earticle

영어

In recent times consumers are becoming more conscious of how companies’ actions affect society and consumers’ interests in corporate social responsibility cannot be overemphasized. Previous research provides empirical evidence on the relationship between a firm’s unethical behavior and brand trust. Specifically, it is known that high levels of consumer perceived unethicality reduce the level of trust consumers have for the brand in question. Consumer interests and awareness of ethical issues relating to brands is fast growing which presupposes that, companies must seek to integrate ethical behaviour into their business model (Singh, J. 2016). Extant research shows that empathy is evident with consumers’ identification with ethical issues which consequently impacts their attitudes (Shaw & Shiu, 2002; Ellen, Webb & Mohr, 2006). Also, when consumers are committed or attached to a brand, this in turn influences their attitude or judgements towards the unethical actions of firms (Schmalz & Orth, 2012; Ingram, Skinner & Taylor, V. A, 2005). When consumers have a strong relationship with a brand and feel attached, they are keener to sustain that relationship because that relationship is regarded as an investment. In their study, Tsarenko & Tojib (2012) show that, after a transgression of a firm, consumers’ decision to switch service provider was attenuated by forgiveness. Due to forgiveness, Consumers are willing to continue purchasing the firms’ products even after a transgression (Tsarenko & Tojib, 2015). Thus, the present study therefore examines how other boundary conditions - brand relationship quality and ethical self-identity affect the relationship between the severity of a firm’s unethical behavior and brand trust. A theoretical framework with hypothesized relationships is developed and tested in order to answer the research questions. We predict the following based on previous studies: H1: Brand relationship quality moderates the effects of severity of unethicality on brand trust such that, when severity of unethicality is high and brand relationship quality is high, brand trust is higher than when brand relationship quality is low. H2: Ethical Self-identity moderates the relationship between severity of unethicality on brand trust such that, when severity of unethicality is high and ethical self-identity is high, brand trust is lower than when ethical self-identity is low. Data is collected from structured questionnaires resulting in 81 valid responses. Employing Analysis of variance (ANOVA), data was analysed. The results, consistent with the hypotheses, provide evidence that, ethical self-identity interact with severity of firm’s unethicality on brand trust. More to that, band relationship quality also moderated the relationship between severity of firm’s ethicality on brand trust. The study makes appropriate contribution in the domain of business ethics. From the findings of this study, important implications for managers are drawn as well as future research directions. For instance, a closer look at the interaction effects shows that, ethical self-identity represents an important consumer trait that managers must consider when they want to gain the consumers’ trust of their brand. Also, brand relationship building provides a buffer for firms in the event of an unfortunate circumstance on the part of firms.