A Cross Cultural Study of the Effects of Achievement and Relationship Values on Student Evaluations of Personal Selling Ethical Dilemmas

Much has been written on the relationship between personal values and ethics. The present study assesses the appropriateness of administering personal selling measures to student subjects outside the country/culture where the measures were developed. Using a cross-national sample of marketing students from the USA, Canada, Netherlands, and Australia, the authors examine the psychometric properties and relationships of two measures: the Personal Selling Ethics Scale (PSE) and List of Values (LOV). Results for the U.S. and Canadian samples indicate that relationship-oriented students are less tolerant of questionable sales behaviors than achievement-oriented students. These relationships, however, do not hold for the Netherlands and Australian samples. Recommendations for personal selling education and research are presented.