Investigating the Impact of Ethical Ideologies on Consumer’s Evaluation of Product and Company with regard to Moderating Role of Corporate Social Responsibility
Subject Areas : Jounal of Marketing Management
S. Nayebzadeh
1
,
Haniyeh Jafariyan
2
1 - Associate Professor, Department of Business Management, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran
2 - PhD Student in Business Management, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran
Keywords: Company Evaluation, Product evaluation, corporate social responsibility (CSR), Ethical Ideology, consumer,
Abstract :
Extensive research has been done on social responsibility and its effects on business. The importance of this concept for organizations is also emphasized. Despite the fact that corporate social responsibility has become one of the leading managerial issues worldwide, researchers in both business and academia have not considered its application to the growth of societies. The current study is aimed at filling this gap by investigating the consumer’s perceptions of corporate social responsibility and its role in the relationship between consumer’s ethical ideologies and evaluation of organization and product. The current research is applied in terms of purpose and it is correlation in terms of the approach. The research population consists of HajKhalifeh confectionery consumers in Yazd. Due to the unlimited statistical population, 355 questionnaires based on Morgan table, were collected using simple random sampling. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient and confirmed by 0.931. LISREL and SPSS software were used for data analysis. The results show that idealistic consumers have a positive understanding of the corporate social responsibility activities and they will eventually have a positive evaluation of the product and the organization. In contrast, relativistic consumers are not sensitive to the corporate social responsibility and do not perceive them positively, which leads to their negative evaluations of the product and organization. In other words, the type of ethical ideology of consumers leads to different perceptions of corporate social responsibility and to a positive or negative evaluation of the product and the organization.
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Arli, D., Rundle-Thiele, S. & Lasmono, H. (2015). “Consumers’ evaluation toward tobacco companies: implications for social marketing”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 33(3), PP. 276-291.
Banerjee, S. & Wathieu, L. (2017). “Corporate Social Responsibility and Product Quality: Complements or Substitutes?”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 34(3), PP. 734-745.
Beckmann, S.C., Christensen, A.S. & Christensen, A.G. (2001). “Myths of Nature and Environmentally Responsible Behaviours: An Explaratory Study”, Department of Marketing.
Branco, M.C. & Rodriques, L.L. (2006). “Corporate social responsibility and resource-based perspectives”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 69(2), PP. 111-132.
Brown, T.J. & Dacin, P.A. (1997). “The company and the product: Corporate associations and consumer product responses”, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 61(1). PP. 68-84.
Carrington, M.J., Zwick, D. & Neville, B. (2016). “The ideology of the ethical consumption gap”, Marketing Theory, Vol. 16(1), PP. 21-38.
Cheung, Y.L., Tan, W., Ahn, H.J. & Zhang, Z. (2010). “Does corporate social responsibility matter in Asian emerging markets?”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 92(3), PP. 401-413.
Donoho, C.L., Polonsky, M.J., Roberts, S. & Cohen, D.A. (2001). “A cross-cultural examination of the general theory of marketing ethics: does it apply to the next generation of managers?”, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 13(2), PP. 45-63.
Flurry, L.A. & Swimberghe, K. (2016). “Consumer ethics of adolescents”, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 24(1), PP. 91-108.
Forsyth, D.R. (1992). “Judging the morality of business practices: The influence of personal moral philosophies”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 11(5/6), PP. 461-470.
Grappi, S., Romani, S. & Bagozzi, R.P. (2013). “Consumer response to corporate irresponsible behavior: Moral emotions and virtues”, Journal of business research, Vol. 66(10), PP. 1814-1821.
Hasford, J. & Farmer, A. (2016). “Responsible you, despicable me: Contrasting competitor inferences from socially responsible behavior”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69(3), PP. 1234-1241.
Henle, C.A. (2005). “The role of ethical ideology in workplace deviance”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 56(3), PP. 219-230.
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Karaosmanoglu, E., Altinigne, N. & Isiksal, D.G. (2016). “CSR motivation and customer extra-role behavior: Moderation of ethical corporate identity”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69(10), PP. 4161-4167.
Kitzmueller, M. & Shimshack, J. (2012). “Economic Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility”, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 50(1), PP. 51-84.
Klein, J. & Dawar, N. (2004). “Corporate social responsibility and consumers' attributions and brand evaluations in a product–harm crisis”, International Journal of research in Marketing, Vol. 21(3), PP. 203-217.
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Kolodinsky, R.W., Madden, T.M., Zisk, D. & Henkel, E.T. (2010). “Attitudes about corporate social responsibility: Business student predictors”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 91(92), PP. 167-181.
Lee, Y.J., Yoon, H.J. & O'Donnell, N.H. (2018). “The effects of information cues on perceived legitimacy of companies that promote corporate social responsibility initiatives on social networking sites”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 83, PP. 202-214.
Lund-Thomsen, P., Lindgreen, A. & Vanhamme, J. (2016). “Industrial clusters and corporate social responsibility in developing countries: what we know, what we do not know, and what we need to know”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 133(1), PP. 9-24.
Luo, X. & Bhattacharya, C.B. (2006). “Corporate social responsibility, customer satisfaction, and market value”, Journal of marketing, Vol. 70(4), PP. 1-18.
Marin, L., Ruiz, S. & Rubio, A. (2009). “The role of identity salience in the effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior”, Journal of business ethics, Vol. 84(1), PP. 65-78.
Morales, A.C. (2005). “Giving firms an “E” for effort: Consumer responses to high-effort firms”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 31(4), PP. 806-812.
Morales, A.C. (2005). “Giving firms an “E” for effort: Consumer responses to high-effort firms”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 31(4), PP. 806-812.
Ndubisi, N.O., Nataraajan, R. & Chew, J. (2014). “Ethical ideologies, perceived gambling value, and gambling commitment: An Asian perspective”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 67(2), PP. 128-135.
Page, G. & Fearn, H. (2005). “Corporate reputation: What do consumers really care about?”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 45(3), PP. 305-313.
Palihawadana, D., Oghazi, P. & Liu, Y. (2016). “Effects of ethical ideologies and perceptions of CSR on consumer behavior”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69(11), PP. 4964-4969.
Panwar, R., Paul, K., Nybakk, E., Hansen, E. & Thompson, D. (2014). “The legitimacy of CSR actions of publicly traded companies versus family-owned companies”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 125(3), PP. 481-496.
Patacconi, G. & Weisert, N. (2013). “The Unido approach to promoting CSR for SMEs in a global supply chain context sustainable supplier development”, Technical paper. UNIDO Practice, Vol. 24(1), PP. 91-108.
Peloza, J., White, K. & Shang, J. (2013). “Good and guilt-free: The role of self-accountability in influencing preferences for products with ethical attributes”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 77(1), PP. 104-119.
Perera, L.C.R., & Chaminda, J.W.D. (2013). “Corporate social responsibility and product evaluation: The moderating role of brand familiarity”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 20(4), PP. 245-256.
Pradhan, S. (2018). “Role of CSR in the consumer decision making process–The case of India”, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 14(1), PP. 138-158.
Reed, A., Aquino, K. & Levy, E. (2007). “Moral identity and judgments of charitable behaviors”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 71(1), PP. 178-193.
Russell, D.W. & Russell, C.A. (2010). “Here or there? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility initiatives: Egocentric tendencies and their moderators”, Marketing Letters, Vol. 21(1), PP. 65-81.
Sora, K. (2011). “Transferring Effects of CSR Strategy on Consumer Responses: The Synergistic Model of Corporate Communication Strategy”, Journal of Public Relations Research, Vol. 23(2), PP. 218-241.
Swaen, V. & Chumpitaz, R. (2008). “Impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer trust”, Recherche ET Applications en Marketing, Vol. 23(4), PP. 7-33.
Thompson, M. (2017). “Social Responsibility Didn’t Just Pay Off For These 3 Companies– It Paid More. Inc. Magazine, April 26, https:// www. Inc. com/ melissa- thompson/ socialresponsibility-didnt-just-pay-off-for these-3-companies-it-paid-more.html, accessed 28 April 2017.
Tian, Z., Wang, R. & Yang, W. (2011). “Consumer responses to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China”, Journal of business ethics, Vol. 101(2), PP. 197-212.
Visser, W. (2008). “Corporate social responsibility in developing countries”, In the Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility.
Vitell, S.J. & Paolillo, J.G.P. (2004). “A cross-cultural study of the antecedents of the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility”, Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol. 13(2/3), PP. 185-199.
White, K. & Simpson, B. (2013). “When do (and don't) normative appeals influence sustainable consumer behaviors?”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 77(2), PP. 78-95.
_||_Al-Khatib, J.A., D'Auria Stanton, A. & Rawwas, M.Y. (2005). “Ethical segmentation of consumers in developing countries: a comparative analysis”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 22(2), PP. 225-246.
Al-Khatib, J.A., Vitell, S.J. & Rawwas, M.Y. (1997). “Consumer ethics: A cross-cultural investigation”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31(11/12), PP. 750-767.
Arli, D. & Leo, C. (2017). “Why do good people do bad things? The effect of ethical ideology, guilt proneness, and self-control on consumer ethics”, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 29(5), PP. 1055-1078.
Arli, D., Rundle-Thiele, S. & Lasmono, H. (2015). “Consumers’ evaluation toward tobacco companies: implications for social marketing”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 33(3), PP. 276-291.
Banerjee, S. & Wathieu, L. (2017). “Corporate Social Responsibility and Product Quality: Complements or Substitutes?”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 34(3), PP. 734-745.
Beckmann, S.C., Christensen, A.S. & Christensen, A.G. (2001). “Myths of Nature and Environmentally Responsible Behaviours: An Explaratory Study”, Department of Marketing.
Branco, M.C. & Rodriques, L.L. (2006). “Corporate social responsibility and resource-based perspectives”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 69(2), PP. 111-132.
Brown, T.J. & Dacin, P.A. (1997). “The company and the product: Corporate associations and consumer product responses”, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 61(1). PP. 68-84.
Carrington, M.J., Zwick, D. & Neville, B. (2016). “The ideology of the ethical consumption gap”, Marketing Theory, Vol. 16(1), PP. 21-38.
Cheung, Y.L., Tan, W., Ahn, H.J. & Zhang, Z. (2010). “Does corporate social responsibility matter in Asian emerging markets?”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 92(3), PP. 401-413.
Donoho, C.L., Polonsky, M.J., Roberts, S. & Cohen, D.A. (2001). “A cross-cultural examination of the general theory of marketing ethics: does it apply to the next generation of managers?”, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 13(2), PP. 45-63.
Flurry, L.A. & Swimberghe, K. (2016). “Consumer ethics of adolescents”, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 24(1), PP. 91-108.
Forsyth, D.R. (1992). “Judging the morality of business practices: The influence of personal moral philosophies”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 11(5/6), PP. 461-470.
Grappi, S., Romani, S. & Bagozzi, R.P. (2013). “Consumer response to corporate irresponsible behavior: Moral emotions and virtues”, Journal of business research, Vol. 66(10), PP. 1814-1821.
Hasford, J. & Farmer, A. (2016). “Responsible you, despicable me: Contrasting competitor inferences from socially responsible behavior”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69(3), PP. 1234-1241.
Henle, C.A. (2005). “The role of ethical ideology in workplace deviance”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 56(3), PP. 219-230.
Holstein, W.J. (2008). “Fine Tuning Corporate Social Responsibility”, Bloomberg Business Week, April 3.
Karaosmanoglu, E., Altinigne, N. & Isiksal, D.G. (2016). “CSR motivation and customer extra-role behavior: Moderation of ethical corporate identity”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69(10), PP. 4161-4167.
Kitzmueller, M. & Shimshack, J. (2012). “Economic Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility”, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 50(1), PP. 51-84.
Klein, J. & Dawar, N. (2004). “Corporate social responsibility and consumers' attributions and brand evaluations in a product–harm crisis”, International Journal of research in Marketing, Vol. 21(3), PP. 203-217.
Klein, J. & Dawar, N. (2004). “Corporate social responsibility and consumers' attributions and brand evaluations in a product–harm crisis”, International Journal of research in Marketing, Vol. 21(3), PP. 203-217.
Kolodinsky, R.W., Madden, T.M., Zisk, D. & Henkel, E.T. (2010). “Attitudes about corporate social responsibility: Business student predictors”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 91(92), PP. 167-181.
Lee, Y.J., Yoon, H.J. & O'Donnell, N.H. (2018). “The effects of information cues on perceived legitimacy of companies that promote corporate social responsibility initiatives on social networking sites”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 83, PP. 202-214.
Lund-Thomsen, P., Lindgreen, A. & Vanhamme, J. (2016). “Industrial clusters and corporate social responsibility in developing countries: what we know, what we do not know, and what we need to know”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 133(1), PP. 9-24.
Luo, X. & Bhattacharya, C.B. (2006). “Corporate social responsibility, customer satisfaction, and market value”, Journal of marketing, Vol. 70(4), PP. 1-18.
Marin, L., Ruiz, S. & Rubio, A. (2009). “The role of identity salience in the effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior”, Journal of business ethics, Vol. 84(1), PP. 65-78.
Morales, A.C. (2005). “Giving firms an “E” for effort: Consumer responses to high-effort firms”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 31(4), PP. 806-812.
Morales, A.C. (2005). “Giving firms an “E” for effort: Consumer responses to high-effort firms”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 31(4), PP. 806-812.
Ndubisi, N.O., Nataraajan, R. & Chew, J. (2014). “Ethical ideologies, perceived gambling value, and gambling commitment: An Asian perspective”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 67(2), PP. 128-135.
Page, G. & Fearn, H. (2005). “Corporate reputation: What do consumers really care about?”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 45(3), PP. 305-313.
Palihawadana, D., Oghazi, P. & Liu, Y. (2016). “Effects of ethical ideologies and perceptions of CSR on consumer behavior”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69(11), PP. 4964-4969.
Panwar, R., Paul, K., Nybakk, E., Hansen, E. & Thompson, D. (2014). “The legitimacy of CSR actions of publicly traded companies versus family-owned companies”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 125(3), PP. 481-496.
Patacconi, G. & Weisert, N. (2013). “The Unido approach to promoting CSR for SMEs in a global supply chain context sustainable supplier development”, Technical paper. UNIDO Practice, Vol. 24(1), PP. 91-108.
Peloza, J., White, K. & Shang, J. (2013). “Good and guilt-free: The role of self-accountability in influencing preferences for products with ethical attributes”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 77(1), PP. 104-119.
Perera, L.C.R., & Chaminda, J.W.D. (2013). “Corporate social responsibility and product evaluation: The moderating role of brand familiarity”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 20(4), PP. 245-256.
Pradhan, S. (2018). “Role of CSR in the consumer decision making process–The case of India”, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 14(1), PP. 138-158.
Reed, A., Aquino, K. & Levy, E. (2007). “Moral identity and judgments of charitable behaviors”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 71(1), PP. 178-193.
Russell, D.W. & Russell, C.A. (2010). “Here or there? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility initiatives: Egocentric tendencies and their moderators”, Marketing Letters, Vol. 21(1), PP. 65-81.
Sora, K. (2011). “Transferring Effects of CSR Strategy on Consumer Responses: The Synergistic Model of Corporate Communication Strategy”, Journal of Public Relations Research, Vol. 23(2), PP. 218-241.
Swaen, V. & Chumpitaz, R. (2008). “Impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer trust”, Recherche ET Applications en Marketing, Vol. 23(4), PP. 7-33.
Thompson, M. (2017). “Social Responsibility Didn’t Just Pay Off For These 3 Companies– It Paid More. Inc. Magazine, April 26, https:// www. Inc. com/ melissa- thompson/ socialresponsibility-didnt-just-pay-off-for these-3-companies-it-paid-more.html, accessed 28 April 2017.
Tian, Z., Wang, R. & Yang, W. (2011). “Consumer responses to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China”, Journal of business ethics, Vol. 101(2), PP. 197-212.
Visser, W. (2008). “Corporate social responsibility in developing countries”, In the Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility.
Vitell, S.J. & Paolillo, J.G.P. (2004). “A cross-cultural study of the antecedents of the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility”, Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol. 13(2/3), PP. 185-199.
White, K. & Simpson, B. (2013). “When do (and don't) normative appeals influence sustainable consumer behaviors?”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 77(2), PP. 78-95.