Feeling Good by Doing Good: A Selfish Motivation for Ethical Choice
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Feeling Good by Doing Good: A Selfish Motivation for Ethical Choice Remi Trudel1 · Jill Klein2,3 · Sankar Sen4,5 · Niraj Dawar6 Received: 30 September 2018 / Accepted: 27 January 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
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. Keywords Ethical consumption · Sustainability · Self-affirmation · Self-restoration · Moral choice
Introduction
* Remi Trudel [email protected] Jill Klein [email protected] Sankar Sen [email protected] Niraj Dawar [email protected] 1
Questrom School of Business, Boston University, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
2
Melbourne Business School, 200 Leicester St., Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia
3
Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
4
Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College CUNY, One Bernard Baruch Way, Box B12‑240, New York, NY 10010, USA
5
Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University, Sasa Patasala Building, Phayathai Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
6
Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
The emergence of “ethical” criteria in consumers’ purchase motivations has led to interest in whether consumers are willing to buy, and even pay more for, products that are labeled Fairtrade (FT), environmentally friendly, or that otherwise claim a benefit for the community or for humanity. Research finds that ethical consumption—defined by Cooper-Martin and Holbrook (1993, p. 113) as “decisionmaking, purchases and other consumption experiences that are affected by the consumer’s ethical concerns”—plays a role in consumer choices. Consumers like and choose products that they perceive as socially responsible, and consumer loyalty and even positive judgments of product features can flow from perceptions of social responsibility (see Sen et al. 2016 for a recent review). Marketplace surveys show that many consumers profess to take corporate social responsibility (CSR) into account when choosing products. For example, a recent Cone Communication (2017) survey
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