Marketing ethics in the wholesale and retail sector: empirical evidence from Ethiopia (a qualitative inquiry)

Research on the subject of marketing ethics has already been a neglected area. There is a lack of research in the field, especially from the developing world. Thus, this study explored the marketing ethics practice and perceptions of marketing practitioners in the wholesale and retail sector in a developing world context. A qualitative method was employed involving 35 interviews (based on the concept of saturation) with respondents (marketing practitioners) drawn from the wholesale and retail sector of the country. To analyze the qualitative data and ensure credibility, the authors applied qualitative data coding and analysis techniques and guidelines provided by qualitative researchers. The result of this data-driven analysis (grounded theory design with a narrative presentation) revealed unnerving ethical problems in the studied sector; such as hoarding, price fixing, exploiting customers’ weaknesses/ignorance, consumer ‘look’/appearance-based pricing, exaggeration in promoting products, selling fake products as original, bewildering consumers not to try products from other stores/restricting buyers autonomy, tainting, and tax evasion. The study provides strong evidence revealing ethical dilemmas in the study setting. The findings will contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the subject of marketing ethics (dilemmas) in a developing country context, where there is a dearth of such a study.