Abstract
It was proposed that ethical evaluation of insurance claim padding behavior would be affected by characteristics of the policyholder, insurance agent, and company. These three factors were manipulated in written scenarios and the premise was tested in a factorial experimental design. No significant support was found for an effect of any of the three factors on ethical perceptions of claim padding. However, females found claims padding to be significantly less ethical than males. Given a claim scenario where the actual loss was $500 and the claimed amount was $3000, subjects awarded an average of $986.91 on the claim. Many respondents were willing to compensate victims for intangible losses as well as tangible losses.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Barnett, T., K. Bass and G. Brown: 1994, 'Ethical Ide-ology and Ethical Judgment Regarding Ethical Issues in Business', Journal of Business Ethics 13(6), 469–480.
Brosto, S.: 1996, 'Growing Public Tolerance Increases Fraud Claims', National Underwriter, Life & Health/ Financial Services Ed., 100(23), 31.
Carris, R. and M. A. Colin: 1997, 'Insurance Fraud and the Industry Response', CPCU Journal, Society of Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriters, 50(2), 92–103.
Dawson, L. M.: 1997, 'Ethical Differences Between Men and Women in the Sales Profession', Journal of Business Ethics 16(11), 1143–1152.
Dawson, L. M.: 1992, 'Will Feminization Change the Ethics of the Sales Profession?', Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 12(1), 21–32.
Foppert, D.: 1994, 'Waging War Against Fraud', Best's Review 94(12), 20–27.
Gouldner, A. W.: 1960, 'The Norm of Reciprocity: A Preliminary Statement', American Sociological Review 25, 161–179.
Hair, J. F., R. E. Anderson, R. L. Tatham and W. C. Black: 1995, Multivariate Data Analysis (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Clis, NJ), p. 641.
Hansen, R. S.: 1992, 'A Multidimensional Scale for Measuring Business Ethics: A Purification and Refinement', Journal of Business Ethics 11(7), 523–534.
Hunt, S. D. and S. J. Vitell: 1986, 'A General Theory of Marketing Ethics', Journal of Macromarketing 6(1), 5–16.
Jay, D.: 1997, 'Public Attitude Has Big Impact on Fight Against Insurance Fraud', National Underwriter, Prop-erty & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Ed., 101(37), 23, 66–67.
Lever, J.: 1978, 'Sex Differences in the Complexity of Children's Play and Games', American Sociological Re-view 43(4), 471–483.
Reidenbach, R. E. and D. P. Robin: 1988, 'Some Initial Steps Toward Improving the Measurement of Ethical Evaluations of Marketing', Journal of Business Ethics 7(11), 871–880.
Reidenbach, R. E. and D. P. Robin: 1990, 'Toward the Development of a Multidimensional Scale for Improving Evaluations of Business Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 9(8), 639–653.
Tennyson, S.: 1997, 'Insurance Experience and Con-sumers' Attitudes Toward Insurance Fraud', Journal of Insurance Regulation 21(2), 35–55.
Tennyson, S.: 2002, 'Economic Institutions and Indi-vidual Ethics: A Study of Consumer Attitudes Toward Insurance Fraud', Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 32(2), 247–265.
Weeks, W. A., C. W. Moore, J. A. McKinney and J. G. Longenecker: 1999, 'The Effects of Gender and Ca-reer Stage on Ethical Judgment', Journal of Business Ethics 13(4), 301–313.