Authhors: 1Dr. David Ackah PhD, 2Emmanuel Ackah, 3Makafui R. Agboyi, 4Hanson Obiri-Yeboah
1Golden Sunbeam International College of Science & Technology, 2Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, 3Accra Polytechnic, 4Accra Polytechnic
Abstract
The main objective of the present study is the investigation of the effects of applied business ethics to consumer perceptions, as well as the identification of possible research relationships among business ethics, brand equity and ultimately, consumer willingness to buy. Having defined our principal research questions, various steps have been followed. First, a precise determination of the existing research gap proved the academic interest to investigate the subject. Then, the description of the detailed research questions and research hypotheses followed. The detailed review of the literature that required the above mentioned path, led us to the identification of the possible research items, which were considered as appropriate to explore the arising potential relationships among them (conceptual framework). This particular analysis enabled us to the most appropriate methodological approach (survey design), the necessary research instruments and the corresponding scales of measurement. At last, the final execution of the research followed, including the analysis of the results relying on SPSS 2.0. The descriptive statistics of the convenience sample used (from a total of 283 questionnaires 167 were used) were presented. The test of the various hypotheses was conducted by using an Exploratory Factor Analysis and four Regressions for the hypotheses under consideration. At the end of the research chain, we had the final results of the current study. The results of this survey indicate that business ethics, finally, do not affect consumer perceptions, since they are formed by aggregating multiple cues (financial, competitors’ offers, etc.) and eventually assessing a brand as a whole. However, a strong positive relationship is shown between business ethics and brand equity. Another positive relationship between consumer perceptions and actual willingness to buy.
Keyword: Business Ethics, Business Governance, Law in Business, Ethics on FMCG
