Project Aim and Objectives

Project aim and objectives: The paper aims at performing a systematic literature review on articles related to ethical buying for ethical consumers and ways of ethical product and service promotion to ethical customers. For the case study of ShopHere, the Australian multi-channel retailer, a generalized perspective of the same is drawn to consider the ultimate end results. The main objective of this study is to provide a well framed structural outlook of the various aspects of ethical consumer buying and how promotion of the same can be supported extensively. It aims to answer the main research question with supporting literary theories and discussion papers.

Research questions: At present the consideration of ethical linkage to product and service delivery is extensively linked to the respective consumers’ buying behavior. In most cases it is seen that in spite of having ethical codes of conduct, business firms are neglecting them and are taking a number of unethical steps to increase their ultimate bottom-line. And buyers are not taking this stand of business firms ethically and their buying behavior are impacted considerably. The main research question is- How to promote products and services to ethical consumers?

Purpose and focus of review: The main focus of the literature review is that it tries to find the exact relationship between ethical product delivery and ethical buying behavior in consumers and reviewing already researched articles on the same. Is promotion of ethical product and service really important while studying buying behavior of consumers? Do consumers value ethical products or ethical products has no role to play on the buying behavior of the consumers. Supporting articles with their literary relevance is considered in drawing the final conclusion about the ethical consumer buying prospects.

The pragmaitc search process provides value to the systematic literature review development. A collection of almost relevant 15 peer-reviewed journals were finalized among a number of searched articles. The criteria for selection was recent dated (2017 and onwards), relevance to the topic of literature review, empirical, written in english and should be proquest issued papers. Various online database (here proquest) is searched explicitly with key terms relevant to the dicsussion paper. The whole journal is extracted and saved to have a better insight into the literature review and critical analysis support. A summary table is developed based on article title, year of publication, key terms, final results and findings and their implications. This will be helpful in the next part of the study.

Research Questions

The thematic approach of critical analysis for the literature review is considered here. A compact analysis of the various journals is conglomerated here and a cumulative conclusion is drawn on the same. The main thesis statement for the paper is promotional needs to ethical consumers. A number of assertions with their evidence and text support are discussed here.

First and foremost, due to increased environmental consciousness present day sellers are in dilemma of whether they should focus on eco-friendly packaging or should continue their over-packaging techniques of the past and focus on ultimate bottom-line. Overpackaging raises a number of ethical considerations. Study revealed that poor packaging and non-overpackaged products have negative impact on brand name of the product and consumers purchase intention is lowered considerably. Only some non-environmentally conscious consumers are adversely affected by non-overpackaging product. The attribution theory provides some optimistic recommendations to market rulers to decide on the ethical dilemma related to overpackaging and ethical buying. The scope of research on fair trade has been proliferated in recent years but a gap is still there. Fair trade consumption is a personal norm approach. Three main theories include norm-activation model (NAM), value belief norm (VBN) and value identity personal norm (VIP).

The VIP model provides explanation to the highest purchase variance in fair trade products. Personal norms are influenced by a number of beliefs and fair-trade consumption specially for food items, has direct effect on ethical buying behavior of consumers. The increased focus on sustainability and ethical consumption has encouraged the marketers to work on their promotional activities so that consumers could rely on them and their products. Purchase decisions were highly influenced by the current market trends and more environment-friendly approaches. But market research strategies are not in line with academic researches and unless and until the gap is fixed fair ethical promotion will not be possible. The determinants of Fair Trade and product purchase behavior are directly related to each other and plays important role in shaping the ethical purchase considerations. The extended theory of planned behavior incorporates both male and female buyers and it is found that female buyers are more impulsive and easily manipulated by market trends. Moral obligation and self-identity are major purchase indicators in both male and female consumers but the males are more impacted by the subjective norm and ethical product choices are high on their list. They are ready to pay more for the strong ethically valued product and women consumers are way more are flexible in this regard. Displaying ethical commitment at a corporate level is tough as ethical consumerism is on the rise. Integrating ethical valuation in brand name, service quality, nature of services, touch points is not an easy task and only service improvement is possible in this context. Brand image is strongly influenced by the ethical consumer perception and corporates need to improve brand heritage, brand image and brand equity in order to balance the pressure of ethical value integration. After a series of some remarkable corporate scandals big corporates are now recognizing the importance of ethical sourcing in business and how it will have a positive impact on the targeted customers. The approach of ethical sourcing is the ultimatum in corporate social responsibility. Consumers trust on such companies is noteworthy. Ethical sourcing has positive relationship with promotional marketing. The companies facing corporate scandals lose customer trust easily and in-spite of having ethical promotional tools they remain under the scrutiny of consumers trust and loyalty. A number of literature review and systematic article review have provided a number of instances in this regard but knowledge is still evolving now. Decision making in case of ethical purchasing is one major area of dilemma when consumer perception is considered. Not the whole customer base but only a section of customers is interested in making ethical purchase decisions. Actually, a lot of factors play role in deciding upon the ethical purchase decisions like social and economic factors. Countries where GDP is low consumers there will not obviously opt for high priced ethical products. Academic researches may show consumers ethical buying behavior has improved but actual practitioners find a considerable gap between the real scenario and the implied one. Hypocrisy induction in ethical consumer base is like the double-edged sword comprising of ethical nudges. Environmental consciousness is one of the underlying factors for inducing the level of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy may induce favorable forces and may also induce unfavorable sources leading to ethical behavior. Some people are flexible to changes and some are resistant to changes. Eco-citizenship is one modern concept and is the present topic of hypocrisy in regard to neuromarketing and ethical consumerism. Ethical consumption is one of the major aspects of ethical buying by ethical consumers. It incorporates a number of consumer practices and include demographic, behavioral and psychographic antecedents. Ethical buying behavior in a varied demographic is dynamic in its approach and business firms need to include all factors before deciding on the ethical prospect of a product. Lastly, the ‘Go Green’ slogan is one of the recent topics of consideration. Generation Y is relying more on green initiatives and shifting to green purchasing decision. Green purchasing decision is related to ethical buying and ethical product manufacturing as well. This Gen-Y has greatest purchasing power compared to the other generations. Their environmental knowledge, awareness (though less effective), concerns, and green attitudes provide positive signal to the green product makers and government as well in promoting green product development. Green consumer society increase sustainability and resilience largely. Food industry is also revolutionizing due to this ethical approach, vegan and organic food purchase are on rise. Green initiative has a deep impact on ethical buying behavior in ethical consumer groups.

Purpose and Focus of Review

All the 15 peer-reviewed journals provide various aspects of ethical buying behavior and ethical consumerism. A wide analysis approach is considered here and each article focuses on one main area of concern, be it consumption, behavioral pattern, eco-friendly approach, Gen Y and ‘go green’ initiative, ethical hypocrisy, decision-making and dilemma, ethical sourcing and fair-trade practices to name a few. All the articles provide their respective results and conclusions but the myth of ethical consumers is still vague concept and no clear literary support is available to bust the myth. However, if the myth is considered true and ethical consumers do exist then it is clear that business need to have ethical promotional approaches to attract ethical consumer base for their products and could gain competitive advantage only if the marketing standards are improved. Promoting to ethical consumers is not a single driven force concept but is a multi-dimensional concept of a number of factor combination and each factor has equal weightage in the promotional prospect.

Reference List

Azami, Nurnazurah, Vathana Bathmanathan, and Jegatheesan Rajadurai. “Understanding Generation Y Green Purchasing Decision in Malaysia.” Global Business and Management Research 10, no. 3 (2018): 1010.

Beldad, A., and S. Hegner. “Determinants of fair trade product purchase intention of Dutch consumers according to the extended theory of planned behaviour.” Journal of Consumer Policy 41, no. 3 (2018): 191-210.

Chowdhury, Rafi MMI. “Emotional intelligence and consumer ethics: The mediating role of personal moral philosophies.” Journal of Business Ethics 142, no. 3 (2017): 527-548.

Creswell, John W. A concise introduction to mixed methods research. Sage Publications, 2014.

Delistavrou, Antonia, Hristo Katrandjiev, and Irene Tilikidou. “Understanding Ethical Consumption: Types and Antecedents.” Economic Alternatives 4 (2017): 612-633.

Easterby-Smith, Mark, Richard Thorpe, and Paul R. Jackson. Management and business research. Sage, 2015.

Gamma, Karoline, Robert Mai, and Moritz Loock. “The Double-Edged Sword of Ethical Nudges: Does Inducing Hypocrisy Help or Hinder the Adoption of Pro-environmental Behaviors?.” Journal of Business Ethics (2018): 1-23.

Iglesias, Oriol, Stefan Markovic, Jatinder Jit Singh, and Vicenta Sierra. “Do customer perceptions of corporate services brand ethicality improve brand equity? Considering the roles of brand heritage, brand image, and recognition benefits.” Journal of Business Ethics 154, no. 2 (2019): 441-459.

Kim, Seongtae, Claudia Colicchia, and David Menachof. “Ethical sourcing: An analysis of the literature and implications for future research.” Journal of Business Ethics (2016): 1-20.

Kossmann, Elena, and Mónica Gómez-Suárez. “Decision-making processes for purchases of ethical products: gaps between academic research and needs of marketing practitioners.” International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing 15, no. 3 (2018): 353-370.

Kossmann, Elena, and Mónica Gómez-Suárez. “Decision-making processes for purchases of ethical products: gaps between academic research and needs of marketing practitioners.” International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing 15, no. 3 (2018): 353-370

Monnot, Elisa, Fanny Reniou, Béatrice Parguel, and Leila Elgaaied-Gambier. ““Thinking outside the packaging box”: should brands consider store shelf context when eliminating overpackaging?.” Journal of Business Ethics 154, no. 2 (2019): 355-370.

O’Connor, Erin L., Lauren Sims, and Katherine M. White. “Ethical food choices: Examining people’s Fair Trade purchasing decisions.” Food Quality and Preference 60 (2017): 105-112.

Rana, Jyoti, and Justin Paul. “Consumer behavior and purchase intention for organic food: A review and research agenda.” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 38 (2017): 157-165.

Schenk, P. “A Matter of Principle: Comparing Norm-Based Explanations for Fair Trade Consumption.” Journal of Consumer Policy (2019): 1-27.

Shah, Syed Afzal Moshadi, and Shehla Amjad. “Consumer Ethical Decision Making: Linking Moral Intensity, Self-Consciousness and Neutralization Techniques.” Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal 11, no. 1 (2017): 99-130.

Stanton, Steven J., Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, and Scott A. Huettel. “Neuromarketing: Ethical implications of its use and potential misuse.” Journal of Business Ethics 144, no. 4 (2017): 799-811.