Purpose The purpose of this paper is to uncover some ethically equivocal aspects of the pharmaceutical industry (PI). It identifies the determinants of the medical representatives’ (MRs) unethical behaviour as perceived by the MRs themselves and their direct customers. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative multi-actors approach, 40 in-depth interviews were conducted among MRs and physicians. Findings The study has revealed that providing misleading and incomplete information, giving incentives, making disparaging remarks about competitors and their products, falsifying daily call reports and the misusing of samples are the major unethical issues of MRs. The determinants of unethical behaviour can be classified into six groups: organizational, individual, job characteristics, stakeholders, situational, and cultural factors. Research limitations/implications Because of the complexity of the subject matter and the research approach, the findings may lack generalizability. Besides, as the healthcare sector involves other actors (pharmacists, patients, and government), it will be more insightful to take into account their influence on the ethical/unethical behaviour of MRs. Practical implications Identifying questionable ethical behaviours and their determinants could be very helpful for firms to undertake the necessary actions (i.e. training programmes) to prevent their negative impact, and to develop ethical awareness among their MRs. This may enhance their public image and build long-term relationships with their customers. Originality/value This study is among few studies that has taken into account the views of more than a single actor in the PI (MRs and physicians).

Purpose This study aims to identify the responses required to repair political trust in Tunisia and the differences between two key stakeholder groups, namely, politicians and voters. Design/methodology/approach A sequential mixed method study was adopted using two data sources: semi-structured interviews conducted with citizens and politicians; and media data from TV political talk shows. Data was collected over a three-year period following several key events that affected trust. Findings New responses were identified to repair political trust, and these were categorized using a trust repair framework. In addition to short- and long-term responses, a new category, swift response, was identified to resolve immediate political uncertainty. The role of the trustor (i.e. voters) in actively restoring trust was identified for the first time. Research limitations/implications This study focussed on trust repair responses suggested by voters and politicians and not necessarily responses that were implemented by government or political parties during the period of study. The effectiveness of the suggested responses in repairing trust was not evaluated. Practical implications Identification of the responses required to repair trust with voters, how these differ over time, and according to different trust violations will help Tunisian politicians rebuild trust more effectively during election and non-election periods. Notably, differences highlighted between the responses suggested by voters and politicians suggest that politicians may not understand how to repair voter trust. Originality/value Contrary to previous studies that assume a trustor (the voter) is a passive observer, this research identified the proactive role that citizens play in the trust repair process.

Information access and open communication – through in person and mediated information and communication technology – are critical to an informed citizenry in democratic societies. The 2011 Arab Spring uprising that originated in Tunisia and resulted in the overthrow of long-time Tunisian authoritarian president Ben Ali, established a new transitional government with more democratic institutions and more open press and political expression. In this paper, we explore changes over time (2011–2019) in the use by young, educated Tunisians of different political information sources, the perceived reliability of these sources, their information sharing behavior, and sense of being politically well-informed (i.e., political information efficacy). We report here results from the third of three surveys we administered of an online questionnaire to three different but comparable opportunity samples of young, educated Tunisians. The first two surveys conducted in 2012 and 2015 have been previously reported. We compare results from the most recent survey regarding 2019 elections with findings from the two prior surveys. Our findings confirm increasing perceived reliability of government information sources during the 2014 and 2019 elections, and decreasing reliability of social media. Results also confirm that higher perceptions of information reliability along with information sharing, lead to greater political information efficacy which is an important predictor of further democratic political participation.