摘要：Do sellers treat their customers differently in the marketplaces of wealthy vicinities in Lahore,Pakistan? This paper details how customer discrimination is linked with customer’svisible characteristics, such as: clothing, accessories, age, gender, and other personal attributes.Two studies have been sequentially conducted: observational field study andsemi-structured face-to-face interviews. The findings support the association of customer’svisible characteristics and discriminatory service delivery. Customer discriminationin Pakistan is neither racial nor gender-based; rather, it is associated with wealth, and theformal and modern visible characteristics of the customer. It highlights various forms ofdiscrimination in levels of service delivery including delay, denial, neglect, and differentiatedquality of products. It also demonstrates open discrimination against customers,including emotional, psychological, and physical abuse. Standards of business ethics arerarely implemented by retailers in Pakistan because the government exercises no controlon the service quality of private retail organisations. International interventions to trainthe sales staff to be cordial, courteous and cooperative with all people in the shoppingcentres may improve the quality of customer service delivery in the main cities of thecountry.
关键词：business ethics; customer discrimination; formal dressing; service delivery;visible customer characteristics
