Buyer reactions to ethical beliefs in the retail environment

摘要

Research into the ethical conduct of marketers is an increasingly popular topic. At the same time, a substantial amount of recent patronage theory has been devoted toward developing a better knowledge of roles played by shopping emotions evoked by various environmental cues. The study described in this manuscript attempts to blend these two research streams by investigating how interacting with a salesperson generates ethical perceptions that shape consumer emotions. Several hypotheses are developed and tested. They model the influence of three moral philosophical dimensions (moral equity, contractualism and relativism) on affective responses and future purchase intentions. Implications for marketing academicians and practitioners are discussed, and areas for future research are presented.