Abstract The study explores empirically the effect of demographic variables, viz. age, qualification, experience and types of products sold on the buyer-supplier ethical relationship in retail sector. The study is based upon the data obtained from 32 manufacturing firms supplying goods directly to retailers, through a specifically designed schedule based upon demographic variables along with items measuring buyer-supplier ethical relationships. All the demographic variables, viz. age, qualification, experience and types of products depict insignificant mean differences in the perceptions of manufacturers regarding the ethical behaviour of retailers. Further, manufacturers viewed retailers unethical in terms of making payments on time and even not paying the exact amount as agreed upon. In the extant literature, there is not even a single study on demographic differences in the perceptions of manufacturers about the buyer-supplier ethical relationship. This study thus fills the gap in literature on retailing ethics. Keywords: Ethics, Manufacturer Retailers, Demographics, Merchandise An Empirical Analysis of Demographic Differences in Buyer-Supplier Ethical Relationships Bodh Raj Sharma Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, University of Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir, India. Email: drbodhsharma@gmail.com Introduction The buyer-supplier ethical relationship is of great signifcance for the effective supply chain management (Sharma and Sharma, 2013) and logistics. Through such ethical relationship, buyers (retailers) and manufacturers become more accountable and responsible in adjusting product assortment, promotion efforts and adequate sales services leading to trust, commitment and long- term relations with each other (Fynes and Voss, 2002; Humphreys et al., 2001). It is a fact that the product moves through several channels before reaching the ultimate customers. However, sometimes the manufacturers prioritise one level channel, i.e., selling through retailers and thus exclude all other middlemen in the supply chain (Murry and Heidy, 1998; Arbuthnot, 1997; Weitz and Sandy, 1995; Ganesan, 1993; and Dwyer et al., 1987) in order to reduce the overall cost in the distribution of products. Moreover, to strengthen the buyer-supplier ethical relationships (Sharma and Sharma, 2013, Whysall, 1998), retailers need to be ethically sound towards behaving with manufacturers in a fair, honest and sincere manner for gaining the trust, loyalty and reputation of the retail store (Kujala, 2001; Whysall, 2000 Mallen, 1996 and Walters, 1989). Conceptual Theory and Hypotheses Development In the previous literature on retailing ethics from the last few decades, there are several research studies discussing one or the other aspect of retailing ethics. However, none has studied the demographic differences in the buyer-supplier ethical relationship. An overview of the earlier studies manifests that Dawson (1997) concluded that ethical standards change with the age experience. Whysall (1998) studied the ethical relationship in retailing theoretically. The study by Abratt et al. (1999) examined the ethical beliefs of the executives, managers and retail salesperson and Whysall (2000) constructed a framework of various stakeholders in retailing and cited several ethical issues in retailing. In addition, Honeycutt et al. (2001) investigated the perceptions of automobile salespeople about ethical behaviour and found its relationship with the age, education and the method of compensation. The study by Kujala (2001) recommended a framework to analyse the managers’ orientation towards various moral issues in the stakeholder relation. Further, Ergeneli and Ankan (2002) witnessed the insignifcant difference in the ethical perceptions based on the gender while the female Journal of Supply Chain Management Systems 8 (4) 2019, 44-52 http://publishingindia.com/jscms/