Ethical Marketing Practices viewed through Consumer Spectacles
Ethical Marketing Practices viewed through Consumer Spectacles

Summary/Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the working of a demand and supply mechanism in an ethical scenario in the cosmetics market context. It principally aims to investigate the intentions of consumers to consider marketers’ commitment to ethics issues.Design/Methodology/Approach – Using a sample of urban female respondents from Malaysia, a consumer survey was carried out. PLS structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings and implications – The results show that the aspects of product fairness and price fairness are positively correlated to the attitudes of shoppers’ towards firms that resort to such practices. Additionally, shoppers’ attitudes and their perceived behavioral control further influence their intentions to consider a firm’s ethicality while anticipating a purchase. In terms of lifestyle aspects, the self-confidence and health consciousness of consumers do not moderate the relationship between attitude and intentions. As a whole, consumers offer hints that it is high time for marketers to start developing a sense of obligation to adhere to relevant ethical practices under vulnerable circumstances. Accordingly, it is suggested that managers offer products that are safe and pose the least risks, and that they set rational and justifiable prices. Limitation – This study has been limited to facial care products in Malaysia.Originality – This study addresses and operationalizes fairness aspects of products and their pricing from a consumer perspective through a rigorous review of the marketing and business ethics literature.

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