Corporate brand transgression and punishing the transgressor: moderation of religious orientation

Abstract

Purpose With the aim of developing a better understanding of why some consumers still excuse corporate brands that engage in transgressions, this study tests whether extrinsically religious people tolerate corporate brands more than intrinsically religious individuals at different transgression levels (severe and mild) and punish them less than the latter. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a 2 × 2 experimental design to manipulate corporate brand transgression levels (mild vs severe) and religiosity orientations (intrinsically religious vs extrinsically religious) on a convenience sample of 134 subjects who live in Turkey, a country where Islam shapes religious context. It uses a scenario technique and projective approach. Findings While the main effect of corporate brand transgression on punishing behaviour does not appear in the analysis, religiosity’s main effect on the latter does. Unexpectedly, extrinsically religious consumers punish corporate brand transgressors more than their intrinsically religious counterparts regardless of the transgression severity levels. Research limitation/implications Although the study does not refer to any religion in particular, countries predominated by religions other than Islam may yield different consumer reactions. Future studies should focus on transgressions in such different settings. Practical implications Corporate brand transgressors should immediately take up good causes to attract the attention of intrinsically religious consumers. Otherwise, for the sake of showing off, extrinsically religious people may punish the transgressor for its intentional mistakes, which may harm corporate brand associations. Originality/value This study examines the link between religiosity and corporate branding. Unique in this way, it introduces religiosity as a valid contributor that can explain why some consumers do not punish corporate brand transgressors, especially in countries like Turkey where religiosity is intertwined with the developments in the liberal economy which led to the emergence of a new middle class.

Consumers’ responses to moral controversies of religiously positioned brands: the effects of religiosity on brand loyalty

“…selling defective products, using misleading advertising, etc (Peterson et al , 2010), and this may indicate that religiosity will lead to less brand loyalty for transgressing brands. Consistent with this reasoning, Karaosmanoglu et al (2018) found that both intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity were positively related to punishing brands that are morally controversial. However, Karaosmanoglu et al (2018) examined brands that did not have religious positioning.…”

“…Consistent with this reasoning, Karaosmanoglu et al (2018) found that both intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity were positively related to punishing brands that are morally controversial. However, Karaosmanoglu et al (2018) examined brands that did not have religious positioning. Hence, it is important to investigate how religiosity relates to brand loyalty for religiously positioned brands when these brands engage in morally controversial actions.…”

“…Ingroup loyalty can lead to support for unethical behavior by group members (Chowdhury, 2019); hence consumers with high religiosity should support religious brands (who are part of their ingroup) that engage in morally controversial actions. Although Karaosmanoglu et al (2018) demonstrated that religiosity was negatively related to support for controversial brands, the brands that Karaosmanoglu et al (2018) examined were nonreligious brands with whom religious consumers share no ingroup loyalty. On the contrary, Liu and Minton (2018) show that religiosity generally leads to positive evaluations of religiously positioned brands.…”

“…Prior research on moral controversies of brands have mainly examined brands that engage in nonreligiousness-related controversies (Hsiao et al , 2015; Huber et al , 2010; Karaosmanoglu et al , 2018; Lin and Sung, 2014). This is not surprising as the brands that these studies examined were not religiously positioned brands.…”

Social media advertising, motivation, price reduction, and consumer purchasing behavior: religious orientation as a moderator

“…Despite liberalization and globalization, religion still affects consumers (Abu-Alhaija et al, 2017;Al-Hyari et al, 2012). The growing influence of Islam on the market has illustrated the religious views of consumers in everyday business activities (Karaosmanoglu et al, 2018). According to Setyawati et al (2020), religiosity is seen as the key element that defines the behavior of individuals and facilitator the decision-making process of positive behavior.…”