A conceptual framework for analyzing deception and debriefing effects in marketing research

✍ Scribed by Dan Toy; Lauren Wright; Jerry Olson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 241 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0742-6046
• DOI: 10.1002/mar.1026

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Deception and debriefing are commonly used marketing research procedures. However, marketers have paid little attention to the ethical and methodological issues inherent in the use of these practices. One explanation may be that greater emphasis has traditionally been placed on research outcomes than on how the research results were generated. In this article we attempt to redress this situation by examining the methodological and ethical issues concerning deception and debriefing from a process perspective. We review the past research on deception and debriefing, identify key psychological processes by which deception and debriefing influence participants, and present a framework for understanding the effects of both deceptions and debriefings on research participants. We then show how the results generated from this framework can be examined from an ethical perspective to provide a better understanding of the benefits and costs of the research to all stakeholders. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.