e degree of "opportunistic" behavior displayed by marketing workers in three types of marketing research organization, the market research divisions of larger corporations, stand alone market research companies, and independent "data subcontractors" who provide data for market research.
They found that opportunistic behavior was effected by the type of organization, and also by workers' perceptions of "ethical profiles" the standards they assumed applied in their own organizations and "ethical climate," or the standards they attributed to their client organizations. "Opportunistic behavior" was not clearly and concisely defined, but appeared to mean behavior that was self serving rather than serving organizational goals.
Opportunistic behavior, the authors found, was at its minimum in marketing research divisions of larger firms. They attributed this to the long term relationship between the market researchers and their "customers" in the same company. Market research
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