Introduction Ethics, though not until recently, has been identified as a key part in the process of augmentation of products (Crane 2001). As such, it is also widely acknowledged that the consideration of ethics cannot be done without the core product or brand being placed at the heart of the consideration. lthough ethical consumption is yet to take full form around the globe, there has been an upward growth in ethical consumerism, and a tendency has been observed whereby ‘anti-sentiment’ is increasingly-and worryingly- being directed towards brands with global presence due to their actual or perceived engagement in unethical behavior. As Barnett et al. (2001) observed empirically, there are several self-evident dimensions to ethical consumerism which players in retail and distribution function should comprehensively be aware of, for these dimensions may act in an organized and collective manner to the detriment of the success of the retail and distribution function. This study investigates the key ethical issues in retail and distribution of consumer products. Key ethical issues in retailing and distribution of consumer products Ethical issues in retail and distribution of consumer products can be categorized into those that relate to marketing, human resource management and accounting functions of within an organization. With regard to marketing, issues of ethical nature commonly arise in activities such as market research, product pricing, and marketing audience selection (mostly in the context of advertisements content). However, the link between the accounting function-as well as HR function- is not very direct as these functions minimally come into direct contact with consumers. Nonetheless, through increased awareness of ethical consumerism, consumers nowadays are increasingly keenly following the accounting and HR practices of companies, and “ethically” sensitive consumers tend to dissociate themselves with unethical entities. Market research Invasion of privacy and stereotyping of a selected market segment tend to be among the most recurring ethical concerns when conducting a market research. Directing very personal questions to respondents to a market research is what constitutes the main part of privacy issues. On the other hand, placing respondents into groups for purposes of making approximations on characteristics of populations may result into accusations of unethical practice of stereotyping leveled against a market researcher. Market audience selection Here, ethical issues arise from targeting the vulnerable or “unintended” market segment as well as alienating a potential customer segment from the marketing plan. Targeting children with products or services that are “unfit” for their age, such as cigarettes and alcoholic products, will almost definitely raise ethical questions about the ‘culprit’ (Cui and Pravat, 2003). With respect to selective marketing or unethical market exclusion, ethical questions may come up if a marketer engages in activities deemed as aiming to discourage a certain portion of potential consumers from consuming an enterprise’s products or services. Such ‘undesirable markets’ may constitute ethnic minorities, gays, obese people, or people of a certain religious or political inclinations. Advertising and promotional content Ethical concerns in this activity mainly revolve around matters over