Ethical perspectives : Are future marketers any different?

The notion of ethics in business continues to receive considerable attention. Many universities and professional organizations have attempted to address the issue of ethics by adding ethics courses to the curriculum and by creating codes of ethics for individuals working in that field. A study of students in Australia has shown that students majoring in marketing are more prone to less-than-ethical behavior than are other students. In an attempt to better understand the attitudes of future marketers in the US, we examine the attitudes of marketing majors in terms of an ethical practices code and with respect to a set of ethical value statements. The ethical perspectives of marketing majors are compared to those of other business majors. In addition, the effect of taking a course in ethics is examined.