Consumers and Business Ethics

Belk, R., Devinney, T. and Eckhardt, G. 2005. Consumer Ethics Across Cultures. Consumption, Markets & Culture, 8(3): 275-289.
This study looked at the general lack of concern for three types of ethical products across eight countries and evaluated the justifications for the lack of concern and how they might be altered.

Burgess, J. 2003. Sustainable consumption: Is it really achievable? Consumer Policy Review, 13(3): 78-84.
Author argues that both high-profile media campaigns and technological innovation are needed for sustainable consumption, but that this alone will not alter behaviour: more complex processes are needed.

Bucic, T., Harris, J. and Arli, D., 2012. Ethical consumers among the millennials: A cross-national study. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(1), pp.113-131.
This paper investigates millennial consumer groups engagement with ethical consumerism, identifying three distinct subgroups of millennial ethical consumers.

Carrington, M.J., Neville, B.A. and Whitwell, G.J., 2014. Lost in translation: Exploring the ethical consumer intention–behaviour gap. Journal of Business Research, 67(1), pp.2759-2767.
This article investigates the ethical consumer intention-behaviour gap, identifying four factors which impact the gap.

Dawkins, J. 2005. Consumers and Sustainability: Poles apart? European Retail Digest,48: p13-17.
Provides survey evidence regarding the gap between consumers concerns with social and environmental issues and their use of these considerations in purchasing activities.

Garcia-Ruiz, P. and Rodriguez-Lluesma, C., 2014. Consumption practices: A virtue ethics approach. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(4), pp.509-531.
This article proposes the use of virtue ethics as a framework for the ethical analysis of consumption.

Grappi, S., Romani, S. and Bagozzi, R.P., 2013. Consumer response to corporate irresponsible behavior: Moral emotions and virtues. Journal of business research, 66(10), pp.1814-1821.
This paper presents a theoretical framework for explaining consumer word of mouth and protest behaviours against corporate irresponsibility.

Gurney, P. M. & Humphreys, M. 2006. Consuming responsibility: The search for value at Laskarina Holidays. Journal of Business Ethics, 64(1): 83-100.
An alternative theoretical conceptualisation of CSR. The authors re-imagine the firm as an arena of consumption where employees seek value, constructing and confirming their identities as consumers.

Hackley, C. 1999. The meanings of ethics in and of advertising. Business Ethics: A European Review, 8(1): 37-42.
This article looks at the meaning of ads from a social constructionist perspective.

Jeurissen, R. and Van de Ven, B. 2006. Developments in Marketing Ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 16(3): 427-439.
This is a review article on four new marketing ethics books that came out in 2005 and provides a basic review of the current status of marketing ethics.

Levitt, T. 1970. The Morality (?) of Advertising. Harvard Business Review, 48 (July-August): 84-92.
This article talks about the morality of advertising in comparison with other creative disciplines.

Mohr, L. and Webb, D. 2005. The Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility and Price on Consumer Responses. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(1): 121-147.
This study found that corporate social responsibility had a positive impact on consumers evaluation of a company and intent to purchase.

Nill, A. (ed). 2015. Handbook on ethics and marketing. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Compilation of current work on ethics in marketing and consumer ethics.

Raynolds, L.T., & Bennett, E.A. (eds). 2015. Handbook of Research on Fair Trade. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
A terrific introduction to current research on the fair trade movement.

Smith, N.C. 2015. Consumer Pressure for Corporate Accountability. Reprint. New York: Routledge
Reprint of a book that still resonates: discusses how citizens and social movements are pushing firms to better respond to stakeholder concerns.

Swaidan, Z. 2012. Culture and consumer ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 108(2): 201-213.
Empirical research which argues that culture influences consumer ethics and consumer activism.

Verschooer, C. 2006. Consumers Consider the Importance of Corporate Social
Responsibility. Strategic Finance, 88(2): 20-21.
A brief article providing survey data on consumer responses to corporate social responsibility and how this differs with socially responsible investors.

Vitell, S.J., 2015. A case for consumer social responsibility (CnSR): Including a selected review of consumer ethics/social responsibility research. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), pp.767-774.
This paper reviews the distinct notions of consumer ethics and consumer social responsibility, and the role of consumers in facilitating CSR initiatives.

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