Religiosity, idealism, and ethical consumption: the mediating effect of perceived customer effectiveness and moral obligation

Abstract

Purpose The cognitive processes through which religiosity and idealism affect ethical consumption have received little attention in prior research. This study aims to explore the influence of religiosity and idealism on ethical purchasing intention through moral obligation and perceived customer effectiveness (PCE). Design/methodology/approach The study analyses data from 149 Muslim participants in Saudi Arabia, using structural equation modelling. Findings The results reveal that religiosity leads to PCE but not to moral obligation and that idealism leads to both PCE and moral obligation. Mediation analysis indicated that PCE mediates the effect of both religiosity and idealism, although moral obligation only mediates the effect of idealism. Research limitations/implications This research enriches the understanding of ethical consumption and contributes to the debate on how religiosity and idealism affect ethical consumption. It also has significant implications for theory and the development of sustainable marketing initiatives. Marketing campaigns and other promotional activities may focus on the interconnection between ethical purchase and the religious and ideology dimensions of consumers. Also, while formulating a communication strategy, it is necessary to emphasize the religious dimension of the sustainable use of the product. Originality/value Moral obligation and PCE have been shown as cognitive and psychological mechanisms explaining the links between religiosity or idealism and ethical purchasing behaviour.

Effects of service quality and customer satisfaction on loyalty of bank customers

“…In general, increasing service quality begins with building internal loyalty or employee loyalty first. Allegedly, by creating internal loyalty, employees can improve their service to customers, so that customers are satisfied and will be loyal to the industry or service provider (Indimas & Fachira, 2017;Yee et al, 2010) and also religious aspects (Alsaad et al, 2020).…”

Solusi Atas Problematika Perilaku Budgetary Slack Ditinjau Berdasarkan Etika Akuntan Manajemen

“…Pada teori stewardship terdapat suatu pilihan antara perilaku self serving dan pro organisasional, perilaku pelayan tidak akan dipisahkan dari kepentingan organisasi dan perilaku eksekutif disejajarkan dengan kepentingan principal dimana para steward berada (Alsaad et al, 2020). Steward akan menggantikan atau mengalihkan self serving untuk berperilaku kooperatif.…”

The interaction among religiosity, moral intensity and moral certainty in predicting ethical consumption: A study of Muslim consumers

“…A critique of economic development is that some of its costs have been marginalized. Societal costs for global economic prosperity include abusive labour conditions, economic disparity, social inequality and environmental pollution, to name but a few (Alsaad et al., 2021; Carrington & Neville, 2016; ElHaffar et al., 2020). To counter this omission of societal costs, the ethical consumerism movement has been engaged in communicating the values that environmentally and socially responsible products stand for (Saraiva et al., 2021).…”

“…Scholars suggest that a consumer who fails to recognize the moral aspects of ethical consumption would not employ moral reasoning (Arthur et al., 2019; Mäkiniemi & Vainio, 2013), and hence cannot base a decision on religious considerations. Even though some studies have found empirical evidence that religiosity affects consumers' ethical judgement (Alsaad et al., 2021; Graafland, 2017; Singhapakdi et al., 1999, 2013; Witkowski & Reddy, 2010), attitude theorists note that attitude and certainty (i.e. conviction) are two different constructs; each elicits different patterns of decisions and behaviours (Alsaad, 2021; Petrocelli et al., 2007; Tormala & Rucker, 2018).…”

“…The slow progress in the ethical consumption movement has motivated a series of studies examining ethical purchasing behaviour from the perspective of an evolving cognitive process (Carrington et al., 2010; ElHaffar et al., 2020; Hassan et al., 2016; Minton et al., 2018). In particular, religiosity has been examined as a cognitive process that explains consumers' ethical purchasing patterns (Alsaad et al., 2021; Andersch et al., 2019; Arli, Septianto, et al, 2020; Graafland, 2017; Wenli & Chan, 2019), although conflicting empirical evidence has yet to be explained. Galen (2012) has not only cast doubt on the notion that pro‐social acts and religiosity are associated, but also proposes that religiosity's effect is nothing but a mythically constructed concept.…”