Experiential Learning and the Hunt-Vitell Theory of Ethics: Teaching Marketing Ethics by Integrating Theory and Practice

Abstract

Business schools have a responsibility to develop students who are ethically responsible. Today, the large number of corporate scandals questions the fundamental integrity of businesspeople. The purpose of this article is to further the development of teaching business ethics by explicating an experiential learning approach to marketing ethics that uses the Hunt-Vitell model of ethics as a vehicle for integrating ethical theory and practice. Specifically, we first discuss the objectives of teaching ethics in marketing classes. Next, we overview an experiential learning approach to teaching marketing ethics. Finally, to integrate ethical theory and practice, we illustrate the experiential approach using a short case-scenario and the Hunt-Vitell theory of ethics.