Cross-disciplinary issues in international marketing: a systematic literature review on international marketing and ethical issues

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of the cross-disciplinary area of ethics and international marketing and to highlight the current and future scope of research in this area.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of research papers from reputed journals which publish articles in this cross-disciplinary subject area. This paper especially investigates the perception, issues, concepts and theories used in ethics and international marketing. Scopus and Web of Science databases were primarily used to select the articles.FindingsThe paper highlights the importance of cross-disciplinary research in the areas of ethics and international marketing. The study also shows different kinds of research work published in this area between 1994 and 2020. Also, the study shows that the maximum research has been conducted in the USA and the UK. Finally, the paper also highlights the major theories that different authors have used in this interdisciplinary area.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper does not discuss other complex areas of cross-disciplinary international marketing other than ethics and international marketing. The paper omits the literature from books, stand-alone nonindexed journals, etc. Also, the paper has only used the Web of Science and Scopus databases.Practical implicationsThe study argues the importance of ethics in international marketing. The study also provides inputs to the international marketers so that they can successfully address the complex challenges in the cross-disciplinary area of ethics and international marketing. The study also helps marketers to rethink their approaches on international marketing ethics.Originality/valueThis may be one of the few studies in the cross-disciplinary area of ethics and international marketing. This paper can open avenues and influence other researchers to study the cross-disciplinary areas of marketing.