What’s in a (First) Name? Personized Advertising Messages Enhance Consumer Perceived Ethicality

Abstract

Despite the significance of consumer perceived ethicality (CPE) in the current business world, it remains unclear how companies can foster CPE among consumers. The present research investigates the potential of personizing a stakeholder (e.g., an employee or a supplier) by incorporating the person’s first name in advertising messages. Across four experimental studies, this research shows how personized advertising messages can increase CPE when consumers perceive a high degree of social connectedness between a company and its employees or suppliers. The findings of this research add to the understanding of CPE and further offer practical implications for advertisers in developing effective strategies to foster CPE.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72102070), the Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program (19PJC027), the Shanghai Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science (2021BGL003), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China.

Notes on contributors

Felix Septianto

Felix Septianto (PhD, Universitas Gadjah Mada) is a senior lecturer in Management, School of Business, University of Queensland

Widya Paramita

Widya Paramita (PhD, Universitas Gadjah Mada) is a lecturer in Management, Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Sheng Ye

Sheng Ye (PhD, University of Western Australia) is a lecturer in Business Administration, East China University of Science and Technology.