Long-term orientation (LTO) is a salient aspect of national culture values and as such influences consumers'decisionmaking processes. This article describes the development and validation of measures to assess LTO. Scale development procedures resulted in a two-factor, eight-item scale that reflects the tradition and planning aspects of LTO. A program of studies involving more than 2, 000 respondents in four countries demonstrated the psychometric properties of the measures, their discriminant and convergent validities, and the relationship of the measures to other important theoretical concepts (e.g., consumer frugality, compulsive buying, and ethical values). The measures are applicable for investigating individual differences in LTO both within and across cultures.

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Lapses in ethical conduct by those in corporate and public authority worldwide have given business researchers and practitioners alike cause to re-examine the antecedents to personal ethical values. We explore the relationship between ethical values and an individual’s long-term orientation or LTO, defined as the degree to which one plans for and considers the future, as well as values traditions of the past. Our study also examines the role of work ethic and conservative attitudes in the formation of a person’s long-term orientation and consequent ethical beliefs. Empirically testing these hypothesized relationships using data from 292 subjects, we find that long-term perspectives on tradition and planning indeed engender higher levels of ethical values. The results also support work ethic’s role in fostering tradition and planning, as well as conservatism’s positive association with planning. Additionally, we report how tradition and planning mediate the influence of conservatism and work ethic on the formation of ethical values. Limitations of the study and future research directions, as well as implications for business managers and academics, are also discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007time orientation, planning, tradition, formation of ethical beliefs, measurement ,