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Notes: A multinational study of marketing professionals was conducted in the US, England, Spain and Turkey. Respondents from these countries were compared on various ethics-related constructs such as idealism, relativism, moral intensity and corporate ethical values. Analyses of variance indicated that moral intensity had a signi ?cant impact on both ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. However, corporate ethical values, an idealistic ethical perspective and a relativistic ethical perspective only partially impacted ethical judgments and intentions. Country differences showed that the US was highest in terms of corporate ethical values while being the lowest in terms of relativism and signi?cantly lower than Spain and Turkey in terms of idealism. Turkey was the highest in terms of both idealism and relativism yet lowest in terms of corporate ethical values. Country differences in terms of moral intensity tended to be situation-speci?c. One managerial implication, for ?rms in all four countries, is that a clear set of corporate policies concerning ethics can positively in?uence the behavioral intentions of employees. It is important that employees do not misinterpret the desires of top management where ethical issues are involved.

Notes: With business becoming more international, marketers need to understand the ethical beliefs of foreign consumers because of their effect on the outcomes of market expansion strategies. The ethical judgments of US consumers have been examined, but few studies have investigated similar attitudes in foreign-national settings. To understand the various types of consumer ethics, this exploratory study classifies ethical beliefs by linking Hofstede's cultural taxonomy to personality and ethics. This classification is achieved by comparing ethical judgments of consumers from eight different countries the USA, Ireland, Austria, Egypt, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Australia. Labels for the emergent cultural personality types are also developed. Strategic implications for marketers are then discussed.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this study is to segment the consumer Gulf market based on actionable and strategy yielding marketing variables (i.e. ethical orientations, trust, opportunisms and Machiavellianism). Design/methodology/approach - Consumers from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait were asked to complete a survey which incorporated scales to measure consumers' ethical beliefs, Machiavellianism, ethical orientation, opportunism, trust, as well as demographic classification questions. Specifically, every attempt was made to have a broad distribution across the demographic categories of gender, age and education. Participation in the study was restricted to citizens of their respective nations. Local "data captains" were selected in each nation and trained in data collection techniques by two of the study's authors. Of the 598 questionnaires distributed, a total of 365 usable surveys were yielding an overall response rate of 61 percent. A multistage clustering approach was incorporated in order to identify the unique ethical consumer segments. Findings - The analysis resulted in three distinct segments/clusters: "Principled Purchasers", "Suspicious Shoppers" and "Corrupt Consumers". Members of the Principled Purchasers segment tended to be less Machiavellianistic, less opportunistic, more trusting of others, less relativistic, more idealistic and perceived questionable actions in a negative light. Suspicious Shoppers were less trusting, tended to proceed with caution in their dealings, were somewhat opportunistic but placed a high emphasis on ethical behavior. Like the Suspicious Shoppers, the Corrupt Consumers were not trusting individuals. Unlike Suspicious Shoppers, however, Corrupt Consumers were Machiavellianistic, took advantage of opportunities, were not ethically oriented and were more likely to act in an unethical manner. Research limitations/implications - Future studies should attempt to obtain data from a more diverse sample in the Middle East. Social desirability bias may have been a factor in response to some of the questions resulting in respondents providing the socially desirable response in order to appear ethical. Future studies should examine the inclusion of measures for controlling such bias. Practical implications - Companies should alter their marketing approach depending upon the segment being targeted. Companies focusing on "Principled Purchasers" should emphasize customer satisfaction and honesty in their transactions. "Suspicious Shoppers" are best appealed to by companies who can create a mutually satisfying relationship in which both parties benefit. In conducting business with "Corrupt Consumers", international marketing managers must be aware of situations in which this group might try to exploit or deceive the firm, such as used or altered returns, product theft, illegal consumption or other immoral/illegal activities; all of which are costly to the organization and, ultimately, the general public at large. Originality/value - Despite the socio-economic similarities among Gulf countries (levels of income, market size, religion, language, etc.), important micro level differences exist and are often overlooked. Ignoring such differences may steer multinational firms towards the adoption of a simple and less expensive standardized marketing strategy across the region.

Notes: When countries differ in the perceived quality of their products, country-of-origin (CO) labelling influences consumer choice. While the influence of nationalism on perceived quality has been well documented in the literature, the effect of worldmindedness has not been examined in this context. Primarily explores the role of worldmindedness in product quality perception. Confirms the impact of CO and nationalism on product evaluation. In studying 593 Austrian consumers, the research finds the effect of CO is moderated by the characteristics of consumer groups. Reveals that the effect of worldmindedness on product evaluation is enhanced for foreign products and is diminished for domestic products, however, the impact of nationalism on product evaluation is enhanced for domestic products and is diminished for foreign products. Suggests promotional and positioning implications for targeting both groups.

Notes: Given the ever-increasing globalization of economies, growing numbers of marketing firms are expecting more of their profits to be derived from international sales. Global competition is ferocious; thus, developing long-term partner relationships often becomes a significant competitive advantage. Corporate ethics are of pivotal importance in global business, though globalization also complicates ethical questions, because an individual's culture affects his/her ethical decision making. Failures to account for the effects of differences in consumers' culturally-based ethical values will hinder a marketer's efforts to expand internationally. Compares consumers from Malaysia and the USA in terms of their perceptions of marketing ethics situations, their attitudes toward business and salespeople, and their personal moral philosophies. The survey results reveal some significant differences between the consumers from these two countries.

Notes: Entrepreneurs interested in entering different cultures andcountries can be confronted with a bewildering array of differences inmoral values. This situation is indicated by past research that hasexamined the moral judgements of American consumers, but has directedlittle or no effort towards investigating such attitudes inforeign-market settings with the intent to assist the entrepreneur inunderstanding differences across cultures. Compares attitudes ofconsumers in two different countries (Northern Ireland and Hong Kong)who share a common environment of colonialism. Uses a theoreticalthree-stage typology of moral development to establish hypotheses andexplain the results of this study. The findings reveal Irish consumersto be less sensitive to consumer ethical issues and less idealistic thanthe Hong Kong consumers. However, there was no difference between thesurvey groups with regard to relativism and Machiavellianism. Culture,competition, economics, war and terrorism might be factors that explainsuch differences, as well as similarities, between the two consumergroups.

Notes: In recent years, business ethics has drawn increased interest from business and marketing practitioners as well as from academicians. Despite the repeated call in the literature for cross-cultural research in this age of globalization, virtually no studies have examined the ethical beliefs and ideologies of foreign consumers and compared them to those of US consumers. Investigates the ethical beliefs, preferred ethical ideology and degree of Machiavellianism of US versus Egyptian consumers. Concludes that while US consumers appear generally less likely to accept various questionable consumer practices than Egyptian consumers, they are more likely to reject moral absolutes.