Let’s get ethical: dealing with socially desirable responding online

Because marketing researchers are focusing increasingly on the issues of corporate and consumer social responsibility and other ethical behaviour, there is a clear need to assess the possible impact of Socially Desirable Responding in interviews on these topics in order to determine whether it exists and, if so, which techniques might reduce it.

Let's get ethical: dealing with socially desirable responding online

Ian BraceTNS UK

Prof. Clive NancarrowBristol Business School

BACKGROUND

Fisher (2000) notes “marketing researchers have not placed the same emphasis on SDB as their counterparts in other fields”. The authors were sufficiently concerned about the bias caused by socially desirable responding in marketing research that they reviewed methods of dealing with it (Nancarrow, Brace & Wright 2001). Because marketing researchers are focusing increasingly on the issues of corporate and consumer social responsibility and other ethical behaviour, there is a clear need to revisit Social Desirability Bias (SDB) in interviews...

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