Dynamics for Integrative Social Contracts Theory: Norm Evolution and Individual Mobility

This article proposes a specific logic of dynamics for integrative social contracts theory (ISCT) that combines two empirically oriented process extensions strengthening concreteness of Donaldson and Dunfee’s conceptualization, namely (1) international policy regime theory and (2) Tiebout migration. While either would help “dynamize” and “concretize” ISCT, the two combined are even more insightful. Real-world policy regime processes can develop concrete action-guiding norms instantiating hypernorms to guide business decisions. Donaldson and Dunfee placed empirical reliance on expectation of converging parallel evolution of universal principles and authentic local values. ISCT remains vague on how global or local norms can develop and change, for two reasons. First, ISCT does not explain mechanisms for how proposed hypernorms can become actual global norms and also become accepted across extant authentic communities. International policy regime theory explains how hypernorms can become instantiated as global norms expressed in policy regimes. Second, a basic element in ISCT is implied consent positing free exit from voluntary moral communities. Empirically, individuals or businesses may be unable to exit from undesired membership in authentic communities to which they do not consent. The Tiebout migration model provides valuable insights concerning how substantive mobility or its absence improves on the minimum ISCT assumption of implied consent. An integrated logic of ISCT dynamics generates a three-level framework in which instantiated hypernorms and authentic community (microsocial) norms can empirically change, and individuals or businesses can migrate more freely across extant communities.     

Power, Self-regulation and the Moralization of Behavior

The perception of behavior as a moral or conventional concern can be influenced by contextual variables, including status and power differences. We propose that social processes and in particular social role enactment through the exercise of power will psychologically motivate moralization. Punishing or rewarding others creates a moral dilemma that can be resolved by externalizing causation to incontrovertible moral rules. Legitimate power related to structure and position can carry moral weight but may not influence the power holder’s perceptions of rules and general norms of behavior. Social identity theory suggests moralization could be promoted by a concern for shared, defining values. However, the tendency to moralize another’s behavior can be injurious to shared identity. We explored white-collar employees’ perceptions of several categories of noxious or deviant workplace behaviors and regressed these perceptions on the tendency to use legitimate, referent, or reward and punish power; social identity; and the interaction of social identity and power, in particular legitimate power. Only the tendency to influence others through punishment or reward predicted moralization. Alternative causal explanations for the findings were addressed through the absence of any relationships between punishment and reward power and perceptions of deviant behaviors as wrong, upsetting, or requiring punishment. We discuss these results in the context of self and social processes, the social construction of morals and power, and the impact of managers’ behavior on group or organizational ethics.     

Models of Consumer Bankruptcy: Implications for Research and Policy

The author explores three models of individual bankruptcy law which might provide some guidance for analysing policy and for posing further research questions in relation to bankruptcy as a legal and social institution. The models are: (1) Bankruptcy law as a response to deviant behaviour; (2) Bankruptcy as consumer protection; (3) Bankruptcy as social welfare law. Some tentative thoughts are also offered on the comparative analysis of consumer bankruptcy as a focus for understanding relationships between legal and social norms.     

A Discovery of Early Labor Organizations and the Women who Advocated Work–Life Balance: An Ethical Perspective

The relevance of leader ethicality has motivated ethical leadership theory. In this paper, we emphasize the importance of moral identity for the concept of ethical leadership. We relate ethical leadership incorporating an internalized moral identity to productive deviant workplace behavior. Using qualitative empirical data we illustrate the relevance of critical situations, i.e., situations in which hypernorms and organizational norms diverge, for the distinction of ethical leaders with or without internalized moral identities. Our paper takes a multidisciplinary approach integrating insight from management as well as humanities and social sciences toward a comprehensive sense of ethical leadership.     

A review of social roles in green consumer behaviour

Despite the broad interest and rapid increase in studying green consumer behaviour (GCB) from a social perspective, related articles have been presented in a piecemeal fashion and have lacked a review of social roles in GCB. Additionally, the research focus may differ from the influence of digital technology. Therefore, this study draws on a review of 439 GCB articles that focus on social roles and utilizes both quantitative and qualitative analyses to provide a general picture of theories, social factors, research topics and topic trends with a specific emphasis on the research differences between the traditional and digital contexts. The findings indicate that the GCB field has experienced exponential growth since 2014. Subjective norms, social influence, culture, marketing influence and social media influence are the main drivers of GCB. Eight research topics are identified, among which topics on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the theory of consumption values (TCV) maintained high popularity. Furthermore, the TPB is more prevalent in the traditional context in which scholars prefer to predict GCB using macrosocial factors, such as policy and culture. In comparison, signal theory and commitment-trust theory have received more attention in the digital context in which trust is vital. Research interests in online platforms and green hotels have recently increased in the digital context. Gaps and suggested directions for future studies are further identified.     

Household norms and their role in reducing household electricity consumption

Researchers have only recently begun to investigate the role of the norms of the household or family group in energy‐efficiency decisions. These researchers have demonstrated that these norms can influence the behaviour and attitudes of children within the household. We contribute to their findings by providing a characterization of the use of household norms in household decisions about electricity efficiency. For our qualitative research, we conducted focus groups with three different household types: (1) share houses/young couples with no children; (2) households with children; and (3) empty nest/elderly households in three regional centres in New South Wales, Australia (total of 76 respondents in nine focus groups). Specifically, we found that household norms were evident in the decision‐making process through rules and expectations about behaviour and the use of sanctions to enforce or shaped that behaviour. We identified several drivers of household norms including a household member taking the role of ‘efficiency champion’ and the occurrence of critical incidents in the household. In addition, we found that household members try to establish household norms to socialize household members with the goal of the intergenerational transmission of desirable behaviours. Based on these observations, we conclude that household members employ norms to regulate and reduce their electricity consumption, and as a mechanism for consumer socialization. As such, our findings are important for marketers and policy makers tasked with regulating household consumption.     

Normative Influences in Donation Decisions

ABSTRACT

The author examines the role of social and personal moral norms within a charitable giving decision process. Social and moral norms are posited both to directly and indirectly influence charitable-giving decisions. The study confirms the presence of idealistic and egotistic dimensions of moral norms within a charitable-request environment. Post-charitable contribution guilt was also found to be present in both donors and nondonors for markedly irregular charitable-giving encounters, with nondonors experiencing significantly higher guilt. The study explores the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for nonprofit marketers.     

Understanding fashion communication between Korean middle‐aged mothers and daughters

Daughters can be considered important social role models for middle‐aged mothers in fashion communication such as the clothing purchase or conformity. This study explores antecedents (trust in daughters as fashion informants and internalized social pressure for appearance management) and outcomes (solidarity between mother and daughter, psychological well‐being of mother) of fashion communication (mother–daughter shopping, clothing conformity) between middle‐aged mothers and daughters. The data were collected using a self‐administered online survey of 307 middle‐aged Korean women between ages of 45 and 65. The result shows that mothers’ trust in daughters as fashion informants and internalized social pressure for appearance positively influence mother–daughter shopping and mothers’ clothing conformity to daughters. Next, mother–daughter shopping and mothers’ clothing conformity have a positive influence on the solidarity of mothers and daughters. When solidarity becomes stronger, the degree of the mothers’ psychological well‐being increases.     

Eating Their Feelings: Examining Emotional Eating in At-Risk Groups in the United States

Emotional eating affects many individuals and can lead to food overconsumption. The present research provides a theoretical foundation for examining the influence of food advertising, social norms, and related mediating influences on emotional eating. Insight offered through interviews with emotional eaters and an emotional eating conceptual model demonstrate that emotional eating is heavily influenced by food advertising, which can incite desire and ruminative thoughts about food. Additionally, emotional eaters may enlist prefactuals in the form of hedonic rationalizations to justify unhealthy eating behavior. Evidence from this research also suggests that individuals who emotionally eat may be doing so because such behavior has been learned. Finally, despite regulatory and policy efforts to create more informed consumers by providing nutrient content information on labels and packaging, emotional eaters possess little motivation to process this information. Implications for public policy and social marketing initiatives are discussed.     

To blow or not to blow the whistle: the effects of potential harm,social pressure and organisational commitment on whistleblowing intention and behaviour

This study uses a rational ethical decision‐making framework to examine the influence of moral intensity (potential harm and social pressure) on whistleblowing intention and behaviour using organisational commitment as a moderator. A scenario was developed, and an online questionnaire was used to conduct an empirical analysis on the responses of 533 participants. The mean age and years of work experience of the respondents were 31 and 8.2 years, respectively. The results show, first, that while moral intensity is correlated with whistleblowing intention, only the potential harm is positively correlated with such intention. Second, potential harm and social pressure differentially affect whistleblower choice of using an internal or external channel. Third, organisational commitment has a moderated mediation effect among moral intensity, whistleblowing intention and behaviour. Fourth, whistleblowers may be grouped into four conceptual types: indifferent, rebel, mature and spoil. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.     

The Price of Morality. An Analysis of Personality, Moral Behaviour, and Social Rules in Economic Terms

The focus of the present study was the rationality of moral behaviour and moral conviction. Assumptions like "morality pays" or "good ethics is good business" are not a priori right. Whether morality as personal conviction is also economically rational or not depends in large part on the institutional setting of a society and the likelihood that immoral behaviour will be sanctioned. The systematic approach to morality thus appears to be political economy and the institutional setting: rules and laws. However, the conditions for morality depend not only on the formal structures but also on the informal structures of rules and sanctions. Hence, the systematic approach to morality is most closely linked with the culture of a society; the efficiency of individual morality depends on social conditions. It is costly for individuals and societies to establish and entertain conditions that set clear incentives for moral behaviour. In this context, moral competencies, learning, and education play a crucial role.     

Social determinants of panic buying behaviour amidst COVID-19 pandemic: The role of perceived scarcity and anticipated regret

Panic buying behaviour is inherently undesirable due to its detrimental impact on community's resources and disruptions to supply chain systems. The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has seen a resurgence of this phenomenon across the world, leaving supermarkets in stockout situations. While panic buying is largely reasoned as a psychological reaction to an extreme event, it is also a socially relevant behaviour as our perception of a crisis can be shaped by our observations and interactions within the society. The social determinants of panic buying behaviour, particularly on how these factors heighten one's perception of scarcity, and trigger panic buying behaviour, are studied. A theoretical model is developed to explain panic buying behaviour in a social context by synthesizing various social and behavioural theories, and the inter-relationship among the latent constructs is analysed using the structural equation modelling approach. Accordingly, an online survey was administered and analysis of the data confirmed that non-coercive social influence, social norm and observational learning directly influence one's perception of scarcity. Additionally, perceived scarcity can motivate panic buying behaviour directly or indirectly through feelings of anticipated regret. This study has contributed to the limited literature on panic buying. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of panic buying will aid policymakers and businesses in developing intervention or support strategies to cope with such behaviour.     

How does social trust affect corporate financial performance? The mediating role of corporate social responsibility

Prior studies assert that social trust may positively influence the economic performance of countries and firms (within those countries). This paper proposes a more nuanced mechanism whereby corporate social responsibility (CSR) mediates the relationship between country-level social trust and firm-level financial performance. Anchored in neo-institutional theory, we theorize that social trust instills norms of trustworthiness and willingness to trust others guiding individual and corporate behaviors. In order to comply with such norms and gain legitimacy, firms in high-trust society are more likely to commit to CSR activities that serve the interests of stakeholders. CSR activities, in turn, can positively influence financial performance by enabling firms to access stakeholders' resources and capabilities and to decrease transactions costs in the stakeholder relationships. We tested our theory by analyzing 9818 firm-year observations across 34 countries, during the 2006 to 2015 period. Our analysis shows the expected CSR mediation in the relationship between social trust and firm-level financial performance. Our findings are robust across different models addressing the concerns of endogeneity, alternative measures, and potential moderators.     

The Questionable Use of Moral Development Theory in Studies of Business Ethics: Discussion and Empirical Findings

The topic of the article is how moral development theory can enlighten the understanding of ethical behaviour in business. It discusses previous research on the subject, and reports an empirical study of academics (engineers and business economists with a master degree) working in the private sector in Norway.Moral development theory is based on a long research tradition, and many researchers within business ethics have assumed the importance of moral reasoning in business environments. However, the truth of these assumptions has not been confirmed by previous empirical research.The article reports on my investigation into the relationship between moral reasoning, ethical attitudes and decision-making behaviour. The data were collected by a survey study among Norwegian engineers and business economists working in businesses (N = 449) in 1997.It has been hypothesised that strong ethical attitudes would have a restraining effect on moral reasoning. In order to test this, ethical attitudes were categorized into four issue categories. The assumption being that the four categories would explain the different restraints on moral reasoning. The statistical testing showed that there was a negative, but not significant, correlation between strong attitudes and good moral reasoning ability.It was also hypothesised that good ability in moral reasoning would tend to exhibit a smaller difference between Policy-decisions and Action-decisions. This hypothesis was based on the difference in behaviour explained in "espoused theory" and "theory in use". When making policy-decisions these can be based on espoused theory and nice "talk" because it is always possible to make exceptions to or reconsider a policy. Action-decisions, on the other hand, are very concrete because they immediately trigger an action. The statistical testing rejected my hypothesis but gave a significant converse result: Good ability in moral reasoning seems to imply less stability and more inconsistence.The article concludes with the fact that moral reasoning testing seems to explain some differences in moral reasoning among people in business but not what kind of behavioural effects these differences actually have.     

Why do currency crises arise and how could they be avoided?

In the 1990s currency crises arose in different regions, e.g. in Mexico, East Asia, Russia, Brazil and Ecuador, to mention only the most important ones. What are the main factors which may trigger such events? How does globalisation and deregulation of financial markets influence the emergence of a currency crisis? What forms of crises exist? Are they driven by fundamental imbalances in a country or are they caused by self-fulfilling mechanisms involving herd behaviour and destabilising speculation? To what extent do such crises reflect implicit governmental and international guarantees which may cause moral hazard and adverse selection, thereby increasing the risk behaviour of enterprises and banks?     

Deterring deviant consumer behaviour: when ‘it’s wrong,don’t do it’ doesn’t work

ABSTRACT

Tactics to deter deviant consumer behaviour have received limited attention in the literature despite deviance being an ongoing problem in the marketplace. Across two studies, the findings suggest there is a heterogeneous response to the rules placed on consumers’ behaviour, which manifests from an absence of consensus among consumers on what is right and wrong behaviour undermining the it’s wrong, don’t do it approach to deterrence. Further, risk perceptions of being caught and punished are low, if not absent, undermining the you will be caught and punished approach to deterrence. Alternate underlying mechanisms were tested and found to influence deviant consumer behaviour (perceived prevalence, perceived outcomes and moral identity), which could underpin alternate deterrence tactics, including social proofing, moral triggers and humanising the victim.     

Young consumers’ green purchase behaviour in an emerging market

Young consumers represent a powerful engine in the development of environmentally conscious population as well as a promising market for green products. Marketers and organizations are therefore increasingly developing strategic marketing campaigns and environmental education programmes that target the young consumer segment. This study aims to examine a number of rational, moral, emotional and self-identity factors that may facilitate or impede green purchase behaviour among young consumers in an emerging market, Vietnam. A paper-based survey was employed to collect data from university students, which yielded an effective sample of 289 respondents. Multivariate statistics revealed that most factors (i.e. knowledge, attitudes, personal norms, self-identity and perceived barriers) significantly affected consumer purchase of energy efficient appliances, except for subjective social norms and warm glow. From these findings, implications for marketers, policy-makers and other stakeholders engaged in promoting green products are discussed.     

The Moral Intensity of Privacy: An Empirical Study of Webmaster' Attitudes

Webmasters are a key moral agent in the issue of privacy. This study attempts to understand the factors underlying their attitudes about privacy based on the theory of moral intensity. Webmasters of high-traffic sites were invited via email to participate in a web-based survey. The results support the application of moral intensity to the domain of privacy and the population of webmasters – both outcomes and social norms have statistically significant main effects on attitudes. The results also suggest a reconfiguration of the dimensions of moral intensity. This is based on the observation that proximity to the organization has a negative main effect on attitudes, and it moderates the relationship between social norms and attitudes. The original theory of moral intensity did not acknowledge the possibility of this moderating role for proximity. These observations have important implications for future research and practice in the areas of privacy, moral intensity, and ethical decision making.