That's wrong... but it's good! How moral decoupling allows consumers to feel less guilty about supporting companies involved in unethical conduct

ABSTRACT

Consumers often continue to support companies involved in unethical conduct. Yet, a theoretical understanding of such behavior is lacking. This study aims to demonstrate that moral decoupling enables consumers to offer continuous support for companies involved in unethical conduct by reducing feelings of guilt in the purchase decision. It further intends to explore how personality traits moderate the influence of decoupling mechanisms on purchase intentions and to show how the moral intensity of misconduct affects consumersʻ activation of moral decoupling. Four empirical studies were conducted, revealing that decoupling explains purchase intentions both directly and indirectly through guilt. The study also shows that consumersʻ empathic concern and moral identity moderate decoupling processes. High moral intensity of unethical conduct diminished engagement in moral decoupling.

KEYWORDS:

• Moral decoupling
• unethical conduct
• ethics
• emotions
• individual differences

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We used r as a consistent effect size throughout the different analysis techniques. R effect sizes can be interpreted as follows: r < .1 – very small, .1 <= r < .3 – small, .3 <= r < .5 – moderate, r >= .5 – large (Cohen, 1988).

2. A two-way ANOVA was performed to test the effects of decoupling and attractiveness of the offer on purchase intention. The results revealed a significant main effect of decoupling on purchase intention and showed that decoupling rather than coupling increases purchase intentions (M_{Dec.Condition}= 4.33, SD = 1.83; M_{Coup.Condition}= 3.11, SD = 1.52; F(1,196) = 26.06; p < .001, r = .34). Furthermore, the main effect of the attractiveness of the offer on purchase intention is significant. Specifically, the better offering condition exerts stronger effects on purchase intention (M_{BetterOffering}= 4.30, SD = 1.75; M_{WorseOffering}= 3.09, SD = 1.61; F(1,196) = 25.24; p < .001, r = .34). However, no significant interaction effect of decoupling and attractiveness of offer on purchase intention was found (F(1,196) = .71; p > .1, r = .06).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Felix Friederich

Felix Friederich is a second-year PhD candidate at the Universitat Ramon Llull, IQS School of Management. He received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from DHBW Stuttgart and a master’s degree in International Marketing from the Universitat Ramon Llull IQS School of Management. His current research fields comprise consumer behaviour in the new economy. Particularly, his research interest lies in consumers’ personal financial and ethical decision-making.

Jorge Matute

Jorge Matute is a senior lecturer in marketing at the Universitat Ramon Llull, IQS School of Management. He has published his research in different journals such as Journal of Business Ethics, Tourism Management, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Services Marketing, Business Strategy and the Environment, CSR & Environmental Management and the Journal of Product & Brand Management. His research interest lies in consumer research, ethics, sustainability and services marketing.

Ramon Palau-Saumell

Ramon Palau-Saumell is Director of the Department of Business Management at the IQS School of Management-URL (Universitat Ramon Llull), and a Research Committee member at URL. His research has been published in the following scientific journals, among others: Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Online Information Review, European Sport Management Quarterly, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Management Decision, Service Business, Tourism Management, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Journal of Travel Research, and Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing. His research interest includes consumer behaviour and digital and services marketing.

Jan-Hinrich Meyer

Jan-Hinrich Meyer is a senior lecturer in marketing at the Universitat Ramon Llull, IQS School of Management. His research interests include consumer behaviour, retailing and digital marketing. His work has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research and Health Economics. He has consulting experience as a team-leader, as a research analyst and as an advisor for various international healthcare companies and multiple international start-ups in the tech sector.