EXAMINING ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Abstract

Ethical behaviour has been a subject of much concern to the public. Especially in the field of real estate agency, there have been numerous media reports on unethical acts by real estate agents. This has given rise to some concern regarding the image of real estate professionals as well as a growing misconception of the public about real estate agents. Since ethical behaviour is generally hard to standardize and define, this study attempts to test the practices of real estate agents and their adherence to an existing code of conduct and ethics established by the Institute of Estate Agents (IEA). Specifically, it determines whether agents with the IEA behave more ethically than fellow agents who are not members with the IEA. This examines the effectiveness of having a national body in control of real estate agents. This study also attempts to relate these responses of real estate agents to demographic variables regarding the profiles of the agents. These variables include gender, age, experience, area of specialty, position held, level of education, income earned and household composition. The study reveals that gender, age, position held, income earned and household composition are good indicators of level of ethical behaviour of real estate agents.