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The Impact of Social Darwinism Perception, Status Anxiety, Perceived Trust of People, and Cultural Orientation on Consumer Ethical Beliefs

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Abstract

This study intends to explore the effects of political, social and cultural values on consumers’ ethical beliefs regarding questionable consumption behaviors. The variables examined include status anxiety, social Darwinism perception, perceived trust of people, and cultural orientation. Based on a field survey in Taiwan, the results showed that consumers with low ethical beliefs have higher perception of social Darwinism and status anxiety than consumers possess neutral and high ethical beliefs. The result also showed that the neutral ethics group had higher trust on people than the low ethics groups. Finally, the high ethics group expressed significantly higher perception of vertical collectivism than those consumers of the low and neutral ethics group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Chengchi University, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Jyh-Shen Chiou

  2. Feng Chia University, Taichung City, Taiwan

    Lee-Yun Pan

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  1. Jyh-Shen Chiou
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  2. Lee-Yun Pan
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Correspondence to Jyh-Shen Chiou.

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Jyh-shen Chiou (Ph.D. in Marketing, Michigan State), is professor of Marketing, Dept. of International Business, College of Commerce, National Chengchi University, Taiwan. His research focuses on consumer behavior and strategic marketing. His work has been published in Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Service Research European Journal of Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Social Psychology, etc. Lee-Yun Pan, is assistant professor of marketing, Dept. of Business Administration, Feng Chia University.

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Chiou, JS., Pan, LY. The Impact of Social Darwinism Perception, Status Anxiety, Perceived Trust of People, and Cultural Orientation on Consumer Ethical Beliefs. J Bus Ethics 78, 487–502 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9364-x

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