A cross-cultural investigation of the universality of the personal selling ethics scale

A study of the generalizability of the Personal Selling Ethics Scale (Dabholkar and Kellaris, 1992) was conducted using data from eight universities across four countries, the US, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands. Results indicate statistically significant differences between countries. However, all countries viewed the controversial sales practices, on average, as "slightly unethical" and ranked the twenty individual scenarios similarly suggesting scale results are generalizable across the countries studied. Several variables moderated the relationship between culture and the PSE Scale. Females perceived the scenarios as less ethical than men did and this was consistent across all four countries studied. However, ethical viewpoints (deontological/teleological) and values affected the average PSE scores differently across the four countries. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworthpressinc.com ]