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It’s Good to Be Different: How Diversity Impacts Judgments of Moral Behavior
[Nonprofits Are Seen as Warm and For-Profits as Competent: Firm Stereotypes Matter]

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  • Uzma Khan
  • Ajay Kalra

Abstract

Recently, conversation on diversity and inclusion has been at the forefront in the media as well as the workplace. Though research has examined how diversity impacts organizational culture and decision-making, little attention has been given to how corporate diversity impacts consumers’ responses to the firm. This article establishes a link between diversity and the perceived morality of market actors. A series of studies demonstrate that greater diversity (racial, gender, or national) in a corporate team leads to perceptions of greater morality of the firm and its representatives and, as a consequence, results in more favorable consumer attitudes and behavior toward the firm. This positive effect arises because consumers perceive diverse teams as possessing higher perspective-taking abilities. Since marketplace morality is concerned with the greater good, we argue that higher perceptions of perspective-taking signal that the team will safeguard the broad interests of the community rather than serve narrow interest groups. The findings have broad implications since consumers are increasingly concerned with moral consumption. Our research suggests that diversity in the workforce is not only important for team performance and social equity but can shape consumers’ sentiments and behavior toward the firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Uzma Khan & Ajay Kalra, 2022. "It’s Good to Be Different: How Diversity Impacts Judgments of Moral Behavior [Nonprofits Are Seen as Warm and For-Profits as Competent: Firm Stereotypes Matter]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 49(2), pages 177-201.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:49:y:2022:i:2:p:177-201.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jcr/ucab061
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Dianru Zhang & Chi Zhang & Li Wang, 2023. "Preventing Moral Crisis and Promoting Sustainable Development in Enterprises: A Study of Managers’ Moral Decision-Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, July.

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