The effect of consumers' religiosity on consumer ethics: the mediating role of ethical ideology

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.

Mindfulness and gender differences in ethical beliefs

Purpose This paper aims to examine the ethical beliefs of consumers with regards to their levels of mindfulness. Furthermore, it aims to investigate if mindfulness is related to gender differences among respondents in their ethical beliefs about consumer unethical practices. Design/methodology/approach University students in India were surveyed with self-administered questionnaires comprising the consumer ethics scale and mindfulness attention awareness scale. Mediation analysis was conducted to test whether gender differences in ethical judgements are due to the different levels of mindfulness. Findings The results indicate that mindfulness is not only a predictor of ethical beliefs but also a mediator of the relationship between gender and ethical beliefs. Individuals with greater mindfulness reported greater acceptance towards the five dimensions of consumer ethics scale. Indian male participants were found to be more mindful and lenient in ethical judgements than female participants. Originality/value The present work is a novel attempt in examining the effect of mindfulness on the relationship between gender and ethical beliefs of consumers. The results of this study can have positive implications for organizations, managers, public policy makers and consumers.

Spirituality, consumer ethics, and sustainability: the mediating role of moral identity

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of moral identity on the relations between the independent variable of spirituality and the original consumer ethics scale (OCES) and attitudes towards doing good and recycling practices of the consumer. Design/methodology/approach To test the various hypotheses of the model, the methodology used is that of partial least squares (PLS) path-modelling, which is a variance-based structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings This research reveals a full mediation of the construct of moral identity in the relationship between spirituality and doing good/recycling practices, and the rejection of those who do not perform these practices that are responsible from the point of view of sustainability. In addition, the existence is shown of a partial mediation of the construct of moral identity in the relationship between spirituality and consumer ethics scale (CES). Practical implications It is demonstrated that the main effect on the attitude of consumers towards the consumption of products and services of companies whose behaviour is responsible towards sustainability is mainly motivated by having a high standard of ethical and moral values and such strong beliefs, such as those of honesty, kindness, generosity and compassion. The main implication of this investigation is that the authors’ results suggest that the identification of these types of consumers would constitute an effective marketing strategy and an important variable of segmentation. Originality value This research is unique in two ways. First, this study proposes a model that provides a solution to the research problems caused by the incorporation of a fifth dimension into the OCES. Second, this paper is the first to investigate the role played by the moral identity as a mediator between the relationship of spirituality and attitudes towards unethical behaviour and doing good/recycling practices.

Influencia de la religiosidad y la espiritualidad en el comportamiento ético del consumidor

El presente trabajo se centra en la ética del consumidor y su objetivo principal es estudiar y profundizar el comportamiento ético de los consumidores, mediante la Consumer Ethics Scale (ces, por sus siglas en inglés). Para ello, se propone un modelo, que relaciona las escalas religiosidad y espiritualidad con la ética del consumidor, y que permite contrastar tres proposiciones y 15 hipótesis, utilizando una muestra de 286 encuestados españoles. La CES (Vitell y Muncy, 1992, 2005) consta de cinco dimensiones, y la escala de religiosidad y espiritualidad, desarrollada por Allport y Ross (1967), consta de tres dimensiones que reflejan la religiosidad extrínseca, la religiosidad intrínseca y la espiritualidad. La metodología seleccionada para este estudio son las ecuaciones estructurales, aplicando la técnica Partial Least Squares (PLS). Los resultados demuestran que existe una relación entre la religiosidad/espiritualidad y el comportamiento ético y poco ético del consumidor. El trabajo muestra dos grandes aportaciones: la primera es el propio modelo y la segunda, la metodología empleada para estudiarlo. Los resultados, conclusiones e implicaciones logrados a partir de ambos son de importancia, tanto para profesionales del mundo de los negocios, como para académicos y gobiernos.

Validação da Escala de Consumo Ético para Amostras Brasileiras

O estudo objetivou validar o instrumento The Muncy–Vitell Consumer Ethics Scale (2005) culturalmente para amostras brasileiras. O The Muncy–Vitell Consumer Ethics Scale é composto de 17 itens no formato Likert de 5 pontos avaliando a concordância do indivíduo com as afirmações. Participaram do estudo 419 estudantes do ensino médio de escolas públicas do Rio de Janeiro. Utilizando a técnica de validação reversa (back translation) e os procedimentos de análise semântica, a primeira versão em português da escala foi considerada adequada para aplicação. A fatorabilidade dos itens foi considerada satisfatória diante dos resultados obtidos: KMO = 0,830 e teste de esfericidade de Bartlett = 848,55; p < 0,001). A análise fatorial exploratória dos principais componentes revelou a existência de dois itens com carga fatorial abaixo de 0,30, que foram abandonados. A análise da consistência interna, com utilização do coeficiente alfa de Cronbach indicou três itens insatisfatórios devido à baixa correlação item-total, sendo também abandonados. O instrumento final com doze itens apresentou adequada consistência interna (0,78) e uma estrutura unifatorial explicando 29,87% da variância com cargas fatoriais variando de 0,445 a 0,673. As correlações item-total variaram de 0,456 a 0,635 com p < 0,001. Esses resultados foram indicativos para a validação da Escala de Consumo Ético para amostras brasileiras.