Research methods in sales ethics: a review of the empirical literature

From a review of the empirical sales ethics literature, this paper reports findings about some of the research methods used to investigate the decision-making of sales practitioners under ethical conditions. The review identifies that several of the methodological deficiencies raised by previous reviewers of the literature have not been adequately addressed by subsequent researchers. The paper primarily reviews quantitative research studies because of their prevalence in the empirical sales ethics literature, and because studies similar to these have contributed much to marketing ethics theory. This discussion also focuses on sampling and data collection methods, the treatment of respondent and non-response bias, the use of instruments and scales, and the application of the scenario technique. Some suggestions are made that would improve the research methods in each of these areas.

Three strategic dimensions of information security in ecommerce : a literature review based conceptual model

Important eCommerce requirements are a robust and secure technical infrastructure, and the ability to ensuring the security of information, and to satisfying certain related legal requirements. In this paper, based on a literature review, we present a high-level conceptual model of information security in eCommerce, consisting of three strategic dimensions: protecting organizations' information, satisfying certain legal requirements, and enabling trusted and secure electronic transactions. Our conceptual model can be used by eCommerce managers as a tool in the strategic planning and management process, to better understand and communicate the inter-dependencies between business and legal requirements. The model can also be used for devising the goals and objectives relevant to their specific organization, for designing the policies that are needed, and deciding how technology will be managed and what training is required.

Measuring marketing performance: a critique of empirical literature

This paper reviews 46 empirical studies which have assessed performance measurement in marketing. The paper reports on two highly relevant topics in regard to performance measurement: (1) subjective and objective measurement; and (2) financial and non-financial performance measures. Furthermore, the paper provides a tabulated summary of a comprehensive literature review of the types of performance measures utilised in recent literature. Firstly, it was found that there seems to be agreement about the use of a subjective measurement perspective as an acceptable means of measuring performance, and that this is the preferred means of measuring performance by researchers. Secondly, the literature review identified that businesses are no longer defining performance only in terms of the traditional financial measures – they are adopting new frameworks and methodologies. However, this change is not as prominent as might be thought, as financial measures still predominate in research results. Furthermore, this review of performance measures also identified that current measurement selection by researchers is somewhat arbitrary rather than scientific, which is not assisting in the development of a “general performance measure”.