Date of Award

12-1-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. John Caputo

Second Advisor

Dr.Inagaki Nobuya

Abstract

This thesis examines the importance of ethical sales and marketing in relation to small businesses. Most research in this area has focused on large businesses and therefore ignores the importance of factors such as financial and time limitations. Because of these limitations, many small businesses are viewed as having cutthroat sales and marketing teams that ignore basic ethics and are primarily motivated by business and financial growth. The thesis examines ethical marketing in relation to Kant’s Categorical Imperative, Habermas’ Discourse Ethics, and Pearce’s Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). A content analysis was completed to determine how small businesses can ethically enhance their products or services using specific words and phrases. This research provides a low cost solution to ethically enhancing small business marketing materials.

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