Consumer Response to Unethical Corporate Behavior: A Re-Examination and Extension of the Moral Decoupling Model

This research replicates Bhattacharjee et al. (J Consum Res 39(4):1167–1184, 2013) moral decoupling model and extends the original along the dimensions of theory, method, and context. Adopting a branding perspective and focusing on the corporate domain rather than the public figures investigated by Bhattacharjee and colleagues, this research examines the proposition that consumers dissociate judgments of morality from judgments of performance to justify purchasing from companies deemed to act immorally. The original study is further extended by applying the model in a different cultural context and employing a more realistic stimulus to establish external and ecological validity. The results of the replication generally support the original findings, in particular, under conditions of higher product involvement, a theoretical extension.     

Reverse Presentations

Reverse Presentations is a method for requirements validation in offshore software development. In this paper, the authors present and conceptually refine this method and carry out an initial evaluation. The method provides cross-phase support and is characterized by a structured and iterative validation process. In contrast to existing methods, it focuses on the client perspective and takes into account social distance challenges. The method aims at creating a common understanding of the future system by means of “reverse presentations”. This core element of the method facilitates the transfer of knowledge across social worlds for validation purposes. Case studies with clients confirm that the method fits well with the offshore software development context. The cases point to the method’s positive impact on the interorganizational interaction and control.     

Speaking to the mind or the heart: effects of matching hedonic versus utilitarian arguments and products

Message arguments influence beliefs about product benefits which influence overall product evaluations. Three studies show that matching hedonic versus utilitarian arguments and products enhance evaluations of utilitarian products, but not hedonic products. The results generalize across several argument manipulations and several product categories.     

Die Erwartungen der Wirtschaft für 2017

In 2016, Germany’s economic sectors had mixed fortunes. Gross domestic income increased by 1.8% in total. The prospects for 2017 are hardly better and subject to uncertainties. Above all the results of the US presidential election and Brexit give cause to fear protectionist tendencies, which are especially adverse for the German export-oriented industries. As a result the representatives of industry and services associations expect in 2017 rather modest growth rates.     

Inadequate supply and increasing demand for textiles and clothing: second-hand trade at auctions as an alternative source of consumer goods in Sweden, 1830–1900

Drawing on a study of historical national accounts and statistics, this article shows that a growing supply of mass-consumption textiles and clothing in Sweden during industrialization did not fully meet increasing demand. As a result, high demand for second-hand items remained even at the turn of the twentieth century. Records from a local auction house from 1830 to 1900 show that, even in the 1880s, more affluent urban consumers were still active on the second-hand market. Thereafter, they turned to the market for new goods, while potential demand from labourers and servants continued to be provided for by the second-hand market. Mechanization meant that more items entered this market. It changed the range and quality of objects available, consequently affecting the attractiveness of second-hand textiles and clothing. After the 1870s, falling and converging prices can be discerned, while more durable fabrics largely retained their value. We conclude that the consumer revolution (in a broader sense) had by this stage gained a foothold among ordinary Swedish urban households. The auction trade was part of a democratization of consumption. The general lesson is that understanding mass consumption requires research not only into second-hand consumption, but also into different regional settings.     

“It’s Just Business”: Understanding How Business Frames Differ from Ethical Frames and the Effect on Unethical Behavior

Journal of Business Ethics - Unfortunately, business is often associated with unethical behavior. While research has offered a number of explanations for why business might encourage unethical...     

Unfair incentives: A behavioural note on sharecropping

We conducted a laboratory‐in‐the‐field experiment with real‐life tenants in Ethiopia to test the incentive effects of fixed wage, sharecropping, fixed rent, and ownership contracts. The experimental task resembles a common process in agricultural production. The sharecropping contract is a piece rate scheme framed as a profit‐sharing agreement. Sharecropping output was about 12 percent smaller than the fixed rent output. Surprisingly, it is statistically indistinguishable from the fixed wage output, despite substantial piece rates. This effect is driven by real‐life sharecroppers. Their sharecropping output was smaller than that of non‐sharecroppers, especially in a region where a controversial land reform took place. We argue that our subjects dislike sharecropping contracts because of the unfair profit sharing and the disputed allocation of land. Fairness concerns, therefore, may be another impediment to efficiency under the sharecropping contract.     

Entrepreneurship after displacement

Small Business Economics - According to Hoetker and Agarwal (Academy of Management Journal, 50(2), 446–469, 2007), research on knowledge transfers related to business closures is scarce. This...