Examining the Effects of Moral Development Level, Self-Concept, and Self-Monitoring on Consumers' Ethical Attitudes


Creative Commons License

KAVAK B., Gurel E., ERYİĞİT C., Tektas O. O.

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS, vol.88, no.1, pp.115-135, 2009 (SSCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 88 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s10551-009-0114-0
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.115-135
  • Keywords: consumer ethics, moral development level, self-monitoring, self-concept, Turkey, DECISION-MAKING, EMPIRICAL-EXAMINATION, HIERARCHICAL MODEL, BELIEFS, IMPACT, PERCEPTIONS, BEHAVIOR, VALUES, SALESPEOPLE, PERSONALITY
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study investigates the possible effects of self-concept, self-monitoring, and moral development level on dimensions of consumers' ethical attitudes. "Actively benefiting from illegal activities," "actively benefiting from deceptive practices," and "no harm/no foul 1-2" are defined by factor analysis as four dimensions of Turkish consumers' ethical attitudes. Logistic regression analysis is applied to data collected from 516 Turkish households. Results indicate that self-monitoring and moral development level predicted consumer ethics in relation to "actively benefiting from questionable practices" and "no harm/no foul" dimensions. Actual self-concept is also a predictor variable in relation to "no harm/no foul" dimension. Age and gender make significant differences in consumers' ethical attribute dimensions.