Business Ethics and Entrepreneurial Integrity in Building Customer Trust in Small Businesses

Abstract

Business ethics and entrepreneurial integrity are important foundations for building and sustaining customer trust, particularly among small businesses with limited resources and close customer relationships. This study examines how ethical business practices and entrepreneurial integrity contribute to customer trust through a qualitative literature review. Relevant academic publications were analyzed descriptively and synthesized thematically to explore honesty, transparency, fairness, accountability, consistent conduct, and business–customer relationships. The synthesis indicates that ethical practices can foster more dependable customer interactions by providing accurate information, transparent prices, fair treatment, and responsible complaint handling. Entrepreneurial integrity reinforces these practices by ensuring consistency between stated commitments and actual performance. Together, ethics and integrity may reduce customers' perceived uncertainty, strengthen favorable business perceptions, and support repeat purchasing and long-term relationships. These principles are especially significant in digital commerce, where customers often rely on seller-provided information and online experiences. The study contributes an integrated conceptual perspective on ethics, integrity, and customer trust while highlighting practical implications for small-business reputation and sustainability. The conclusions are conceptual and do not establish causal effects.