marketers (90%) opined that they charged fair price (3.91)
but 68% of them confessed that they charged hidden costs
(3.68).
Information and Contract Norms
This dimension covered one factor viz. “Code of Ethics”.
Factor 1) Code of Ethics: This factor encompassed six items
viz. “Information regarding risk associated with Product”,
“Provide accurate Information”, “Practice professional Code
of Ethics”, “Issue Bills”, “Meet obligations mentioned on
the Bills”, and “Access to all varieties of Products”. Almost
all the marketers acknowledged that they provided all the
information regarding risks associated with the products
(4.52) and 90% of the respondents believed that they
provided accurate information to the consumers and channel
members (4.36). Every marketer claimed that they practiced
a professional code of ethics in carrying out their business
activities (4.36) and 90% of them believed that they issued
bills for every sale (4.22). Most of the marketers admitted
that they provided access to all the varieties of the products
available with them (4.38).
Product Quality and Promotion Norms
This dimension covered four factors viz. “Promotion Policy”,
“Product Quality”, “Customer Reaction”, and “Adulteration
and Deception”.
Factor 1 - Promotion Policy: Promotional activities dene the
very success of a company and it depends on how effectively
they choose promotional strategies to communicate with the
consumers and project an afrmative image of the company
and its products on the consciousness of the consumers. This
factor has covered ve statements viz. “Adulteration for
Prots”, “Conform to prescribed Standards”, “Misleading
Advertisements”, “High pressure sales tactics”, and “Sales
promotions using deception must be avoided”. Majority of
the marketers (90%) assumed that they avoided adulteration
for prots (4.14) and 95% of them deemed that they abided
by the prescribed standards (4.30). Almost all the marketers

Ethical Dilemma and Marketing Decisions: A Case Analysis of Food Products 29
believed that misleading advertising should be avoided as
this hampers the condence of consumers in products and
brings hesitation in shopping (4.31); 95% considered that
high pressure sales tactics should be avoided (4.30).
Factor 2 – Product Quality: Earlier market was ooded
with adulterated and counterfeit products so that uninformed
consumers got cheated by the marketers especially in rural
areas. But changing scenario in the urban markets is posing
a tough challenge for the marketers to stay in business. This
factor covers two items viz. “Safe Products” and “Offer
quality products”. Almost all the marketers admitted that
they offered safe products to the consumers (4.52) and many
of them rmly accepted that offering quality products to the
consumers are now mandatory to stay in business (4.51).
Factor 3 - Customer Reaction: Well-informed customers
are very fastidious in making buying decisions which
creates a challenging proposition for the marketers to win
their market-share and earn prots. This factor has covered
two items viz. “Loyalty to quality brands than others” and
“Stop buying products produced unethically”. Most of the
marketers conrmed that customers are loyal to quality
brands and it is very difcult to persuade them for other/
local brands (4.33); about three-fourths of them disclosed
that customers stop buying products when they come to
know that they are produced in an unethical manner (3.75).
Factor 4 –Adulteration and Deception: Due to precipitous
increase in market demand for food products, opportunities
for sellers has increased manifold to sell counterfeit products
in the market. This factor encompasses two items viz.
“Adulteration to meet Market Demand” and “Deceptive
Communication to persuade Customers”. When asked about
adulteration of products to meet the market demand, 63%
of the marketers out-rightly replied no (2.51), whereas half
of them denied using deceptive communication to persuade
customers (2.99).
Legal and Obligation Norms
This dimension covered three factors viz. “Obligation”,
“Legal Awareness” and “Ethical Products”.
Factor 1 – Obligation: This factor covered ve items viz.
“Consider Complaints”, “Obligation towards Consumers”,
“Maintain hygienic Conditions”, “Always adhere to
applicable Laws”, and “Sell adulterated products due to
consumers Ignorance”. Most of the marketers (95%) agreed
that they took care of customer complaints (4.56) and 97% of
them claimed that they understood their obligation towards
the channel members and consumers (4.44). Almost all the
marketers admitted that they followed all the applicable laws
and regulations (4.59) and three-fourths of them thought that
they had succeeded in selling adulterated products due to
customers’ ignorance (4.07).
Factor 2 - Legal Awareness: This factor comprised of
four items namely “Knowledge about Consumer Protection
Act.”, “Consumers confront for unethical Practices”, “Legal
action for unethical Practices”, and “Respect social and
cultural Values”. Three-fourths of the respondents accepted
that they had knowledge of Consumer Protection Act (3.89)
and 70% of them agreed that consumers confronted with
them for following unethical practices (3.67). About 90% of
the marketers deemed that govt. authorities took action if
they followed unethical practices (3.99); but most of them
admitted that they respected their social and cultural values
(4.26).
Factor 3 - Ethical Products: This factor included two
items namely “Consumers are willing to pay more for
ethical products” and “Ethically produced products have
better acceptance”. About 90% of the marketers sensed that
consumers were willing to pay more for ethically produced
products (3.25) and 80% believed that ethically produced
food products had better acceptance (4.11) than others.
General Honesty and Integrity Norms
This dimension has covered two factors viz. “Social Values”,
and “Honesty”.
Factor 1 - Social Values: This factor covered ve items
viz. “Honest in serving your Consumers”, “Always give
priorities to customer Needs”, “Offer products which are
good for Health”, “Sell products well before the expiry
date”, and “Offer products having nutritive value”. Most of
the marketers accepted that they were honest in serving the
consumers (4.36) and always gave priority to customer’s
needs (4.40). Almost all the marketers (95%) confessed that
they offered products which were good for the consumer’s
health (4.38) and sold products well before the expiring date
(4.49).
Factor 2 - Honesty: This factor encompassed two items
namely “Treat all customers equally” and “Honest in
serving Distributors and Consumers”. Most of the marketers
accepted that they treated all the customers equally (4.30)
and believed that they were honest in serving channel
members (4.49).
Product Quantity and Packaging Norms
This dimension covered two factors viz. “Quantity” and
“Packaging Policy”.
Factor 1 - Quantity: This factor considered three items
namely “Maintain adequate quantity of Product”, “Offer the
same quantity as Mentioned”, and “Accurate information
on the Package”. Almost all the marketers conrmed that
they provided accurate information on the package (4.42)

30 International Journal of Business Ethics in Developing Economies Volume 2 Issue 2 December 2013
Table 3: Factor Analysis
Dimension Factors Mean Std.
Dev.
Factor
Lo. Comn. E.V. % of V. Ex.
Price and Distribu-
tion Norms
Factor 1 Distribution Policy 2.54
3.30 47.25
Manipulation of availability for exploitation 2.19 0.87 0.81 0.70
Use pressure in selling 2.64 1.07 0.77 0.67
Undue Inuence 2.43 0.96 0.88 0.80
Use predatory pricing 2.82 1.09 0.73 0.63
Price discrimination 2.62 1.08 0.80 0.64
Factor 2 Pricing Practices 3.64
1.43 20.49
Charge fair Price 3.92 0.62 0.74 0.61
Charge hidden Costs 3.36 1.04 0.80 0.70
Overall Mean and Variance Explained 3.09 67.74
Information and
Contract Norms
Factor 1 Code of Ethics 4.38
4.69 66.94
Information regarding risk associated with product 4.52 0.50 0.80 0.63
Provide accurate information 4.36 0.48 0.94 0.89
Practice professional code of ethics 4.36 0.48 0.94 0.89
Issue bills 4.23 0.73 0.74 0.54
Meet obligations mentioned on the bills 4.42 0.49 0.89 0.79
Access to all varieties of products 4.39 0.54 0.87 0.76
Overall Mean and Variance Explained 4.38 66.94
Product and Pro-
motion Norms
Factor 1 Promotion Policy 4.25
3.89
30.38
Adulteration is common for prots 4.14 0.58 0.65 0.63
Always conform to prescribed standards 4.30 0.53 0.69 0.55
Misleading advertisements 4.31 0.46 0.91 0.89
High pressure sales tactics 4.30 0.46 0.91 0.89
Sales promotions using deception must be avoided 4.22 0.67 0.83 0.74
Factor 2 Product Quality 4.51
1.90 16.21Offer safe products 4.52 0.50 0.93 0.88
Offer quality products 4.51 0.50 0.75 0.82
Factor 3 Customer Reaction 4.04
1.36 15.36Loyalty to quality brands than others 4.33 0.68 0.81 0.75
Stop buying products produced unethically 3.75 1.04 0.85 0.76
Factor 4 Adulteration and Deception 2.75
1.09 13.05Adulterate products to meet market demand 2.51 1.11 0.79 0.71
Use deceptive communication 2.99 1.31 0.77 0.63
Overall Mean and Variance Explained 3.89 75.00
and provided exactly the same quantity as mentioned on the
package (4.31).
Factor 2 - Packaging Policy: This factor encompassed three
items viz. “Avoid deceptive Packaging”, “Avoid deceptive
labeling” and “Underweighting the products”. About 90%
of the marketers declared that they avoided deceptive
packaging and leveling (4.34) and denied underweighting
the products (1.89).
HYPOTHESES TESTING
Objective1: To make an in-depth analysis of marketing
practices followed by the marketers of food products.
H1 Manufacturers and marketers do not follow ethical
norms in the distribution of goods and services.
For testing H1 hypothesis, one sample t-test was applied.
The results of t-test reveal signicant difference (0.92)
between the test value (3) and the actual mean (3.92). The

Ethical Dilemma and Marketing Decisions: A Case Analysis of Food Products 31
Legal and Obliga-
tion Norms
Factor 1 Obligation Norms 4.42
4.47 35.56
Consider Complaints 4.56 0.55 0.90 0.83
Obligation towards consumers 4.44 0.55 0.94 0.92
Maintain hygienic conditions 4.44 0.55 0.91 0.89
Always adhere to applicable Laws 4.59 0.54 0.86 0.74
Sells adulterated products due to consumers igno-
rance 4.07 0.79 0.59 0.54
Factor 2 Legal Awareness 3.95
2.22 22.41
Knowledge about Consumer Protection Act. 3.89 0.64 0.61 0.42
Consumers confront for unethical Practices 3.67 0.86 0.82 0.77
Legal action for unethical Practices 3.99 0.45 0.80 0.67
Respect social and cultural values 4.26 0.44 0.70 0.53
Factor 3 Ethical Products 3.68
1.12 13.08Consumers willing to pay more for ethical products 3.25 1.10 0.89 0.82
Ethically produced products has better acceptance 4.11 0.69 0.55 0.67
Overall Mean and Variance Explained 4.02 71.05
General Honesty
and Integrity
Norms
Factor 1 Social Norms 4.41
4.63 54.24
Honest in serving your consumers 4.36 0.48 0.82 0.82
Always give priorities to customer needs 4.40 0.49 0.87 0.91
Offer products which are good for health 4.38 0.58 0.80 0.65
Sell products well before the expiry date 4.49 0.50 0.89 0.81
Offer products having nutritive value 4.43 0.50 0.87 0.81
Factor 2 Honesty Norms 4.40
1.04 26.80Treat all customers equally 4.30 0.72 0.93 0.88
Honest in serving distributors and consumers 4.49 0.50 0.78 0.79
Overall Mean and Variance Explained 4.41 81.04
Product Quan-
tity and Packaging
Norms
Factor 1 Quantity 4.32
3.23 46.22
Maintain adequate quantity of product 4.23 0.53 0.90 0.86
Offer the same quantity as mentioned 4.31 0.46 0.92 0.89
Accurate information on the package 4.42 0.49 0.91 0.83
Factor 2 Packaging Policy 3.48
1.20 27.74
Avoid deceptive packaging 4.34 0.66 0.66 0.68
Avoid deceptive labeling 4.22 0.90 0.78 0.66
Underweight the products 1.89 0.80 0.72 0.52
Overall Mean and Variance Explained 3.90 73.96
Table 4: One sample t test of Ethical Norms for Managers
Managers N Mean Std. Deviation t Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference
Ethical Norms 195 3.92 .21 62.266 194 <0.05 .9298
value of t is 62.266 with signicance < 0.05 which validates
the hypothesis for its acceptance that manufacturers and
marketers do not follow ethical norms.
Objective 2: To conduct gap analysis in terms of compliance
and violations of the ethical standard practices.
H2 There is a gap in terms of prescribed and practiced
legal and ethical norms.
For testing H2 hypothesis, independent t-test has been
applied. The results of t-test depict signicant difference (t=
11.57, Sig. < 0.05) between prescribed and practiced ethical
and legal norms which validates that the hypothesis is
accepted and there is a signicant gap in terms of prescribed
and practiced ethical norms.

32 International Journal of Business Ethics in Developing Economies Volume 2 Issue 2 December 2013
Objective 3: To study the impact of ethical practices and
marketing decisions.
H3: There is a positive relationship between ethical
practices and marketing decisions.
To examine the association between ethical practices
and marketing decisions, Pearson Correlation has been
applied. The results indicate positive association between
ethical practices and marketing decisions (r = 0.446, Sig. <
0.05) which validate the hypothesis that there is a positive
relationship between ethical practices and marketing
decisions.
CONCLUSION
This research has sought to take a fresh look at the ethical
challenges faced by the marketers in decision making in the
marketing of food products. The study reveals that most
of the marketers’ follow deceptive marketing practices
and conceal the limitations of products due to consumers’
ignorance. Thus, there is a need to have a regular and
effective vigilance over the marketers’ practices to check the
unethical marketing practices and those who indulge into it
should be prosecuted under the existing laws of the land. The
appropriate public and legal authorities need to play their
role by creating awareness among the consumers about their
rights and how to lodge a complaint and seek compensation
in case they become victims of unethical practices. State
government must evolve a comprehensive public awareness
campaign for informing general public about the redressal
mechanism and institutions available at district or state level
which address to the unethical trade practices.
To uphold consumer goodwill, loyalty and the resultant
captive market share, marketing practices have to conform to
the ethical norms and standards operative in local and global
environment. However, the moral and ethical compassion
can be developed among the marketers by developing the
code of conduct for them so that they can avoid legal and
punitive action and can create credible public image and
goodwill in the market.
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