Following the collapse of Arthur Andersen in the Enron debacle, whistle-blowing within audit firms has taken on greater importance. Given the profession's requirements to be confidential, independent and to act in the public's interest, there is a need for a model that addresses auditors' whistle-blowing intentions. This thesis presents a conceptual model on whistle-blowing intentions among external auditors, where individual-led antecedents influence whistle-blowing intentions, but are moderated by isomorphic and issue-specific factors. Survey questionnaires were administered to 226 external auditors, and 18 individual interviews as well as 2 focus groups were conducted in Barbados. Results indicated that individual antecedents (attitudes, perceived behavioural control, independence commitment, personal responsibility for reporting, and personal cost of reporting) were significantly related to internal whistle-blowing, but only perceived behavioural control was significantly related to external whistle-blowing. Partial support was found for the moderating effects of perceived organizational support, moral intensity, team norms and group cohesion on the relationships between the majority of the independent variables (attitudes, perceived behavioural control, independence commitment, personal responsibility for reporting and personal cost of reporting) and internal whistle-blowing. However, partial support was found for the moderating effects of perceived organizational support, moral intensity, team norms iii and group cohesion on the relationships between fewer independent variables and external whistle-blowing. Overall, respondents preferred anonymous internal channels of reporting, and showed a general reluctance to report externally. The presence of an open-door policy, ethics partners, hotline, on-going training and clearly defined policies could encourage whistle-blowing. Further implications for research and practice are discussed. / University of the West Indies

In this research, a model for ethically questionable decision-making is developed by amalgamating several decision-making theories. The variables of interest are the techniques of neutralization, perceived moral intensity, Machiavellianism, unethical intentions, and ethical judgment. Using a sample of 276 U.S. marketing professionals, partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to validate the model. Findings reveal that U.S. marketing professionals rationalize their ethically questionable intentions through their: (1) perception of moral intensity (i.e., minimizing the harms on others, perceiving their self-interest as most salient, and indifference to social consensus), (2) reliance on various neutralization techniques, and; (3) judgment of their ethically questionable intentions as ethical. After controlling for the Machiavellian personality trait, Machiavellianism did not have a profound effect on the decision-making process, which implies that marketers, in general, are capable of the cognitive distortions found in this study. The main contribution to knowledge is the synthesis of the techniques of neutralization and the perceived moral intensity construct. Through this amalgamation, knowledge of the intermediary steps in the decision-making process has emerged. A contribution to knowledge involves testing the relationship between Machiavellianism and unethical intentions through the mediating variable of the techniques of neutralization. Through this investigation, it was found that the Machiavellian personality is inconsequential to the decision-making process. As a contribution to managerial knowledge, it was found that through cognitive distortions, marketers are capable of various illicit behaviours, which have been shown to be costly to not only stakeholders, but also to the profitability and reputations of organisations.

本研究主要目的為探討代言人與產品適配度不同時，其發生不同類型的道德問題，對購買意願之影響。當代言人與產品適配度不同，代言人與產品間之連結程度就會不同，因此，當代言人發生不同類型的道德問題時，就會對購買意願產生不同的影響。故本次研究採用兩個自變數：代言人與產品適配度(高/低)及道德問題類型(違情/違法)，來檢驗是否會影響消費者對產品之購買意願，並以受試者之主觀道德程度(高/低)以及客觀道德程度(高/低)作為調節變數，利用實驗設計的方法，進行一個2×2之組間實驗，並以虛擬的代言人作為實驗對象，取得有效樣本126份。本次研究利用獨立樣本t檢定、雙因子變異數分析以及三因子變異數分析檢驗所得之結果，並獲得以下之結論： 1.當代言人與產品適配度較高時，消費者購買意願會較高。 2.道德問題類型對購買意願有顯著影響，相較於代言人發生違情的道德問題，當代言人發生違法的道德問題時，消費者購買意願會較低。 3.代言人與產品適配度與道德問題類型無交互作用，不論代言人代言何種類型的產品，相較於代言人發生違情的道德問題，當代言人發生違法的道德問題會有較低的購買意願。 4.受試者的道德程度與道德問題類型無交互作用，不論受試者之道德程度高低，相較於代言人發生違情的道德問題，當代言人發生違法的道德問題，消費者會有較低的購買意願。 5.道德問題類型對代言人可信度有顯著影響，相較於代言人發生違情的道德問題，當代言人發生違法的道德問題時，代言人可信度較低。 6.不論代言人發生違情或違法的道德問題，受試者皆認為廠商需與代言人暫停合作關係，然又以發生違法的道德問題時，更應與代言人暫停合作。 / The purpose of this research is to understand the effects on purchase intention when product fit and moral issue of endorsers are in different level. When product fit is different, the connection between product and endorser will be in different degree. Therefore, endorser have different types of moral issues which will have impact on purchase intention. There are two independent variables: Product fit (High vs. Low), Moral issue (illegal vs. unfaithful) and two moderator variables (subjective moral level vs. objective moral level) and we conduct a 2x2 factorial research to test whether they will have influence on purchase intention. There are 126 effective questionnaires and the following is the results: 1.Different type of moral issues will affect purchase intention. When endorser has illegal moral issue, customers will have lower purchase intention. 2.There is no interaction effect between product fit and type of moral issue. No matter how product fit is, when endorser has illegal moral issue, customers will have lower purchase intention. 3.There is no interaction effect between moral level and type of moral issue. No matter how moral level is, when endorser has illegal moral issue, customers will have lower purchase intention. 4.Different type of moral issues will affect endorser credibility. When endorser has illegal moral issue, he or she will have lower credibility. 5.No matter what kinds of moral issues, customers think companies should stop cooperation with endorsers. When endorser has illegal moral issue, customers think companies should stop cooperation with endorsers much seriously.