Unethical Marketing Research Practices in Nigeria : Manipulations in Marketing Reports

Key business decisions are taken based on the recommendations from research report, but the years, information drawn from such data warehouses have resulted to marketing myopia and wrong marketing investment and poor returns thereof. The problem in this study stems from the fact that the research system of a developing nation experiences high level of unethical practices which hampers the integrity of their research results. Most research report application in Nigeria transforms to inaccuracy in business decision making and marketing error, and it is against this backdrop that the need to study the implications of manipulated report arose. The objective of the study was to critically examine the implications of manipulated research report on the business operations effectiveness and efficiency. Marketing research ethics simply entails the right conduct in the marketing research process. It was ascertained that unethical research practice which results to manipulated research report includes, misrepresentation of research findings, fabrication or plagiarism and falsification of data. It was ascertained that this unethical behaviors damps innovation, leads to poor returns on marketing investment (ROMI), marketing myopia, hampers accuracy, and lot more. Researchers who manipulate their research report in ways that deceive others are violating both the basic values and widely accepted professional standards of science, failure to fulfill predetermined obligations. They mislead their colleagues and potentially impede progress in their field or research. They undermine their own authority and trustworthiness as researchers. It recommended that research group instructors should educate their students and research associates about the ethical responsibilities of authors of scientific publications and to insure that, when they are given the responsibility for submitting a paper, they are fully aware of the potential consequences, to themselves and to their coauthors, of violations in these ethical guidelines.