Abstract
A study involving purchasing managers was conducted to test specific Hunt-Vitell theoretical propositions concerning the determinants of managers' teleological evaluations. We extended the Hunt-Vitell model by developing a new integrative construct, namely the desirability of consequences to self versus others. We hypothesized that desirability of consequences affects teleological evaluations in that the more desirable the consequences of a particular action, the more likely managers evaluate that action positively. The results of the present study provided support for this hypothesis. Furthermore, we extended the Hunt-Vitell model by developing a new integrative construct, namely the desirability of consequences of self versus others. We hypothesized that cognitive moral development moderates the relationship between the desirability of consequences of self versus others and teleological evaluation. The results failed to support this hypothesis. We explained the lack of support in terms of the level of aggregation of the data, the possibility of the confounding effect of respondents' sensitivity to ethical issues, and the possibility that deontological evaluations confounded the respondents' teleological judgments. Future research and managerial implications of the findings were also discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brenner, Steven N. and Earl A. Molander: 1977, ‘Is the Ethics of Business Executives Changing?’, Harvard Business Review(January-February).
Espstein, Seymour: 1984, ‘The Stability of Behavior Across Time and Situations’, in R. Zucker, J. Arnoff and A. I. Rabin (eds.), Personality and the Prediction of Behavior(Academic Press, San Diego), pp. 209–268.
Ferrell, O. C., Larry G. Gresham and John Fraedrich: 1989, ‘A Synthesis of Ethical Decision Models for Marketing’, Journal of Macromarketing, 9, (Fall), 55-64.
Goolsby, Jerry D. and Shelby D. Hunt: 1992, ‘Cognitive Moral Development and Marketing’, Journal of Marketing 56(January), 55–68.
Hunt, Shelby D. and Arturo Z. Vasquez-Parraga: 1992, ‘Organizational Consequences and Marketing Ethics: Using the Hunt-Vitell Model to Explore Salesforce Supervision’, Unpublished paper, Texas Tech University.
Hunt, Shelby D. and Scott Vitell: 1986, ‘A General Theory of Marketing Ethics’, Journal of Macromarketing 6(Spring), 5–16.
Hunt, Shelby D. and Scott Vitell: 1991, ‘A General Theory of Marketing Ethics: A Retrospective and Revision’, Unpublished paper, Texas Tech University.
Kohlberg, Lawrence: 1969, ‘Stage and Sequence, the Cognitive-Developmental Approach to Socialization’, in D. Goslin (ed.), Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research(Rand McNally, New York).
Kohlberg, Lawrence: 1981, The Meaning and Measurement of Moral Development(Clark University Press, Worcester, MA).
Mayo, Michael A. and Lawrence J. Marks: 1990, ‘An Empirical Investigation of a General Theory of Marketing Ethics’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 18(Spring), 163–171.
Rest, James R.: 1990, DIT: Manual for the Defining Issues Test(University of Minnesota Center for the Study of Ethical Development, Minneapolis).
Vitell, Scott J. and Shelby D. Hunt: 1990, ‘The General Theory of Marketing Ethics: A Partial Test of the Model’, in Jagdish N. Sheth (ed.), Research in Marketing, Vol. 10 (JAI Press, Greenwich, CT), pp. 237–265.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cole, D., Sirgy, M.J. & Bird, M.M. How Do Managers Make Teleological Evaluations in Ethical Dilemmas? Testing Part of and Extending the Hunt-Vitell Model. Journal of Business Ethics 26, 259–269 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006106300954
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006106300954