Consumer Ethics: Myth or Reality? An Analysis of Consumer Behavior

This essay delves into the multifaceted realm of consumer ethics, critically examining the concept of ethical consumerism and its practical implications. The analysis begins by defining ethical consumer behavior, exploring the factors that influence purchasing decisions, and highlighting the growing trend of consumers making choices based on ethical values. The essay then challenges the notion of the ethical consumer as a consistent reality, exploring the inconsistencies and unpredictable nature of consumer attitudes towards moral promotion. It investigates various myths surrounding consumer ethics, such as the belief that ethical behavior solely stems from managerial beliefs or consumer self-interest. The essay further discusses the impact of globalization, the rise of counterfeit products, and the application of theoretical models like the Hunt and Vitell model to understand consumer decision-making in ethical contexts. It concludes by suggesting that, while socially responsible consumption is a nascent skill, the reality of widespread ethical consumer behavior is still a long way from being achieved, and that consumer ethical behavior is a myth in the present scenario.

Running Head: CONSUMER ETHICS 0
Consumer Ethics
(Student Name)
2/28/2019

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“The ethical consumer behaviour is a myth.” As there are convinced prospects nearly the
consumers that the consumers are not right as always’. It has steered to the standards of in
what way the companies there their consumers, the notion which marketing activities should
fulfill the consumers’ needs and the companies need to secure personal of consumers as well
as social being (Maclaran, 2017). According to the analysis, the ethical consumerism is one
of the growing phenomenons which buttress the activities of ethical trade. In late 1970,
companies made substantial consideration that generates the principled issues in their
companies that concern mutually the researchers as well as business practitioners (Davies and
Gutsche, 2016). The main reason behind the researcher’s represents their interest is due to the
reason of millions of dollars has been lost in piracy as well as counterfeiting. The impact of
globalization with the creation of the internet accelerates as well as emphasized on the ethical
issues of consumers. For example, in the year 2008, the customer larceny in vending was
projected at further more than $40 billion at the global level which also includes $ 15 billion
in the country North America as well as $18 billion in the country Europe (Caruana,
Carrington and Chatzidakis, 2016).
It is true enough that there is a great cumulative amount of individuals that create their
decision related to buying on the foundation of values related to ethics which include
products such as environmentally friendly as well as methods of production, values of labor
with social right (Bradshaw, 2018). In the recent, customers seem to exercise their ethical
values in more morally intent when they are buying It is being visible that, there is an
enhancement in the trade as well as the demand for fair trade products and other organic
products in which several consumers even make effort to penalize companies of unethical
nature. Nevertheless, it is unbearable to undertake that customers constantly act ethically
(Hoelscher and Chatzidakis, 2018). The attitude of consumers in the direction of moral

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promotion discloses unpredictable, even indecisive consumer beliefs. The ethics of
consumers can easily move. In addition, viewing disapprovingly at current drifts, it can also
be disputed that the ostensible ethical customers are possibly just overwhelming the position
of being virtuous (Papaoikonomou and Alarcon, 2017).
The ethical consumer can be termed as the patrons who measured the eco-friendly concern,
animal concerns, as well as moral concerns that include repressive government as well as
weapons while shopping. It is well-defined as to pursuit the influences that obligate an
association with the moral concerns with determining the attitude of the customers headed for
certain ethical behavior (Boda and Zsolnai, 2016). An amount of replicas for the process of
decision-making have also been projected inside the integrities of business in which the
mainstream of which slant the matter from a perspective of organization. In comparisons with
slight courtesy has also been assumed to the part that ethical theatres in purchasing behavior
of an individual. Moreover, there is a number of common issues related to ethics that emerge
especially Fair Trade Principles. For many years the major pattern of ethical consumerism
was negative ethical purchase behaviour. Some of the boycotts are majorly organized by the
campaign groups for example boycott of Nestle on the action of baby milk. It affected the
choice of consumers at greater level. As they started avoiding purchasing certain products or
avoiding the services or goods which were connected which such issues. After analysing the
report, it represent that such issues generate high response rates for instance, according to the
report 20% of the individual stated that they would not purchase the products if it was tested
on animals as well as 21% od population stated that they would not purchase the products it
was from a factory farm (Heath and Heath, 2016).
According to the analysis, it represent that the ordinary customers are arduous so-called
ethical products which include fair labor certified garments, fair-trade certified, cosmetics

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that are free from any kind of testing on animal and the products that are prepared through
usage of organizations of sustainable nature that deliver such goods as they are always
encountered with inconsequence by all, but a particular group of customers. There are a huge
set of myths related to the consumer's ethics which is consistently rival by the researcher
(Chatzididakis, Maclaran and Bradshaw, 2012). First, consumer ethics basically originate
from managerial beliefs or customer themselves. Some of the authors decided that further
determination placing on sustaining the customers articulated that their ways of purchasing
goods depends on the industrialized nature of the corporation. According to the author
Timony (2012), there is no variation that need be originated by the marketplace any longer,
as it is the responsibilities that just shift to the discernment of consumers. Though, the
consequence represents that the demand for products of ethical nature is still incapable to
signify the decision-making of the customers. Many difficulties faced in empathetic the
issues of principled consumerism that exist in in the disappointment to grip more evidently as
well as consistently that motivate the individual towards socio-politically and the manner
through which the purchasing context operates to reveal or not to reveal the desire, wants,
constraints, beliefs, values as well as the mindset of the consumer while doing the purchasing
(Carrington, Zwick and Neville, 2016).. According to Malinowski, the ethical consumer is
one of the myths in which it is an idealization of that consumer should be doing or taking
other steps to be a proper member of society. Secondly, it is essential to examine whether the
conception of an ethical customer is the right requirement for pardon the individual actually
means when they are talking around virtuous buying behavior (Bertilsson, 2015). Connecting
the consumerism towards the ethics, with their moral implication of absolute right as well as
wring, is one of the difficult to justify in the recent scenario of the creation, where the
globalization suggests the usual felons between according to the values of civilizations. It can
be illustrated that the leading company Starbucks prominently displaying as well as selling

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Fairtrade coffee due to the pressure from a non-governmental organization and consumer
activism. The company has faced low sales volume than predictable and mandate has also
continued at a flat rate since they have introduced in the year 2001. Indeed, the
unpremeditated pragmatism at local coffee vents represents that not a single barista can evoke
a consumer either requesting for the Fairtrade Coffee or grouchy which is not expected and it
was not available (Gollnhofer and Schouten, 2017).
Additional, dearth of ethical behavior in the market has also been increased at a high level of
counterfeit products that are bought nearby the global, whether they are lifted DVDs or
counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags. For instance, the Economist has stated that the sales of copy
illegally DVDs in the country China underprivileged US filmmakers of nearly $2.7 billion in
the year 2005 that are huge extent can be associated to the $250 million or so occupied in the
entire box office takes in the republic. Other authors also represent that the partiality of the
moral consumptions is recently in the melodramatically that increases the haste to the
emergent stage. Their statement towards the revisions is that the developed principled
creativities that has been generated, the developed amount for customer ethics (Carrigan,
2017).
According to the theory of Hunt and Vitell, ethnic standards are one of the manners that
affected the perception of the individual in principled circumstances. There are at least three
main detailed notional replicas of the decision-making procedure in the situation that
involved the ethical issues in the process of marketing as well as business. However, the
model of Hunt and Vitell model is the only single one that can willingly apply to separate
customer behavior. Thus, the Hunt and Vitell model are one of the utmost suitable theoretic
models for trying the research question that involves ethics related to consumers. According
to such theory, the perception of distinct decision-maker of moral issues in a state that is

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trailed by the insight of numerous conceivable substitutes that may be castoff to resolution
such issues in an effective and efficient manner. Since the consumer has determined the set
perceived of alternatives to the course of actions, the two main principled assessments valour
take the abode. First is the deontological assessment, as well as the further, is a teleological
evaluation (Ameer and Halinen, 2019).
The main variance between deontological and teleological philosophies is that the
deontological theories majorly focus and concerned with the inherent righteousness of the
behavior or the action in the contrast, the teleological theories are majorly anxious with the
sum of bad, or the good personified in the significances of the behavior or any act. In most of
the situation, an ethical judgment of the consumer is probable to be a purpose of both
deontological as well as teleological evaluations. The moral judgment determines behavior
through the construction of purposes; however, the ethical judgment might vary from the
intentions due to the reason that teleological evaluation of the individual also affected the
purposes directly. Moreover, the act device concepts may also cause the behavior that to be
unpredictable with both purposes as well as ethical judgments. After customers select the
behavior, there is an assessment of the real significances that are subsequent from that
behavior (Jafarkarimi et al., 2016).
The moral philosophy divided the ethical theories into two parts which include the theories
that privilege the right as well as they honours the decent. The “good” denote to the
possessions or the consequences that our activities must endeavor to carry around and “right”
mention to what the individual as well as societies must to be in replying to the ethical
essentials. The theory of the “good” is focused on what the consequences to endorse while
the philosophies of the “right” upon what values to honor or on queries of responsibility (Lin,
Ma and Johnson, 2016). Therefore, the socially responsible consumption in the recent is a

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nascent skill, as well as many, have the possible to develop a phenomenon of the huge
market. The base of the ethical customer is a long-way from being the realism. Though, some
of the customers in the recent do take into deliberation the common features of their buying
behavior as well as take care about the CSR policies of the company, as most ignore and do
not upkeep sufficient to pay a developed price. A connected matter is a grade to which the
individual can simplify from the niche market to the mass market. For instance, Toyota Prius
has been fruitful manufacturing as well as promotion attainment but it is barely the greatest
fuel-efficient or the highest-quality hybrid automobile available. It represents that, the
company has also not adopted ethical mean for their business. as consumers are not only
responsible for such things as some of the consumers adopted ethical means, However, still,
there are most of the consumers who ignore ethical means for purchasing their products that
force the companies as well to ignore such means in their business. Therefore it could be said
that consumer ethical behavior is a myth in the present scenario (Chen and Hou, 2016).
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that ethical behavior plays a prominent role in
the global market. Most of the consumers have adopted the ethical means to purchase their
products. The ethical behavior of consumer defined as the process in which the consumer
purchases the products which include fair-trade practice, free from animal testing. However,
in the recent most of the consumers ignore the ethical means in the process of purchasing as
they only prefer products with low price for example, Starbucks has taken the initiatives
towards the ethical means, but the consumers did not showed any interest as their sales were
affected due to the adoption of fair trade practice by the company. However some of the
consumers prefer to purchase sustainable products to protect the rights of human, they have
taken various initiatives to protect them. They mostly take ethical steps during their shopping.
It represent that some of the consumers still exist in the market to adopt ethical means
whereas most of the consumers protect their interest by adopting unethical means and

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motivate others to follow such things. It represents that ethical consumer behavior is just a
myth as most of the consumers prefer to adopt unethical behavior at the global level.

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