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How Do Consumers React to Company Moral Transgressions? The Role of Power Distance Belief and Empathy for Victims

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  • Haiyue (Felix) Xu
  • Lisa E Bolton
  • Karen Page Winterich
  • Amna Kirmani
  • Sankar Sen

Abstract

This research proposes that consumers vary in their response to company moral transgressions as a function of power distance belief (PDB), which is the extent that consumers accept inequality (a prominent moral principle). Specifically, consumers with lower PDB tend to feel more empathy for victims, which in turn heightens harm perceptions and negative moral emotions, leading to less favorable reactions toward the transgressing company. A series of nine studies and four supplementary experiments provides converging evidence for the PDB effect and underlying empathy-based process, while identifying victim salience and company crisis response strategy as theoretically and pragmatically relevant moderators. Specifically, the PDB effect emerges when victim salience is high (evoking greater empathy among lower-PDB consumers) but is attenuated when victim salience is low (and empathy is not evoked). Likewise, the PDB effect on company evaluations can be mitigated when the transgressing company offers both an apology and remedy, which together signal the company’s empathy for victims and remedy for harm that are salient to low-PDB consumers. Together, these findings shed light on how consumer reactions to company moral transgressions vary by culture, transgression characteristics, and company response strategies, providing guidance to companies in crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Haiyue (Felix) Xu & Lisa E Bolton & Karen Page Winterich & Amna Kirmani & Sankar Sen, 2021. "How Do Consumers React to Company Moral Transgressions? The Role of Power Distance Belief and Empathy for Victims," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 48(1), pages 77-101.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:48:y:2021:i:1:p:77-101.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jcr/ucaa067
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ohlwein, Martin, 2022. "Same but different - The effect of the unit of measure on the valuation of a unit price," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Luna-Cortés, Gonzalo & López-Bonilla, Luis Miguel & López-Bonilla, Jesús Manuel, 2022. "The consumption of dark narratives: A systematic review and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 524-534.
    3. Stefanie Wannow & Martin Haupt & Martin Ohlwein, 2024. "Is brand activism an emotional affair? The role of moral emotions in consumer responses to brand activism," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(2), pages 168-192, March.
    4. Chenfeng Yan & Quan Chen & Xinyue Zhou & Xin Dai & Zhilin Yang, 2024. "When the Automated fire Backfires: The Adoption of Algorithm-based HR Decision-making Could Induce Consumer’s Unfavorable Ethicality Inferences of the Company," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(4), pages 841-859, April.
    5. Palmeira, Mauricio & Hartmann, Nathaniel N. & Chan, Eugene & Sekar, Samuel B., 2023. "Don’t blame the powerless: The impact of hierarchy on reactions to responses to ethical scandals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    6. Ali Tezer & Matthew Philp & Anshu Suri, 2024. "The greenguard effect: When and why consumers react less negatively following green product failures," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 1513-1530, October.
    7. Defeng Yang & Xi Lei & Liang Hu & Yu Sun & Xiaodan Yang, 2023. "Brand stigmatization: how do new brand users influence original brand users?," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(1), pages 77-94, January.
    8. Gerrath, Maximilian H.E.E. & Brakus, J. Joško & Siamagka, Nikoletta Theofania & Christodoulides, George, 2023. "Avoiding the brand for me, us, or them? Consumer reactions to negative brand events," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    9. Park, Sehoon & Kim, Chaeyeong & Park, Jane, 2023. "How power distance belief, self-construal, and relationship norms impact conspicuous consumption," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Hyunseok Song & Kevin K. Byon, 2021. "Moderating Effect of the Power–Distance Belief on the Relationship between Employees’ Service Failures and Customers’ Behavioral Outcomes in the Sport Service Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Anika Schumacher & Robert Mai, 2024. "Organizational Top Dog (vs. Underdog) Narratives Increase the Punishment of Corporate Moral Transgressions: When Dominance is a Liability and Prestige is an Asset," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(1), pages 19-36, September.
    12. Xie, Jifei & Wu, Haoyu & Liu, Kexi & Cui, Yunce & Zhang, Xiaofei, 2024. "Is virtual streamer useful? Effect of streamer type on consumer brand forgiveness when streamers make inappropriate remarks," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Huachao Gao & Yinlong Zhang, 2022. "How does power distance belief impact consumers’ responses to demotion in hierarchical loyalty programs? The dual processes of monetary and psychological losses," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 822-840, July.

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