The relationship between Machiavellianism and undergraduate student attitudes about hypothetical marketing moral dilemmas

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the Machiavellianism of undergraduates and how it relates to their attitudes about hypothetical marketing moral dilemmas.

Design/methodology/approach

The 309 participants are presented with nine ethical scenarios after completing the Mach IV scale.

Findings

As hypothesized, undergraduates low in Machiavellianism believe the ethically questionable action is wrong, anticipate guilt if they consider doing the same thing, and say they would not do it. All correlations are significant at the 0.01 level (two‐tail).

Practical implications

Organizations can use the data to increase their global competitiveness.

Originality/value

The investigation is the first to assess the association of Machiavellianism and purely marketing moral scenarios. Educators can focus business ethics training on high Machs.

Citation

Malinowski, C. (2009), "The relationship between Machiavellianism and undergraduate student attitudes about hypothetical marketing moral dilemmas", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 398-408. https://doi.org/10.1108/10595420910996019