Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Feeling Good by Doing Good: A Selfish Motivation for Ethical Choice

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines the question of why consumers engage in ethical consumption. The authors draw on self-affirmation theory to propose that the choice of an ethical product serves a self-restorative function. Four experiments provide support for this assertion: a self-threat increases consumers’ choice of an ethical option, even when the alternative choice is objectively superior in quantity (Study 1) and product quality (Study 2). Further, restoring self-esteem through positive feedback eliminates this increase in ethical choice (Studies 2 and 3). As an additional test of the robustness of our results, a final study examined the effect of self-threat on choice in a field setting (Study 4). The findings indicate that ethical purchases are not just altruistic. They hold purposeful individual value and can help in the self-restorative process. Implications for managers making decisions regarding investment in ethical product features are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auger, P., Burke, P., Devinney, T. M., & Louviere, J. J. (2003). What will consumers pay for social product features? Journal of Business Ethics, 42(3), 281–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auger, P., Devinney, T. M., & Louviere, J. J. (2007). Using best–worst scaling methodology to investigate consumer ethical beliefs across countries. Journal of Business Ethics, 70(3), 299–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auger, P., Devinney, T. M., Louviere, J. J., & Burke, P. F. (2008). Do social product features have value to consumers? International Journal of Research in Marketing, 25(3), 183–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, J., & Spranca, M. (1997). Protected values. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 70(1), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 6, 1–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodner, R., & Prelec, D. (2003). Self-signaling and diagnostic utility in everyday decision making. In I. Brocas & J. D. Carillo (Eds.), The psychology of economic decisions: Rationality and well-being (Vol. 1, pp. 105–126). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bray, J., Johns, N., & Kilburn, D. (2011). An exploratory study into the factors impeding ethical consumption. Journal of Business Ethics, 98(4), 597–608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brendl, C. M., Markman, A. B., & Messner, C. (2003). The devaluation effect: Activating a need devalues unrelated objects. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(4), 463–473.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briñol, P., & Petty, R. E. (2003). Overt head movements and persuasion: A self-validation analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 1123–1139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, M. C., & Winterich, K. P. (2018). A Framework for the consumer psychology of morality in the marketplace. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 28(2), 167–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrington, M. J., Neville, B. A., & Whitwell, G. J. (2010). Why ethical consumers don’t walk their talk: Towards a framework for understanding the gap between the ethical purchase intentions and actual buying behaviour of ethically minded consumers. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(1), 139–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cone Communications. (2017). Cone Communications CSR Study. http://www.conecomm.com/2017-cone-communications-csr-study-pdf.

  • Cooper-Martin, E., & Holbrook, M. B. (1993). Ethical consumption experiences and ethical space. In McAlister, L., and Rothschild, M. L. (Eds), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 20, pp. 113–118). Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Groot, J. I., & Steg, L. (2009). Morality and prosocial behavior: The role of awareness, responsibility, and norms in the norm activation model. Journal of Social Psychology, 149(4), 425–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Pelsmacker, P., Driesen, L., & Rayp, G. (2005). Do consumers care about ethics? Willingness to pay for Fairtrade coffee. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(2), 363–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Pelsmacker, P., & Janssens, W. (2007). A model for Fairtrade buying behaviour: The role of perceived quantity and quality of information and of product-specific attitudes. Journal of Business Ethics, 75(4), 361–380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edinger-Schons, L. M., Sipilä, J., Sen, S., Mende, G., & Wieseke, J. (2018). Are two reasons better than one? The role of appeal type in consumer responses to sustainable products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 28(4), 644–664.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falk, A., & Szech, N. (2013). Morals and markets. Science, 340(6133), 707–711.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferraro, R., Shiv, B., & Bettman, J. R. (2005). Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die: Effects of mortality salience and self-esteem on self-regulation in consumer choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(1), 65–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freestone, O. M., & McGoldrick, P. J. (2008). Motivations of the ethical consumer. Journal of Business Ethics, 79(4), 445–467.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao, L., Wheeler, S. C., & Shiv, B. (2009). The “shaken self”: Product choices as a means of restoring self-view confidence. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(1), 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., & Van den Bergh, B. (2010). Going green to be seen: Status, reputation, and conspicuous conservation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(3), 392–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, R., & Sen, S. (2013). The effect of changing resource synergy beliefs on the intentions–behavior discrepancy in ethical consumption. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 23(1), 114–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habel, J., Schons, L. M., Alavi, S., & Wieseke, J. (2016). Warm glow or extra charge? The ambivalent effect of corporate social responsibility activities on customers’ perceived price fairness. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), 84–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haws, K. L., Winterich, K. P., & Naylor, R. W. (2014). Seeing the world through GREEN-tinted glasses: Green consumption values and responses to environmentally friendly products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(3), 336–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F., & Matthes, J. (2009). Computational procedures for probing interactions in OLS and logistic regression: SPSS and SAS implementations. Behavior Research Methods, 41(3), 924–936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heatherton, T. F., & Polivy, J. (1991). Development and validation of a scale for measuring state self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(6), 895–910.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1890). Principles of psychology. (Vol. 2). New York: Holt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janssen, C., & Vanhamme, J. (2015). Theoretical lenses for understanding the CSR-consumer paradox. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 775–787.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, P. O., & Neyman, J. (1936). Tests of certain linear hypotheses and their application to some educational problems. Statistical Research Memoirs.

  • Khan, U., & Dhar, R. (2006). Licensing effect in consumer choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(2), 259–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirmani, A., Hamilton, R. W., Thompson, D. V., & Lantzy, S. (2017). Doing well versus doing good: The differential effect of underdog positioning on moral and competent service providers. Journal of Marketing, 81(1), 103–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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, 21(3), 203–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, J. G., Smith, N. C., & John, A. (2005). Why we boycott: Consumer motivations for boycott participation. Journal of Marketing, 68(3), 92–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V., & Handelman, J. M. (2004). Adversaries of consumption: Consumer movements, activism, and ideology. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(3), 691–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luchs, M. G., Naylor, R. W., Irwin, J. R., & Raghunathan, R. (2010). The sustainability liability: Potential negative effects of ethicality on product preference. Journal of Marketing, 74(5), 18–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGoldrick, P. J., & Freestone, O. M. (2008). Ethical product premiums: Antecedents and extent of consumers’ willingness to pay. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 18(2), 185–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D. (2009). Identity-based motivation: Implications for action-readiness, procedural-readiness, and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19(3), 250–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paharia, N., Vohs, K., & Deshpandé, R. (2013). Sweatshop labor is wrong unless the shoes are cute: Cognition can both hurt and help motivated moral reasoning. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 121(1), 81–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, L. E., & Crocker, J. (2008). Contingencies of self-worth and responses to negative interpersonal feedback. Self and Identity, 7(2), 184–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peattie, K., & Samuel, A. (2016). Fairtrade towns as unconventional networks of ethical activism. Journal of Business Ethics, 153(1), 265–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reczek, R. W., Irwin, J. R., Zane, D. M., & Ehrich, K. R. (2018). That’s not how I remember it: Willfully ignorant memory for ethical product attribute information. Journal of Consumer Research, 45(1), 185–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachdeva, S., Iliev, R., & Medin, D. L. (2009). Sinning saints and saintly sinners the paradox of moral self-regulation. Psychological Science, 20(4), 523–528.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, S., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2001). Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), 225–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, S., Du, S., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2016). Corporate social responsibility: A consumer psychology perspective. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, 70–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, S., Gürhan-Canli, Z., & Morwitz, V. (2001). Withholding consumption: A social dilemma perspective on consumer boycotts. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(3), 399–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, D. K., & Cohen, G. L. (2006). The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 183–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, D. K., Cohen, G. L., Nelson, L. D., Nussbaum, A. D., Bunyan, D. P., & Garcia, J. (2009). Affirmed yet unaware: Exploring the role of awareness in the process of self-affirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(5), 745–764.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheth, J. N., Sethia, N. K., & Srinivas, S. (2011). Mindful consumption: A customer-centric approach to sustainability. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(1), 21–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, N. C. (1990). Morality and the market: Consumer pressure for corporate accountability. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M., & Quinn, D. M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 4–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M. (1988). The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, (Vol. 21, pp. 261–302). San Diego: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M., Spencer, S. J., & Lynch, M. (1993). Self-image resilience and dissonance: The role of affirmational resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(6), 885–896.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103(2), 193–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, C., & Sood, S. (2012). Self-affirmation through the choice of highly aesthetic products. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(2), 415–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trudel, R., & Cotte, J. (2009). Does it pay to be good? MIT Sloan Management Review, 50(2), 61–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Questrom School of Business, Boston University, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Remi Trudel

  2. Melbourne Business School, 200 Leicester St., Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia

    Jill Klein

  3. Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Jill Klein

  4. Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College CUNY, One Bernard Baruch Way, Box B12-240, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Sankar Sen

  5. Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University, Sasa Patasala Building, Phayathai Road, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Sankar Sen

  6. Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

    Niraj Dawar

Authors
  1. Remi Trudel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jill Klein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sankar Sen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Niraj Dawar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Remi Trudel.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Trudel, R., Klein, J., Sen, S. et al. Feeling Good by Doing Good: A Selfish Motivation for Ethical Choice. J Bus Ethics 166, 39–49 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04121-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04121-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation