PurposeThe purpose of this study is to show that the spread of conspiracy theories has resulted in many tragic incidents, such as January 6 Insurrection at the US Capitol Building. Interestingly, ...many of the conspiracy theory followers are religious individuals. In response to this phenomenon, this study will investigate the impact of religious (un)beliefs on consumer ethics. Secondly, this study will investigate the mediating role of conspiracy theory on consumer ethics. Finally, this study will investigate the moderating role of ethical ideology (i.e. relativism) on the relationship between consumers’ (un)belief (e.g. religiosity and atheism) and consumer ethics.Design/methodology/approachOverall, 328 participants living in the USA (32% female and 68% male) were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) in exchange for financial compensation.FindingsThe results show the negative impact of a belief in a conspiracy theory. These conspiracy beliefs can skew any individual irrespective of their beliefs or unbelief. Religious leaders, policymakers and educators need to keep this in mind when designing a campaign to reduce unethical behavior. Everyone is prone to conspiracy theories.Originality/valueThis is one of the first few studies exploring the impact of belief in conspiracy theories on consumers’ ethical beliefs. There are still limited studies investigating whether conspiracy beliefs lead individuals to engage in unethical behavior.
PurposeReligious doctrines generally encourage people to behave ethically. However, in daily life, individuals notice inconsistencies between religious beliefs and behavior, leading them to ask, in ...the context of commerce, why religious consumers would behave unethically. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of consumers' intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on their ethical behavior. Specifically, the moderating effect of ethical ideology on the relationship between Indonesian consumers' religiosity and their ethics was examined by means of a survey.Design/methodology/approachThe data derived from the questionnaire were complemented by convenience samples of Indonesians living in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) in central Java. The researchers distributed 600 questionnaires in two major shopping malls and several housing areas in the region, of which 467 were completed and returned, for an overall response rate of 77.8%.FindingsThe results indicated that the participants' intrinsic religiosity negatively impacted their ethical beliefs and was mediated by their idealistic ethical ideology. The present study also found that idealism had negative effects on three of the four dimensions of the consumer ethics scale (CES) (actively benefiting, passively benefiting and questionable behavior), while relativism had positive effects on two of the dimensions (passively benefiting and questionable behavior.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation of the present study was that the analysis did not distinguish among the religions practiced by the respondents to the questionnaire.Originality/valueThis is one of the first few studies investigating the mediating role of ethical ideology in a religious society. This study contributes to the literature on these issues in theoretical and managerial terms by extending the Hunt-Vitell theory (1986) to the context of consumer ethics.
The current research investigates how religiosity can influence unethicality in a consumption context. In particular, considering the link between extrinsic religious orientations and unethicality, ...this research clarifies
why
and
when
extrinsic religiosity leads to unethical decisions. Across two studies, findings show that ethnocentrism is both a mediator (Study 1) and a moderator (Studies 1 and 2) of the effects of extrinsic religiosity on consumers’ ethical judgments. This is because extrinsic religiosity leads to ethnocentrism, and in-group loyalty manifested through ethnocentrism increases support for unethical consumer actions, thus establishing ethnocentrism as a mediator. At the same time, different levels of ethnocentrism can also influence how extrinsic religiosity leads to supporting unethical consumption via self-righteousness, thus establishing ethnocentrism as a moderator. The findings from this research have significant implications for diverse stakeholders who have an interest in religiosity and consumer behavior.
Purpose
In the past few years, companies have made significant contributions towards Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) as a strategy to improve business image. Nonetheless, many of these ...strategies have been unsuccessful because companies have failed to recognise the importance of consumers’ ethical beliefs and their religiosity in forming their perception towards CSR. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore the level of importance of consumers’ ethical beliefs and social responsibilities (CnSR) and to examine the impact of consumers’ religiosity and ethical beliefs on CnSR.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were derived from a sample of undergraduate and postgraduate students at three large universities (i.e. one public and two private universities) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (N = 416). Indonesia is the largest Muslim population in the world.
Findings
7The study found that consumers value social responsibilities differently and that not all dimensions are important. Moreover, consumer ethical beliefs and religiosity significantly influence CnSR. The results of this study will contribute to the debate on consumer ethics and social responsibility research.
Research limitations/implications
The current study has some limitations which, in turn, provide avenues for future research. The research context (one city in one country) may limit its generalizability. Future studies may focus on more cities and/or cross-country sections (developed versus developing countries) as well as use non-student populations.
Practical implications
Companies operating in Indonesia need to respect and value religiosity in Indonesia. Collaborating with a faith-based institution may help improve the effectiveness of CSR programmes launched by companies.
Originality/value
This is one of the first few studies exploring CSR in Indonesia.
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Researchers in the marketing domain have investigated some key drivers of market development in subsistence marketplaces in emerging economies. This article contributes to the literature by proposing ...a 7A framework that identifies an enhanced set of drivers of market development in subsistence marketplaces in emerging markets (EMs) (by extending the 4A framework). Using qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with farmers (i.e., micro-entrepreneurs) in subsistence marketplaces from two EMs (countries: India, Vietnam), the study findings provide evidence of the 7A's as facilitators and/or inhibitors of market development in such markets. This article draws attention to the growing importance of the selling processes and strategies used by farmers in such markets for maintaining relationships with customers and investigates the benefits and challenges of selling at farmers’ markets that contribute to developing the 7A framework. The study uniquely contributes to the base of pyramid (BoP) literature in emerging markets, which could be of interest to future researchers examining the effectiveness of the 7A marketing framework on micro-entrepreneurs. The study findings offer important insights into policy and practice by uncovering new dimensions of market development for micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) increasingly receives attention from managers and researchers, especially in the area of consumer perception and response of CSR. However, most of this research ...was conducted in the context of developed countries. It shows that research on consumer perception towards CSR in developing countries needs to be developed. This paper will examine consumer perception in the developing country of Indonesia. This research produced mixed results, suggesting that CSR is still a concept waiting to be applied in the developing country. Consumers are often unaware and unsupportive towards CSR. This is the opposite finding of consumer perception in developed countries, where most consumers are willing to support CSR launched by corporations. Nevertheless, there is an interesting finding: When consumers have to buy similar products with the same price and quality, CSR could be the determining factor. They would buy from the firm that has a socially responsible reputation.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Individuals tend to have divergent moral judgment when judging oneself versus others, which is termed moral hypocrisy. While prior research has examined different factors that might influence moral ...hypocrisy, there are limited insights on the influences of different, discrete emotions. The present research seeks to address this gap and examines the differential influences of pride and gratitude on moral hypocrisy. Results of a pilot study and three main studies demonstrate that pride (but not gratitude) leads to moral hypocrisy. These effects are replicated across different cases of questionable behaviors and prosocial behaviors in a team setting. More importantly, this research identifies one mechanism that potentially explains this effect-the appraisal of self-other similarity. The findings of this research thus provide empirical evidence that distinct emotions arising from an organizational setting can differentially influence moral hypocrisy and offer practical implications.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Studies show that emotions of guilt and shame significantly influence how people live their daily lives when it comes to making ethical decisions. Nonetheless, individuals’ proneness toward guilt and ...shame has received limited attention in consumer behaviour literature. The study focuses on the impact of anticipated emotions (i.e. guilt and shame) on various consumers’ ethical and unethical behaviours. Using a combination of a panel data sample and a university sample, the overall results between the two countries (i.e. Australia and Indonesia) reveal more similarities than differences. Consumers with high guilt‐proneness are less likely to agree on those unethical behaviours. This study has important theoretical implications for understanding the similarities and differences between both nations and the impact of guilt and shame proneness on consumer ethics.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
PurposeOnline advertising becomes an essential tool to reach the target audience. One of the most widely used strategies is re-targeting. Firstly, this study explores the impact of ethics, privacy ...and ads' perceived benefits (ad effectiveness and ad relevance) on consumers' attitudes toward online advertising. Secondly, the study investigates the mediating effect of attitudes toward re-targeting online advertising on consumers' purchase intentions. Finally, the study investigates the moderating effect of the perceived ethicality of re-targeting online advertising on consumers' purchase intentions.Design/methodology/approachParticipants (n = 307) were recruited through an online survey platform (MTurk) in the USA. The sample consisted of 65% male and 35% female respondents. The majority are aged 25–34 years, followed by 35–44 years (20%), 45–54 years (14%), 18–24 years (8%) and 55 years and older (6%).FindingsThe results show that ad effectiveness and ad relevance influenced consumers' attitudes toward re-targeting. This study shows that consumers are willing to trade their privacy for better search quality. Moreover, perceptions toward the ethicality of re-targeting ads moderated the relationship between consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThis study will make several contributions. First, the study will extend the consequential theory in the context of online advertising. Second, the study will assist companies in using re-targeting strategies. The results will reveal which factor is the most important factor impacting consumers' attitudes toward re-targeting strategies.Originality/valueThis is one of the first few papers investigating consumers' perceptions of the ethicality of re-targeting online advertising.
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine consumers’ perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and to explore the impact of CSR on consumers’ support in Indonesia.
...Design/methodology/approach
A convenience sample of respondents in Yogyakarta, Indonesia was collected. The final sample consisted of 254 surveys.
Findings
The findings confirmed the applicability of Carroll’s (1979) categorization of corporate social responsibilities to consumers in Indonesia but challenged the order of importance of these responsibilities. In addition, the results clearly indicated that perceptions of legal and philanthropic responsibilities significantly explained consumers’ support for responsible businesses. The results will assist managers operating in the developing countries, especially Indonesia.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was taken from one city (i.e., Yogyakarta) in Indonesia and may not represent all Indonesians as it is a culturally diverse country. Thus, this limits the generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
For businesses operating in Indonesia, it is important to focus on being a company that follows the regulatory system and supports various philanthropic activities such as poverty reduction, especially when half of the population in Indonesia lives just above the national poverty line. It has been shown that inoculation communication strategy will reduce perceived hypocrisy and mitigate its negative consequences.
Originality/value
The study examined consumers in Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation. The results will provide some insights for multinationals operating in Indonesia.
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