Ethics and Primary Research

[Kieran Michael Brown]

We've all become good SCIP Ethics abiders over the years, and I've often wondered about the ethics of primary beyond the "letter of the law" of the SCIP code. Is it unethical to not disclose the central reason for your call or conversation? In other words, your call may be - technically and truthfully - for market research or insights, or perhaps just industry background. You might be soliciting thought leader opinion or technical expertise. But all of these reasons are in service to a meta-task: competitive intelligence.

How do you folks think about disclosure? While not technically unethical, is it justifiable to not fully disclose the entire purpose of your call or conversation?

[Kieran Michael Brown]

Lots of takers on this one, eh?

Here's an interesting blog entry about a failed attempt at primary and how it relates to the SCIP Code of Ethics.