To Profit or Not to Profit? The Role of Greed Perceptions in Consumer Support for Social Ventures

Lee, Saerom; Bolton, Lisa E.; Winterich, Karen Page

doi:10.1093/jcr/ucx071

Cited by 72 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Chernev and Blair (2015) demonstrate that a company's CSR/prosocial initiatives can influence consumer perceptions of the company's offerings. Lee et al (2017) examine consumer perceptions of organizations where the social mission is more prominent than the profit mission, and find that because communal norms are triggered, when these organizations are successful in the marketplace they are perceived as greedy. This suggests that the consumer reaction to conscious capitalism may not be as positive as the movement's founders expect it to be.…”

Section: Conscious Capitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lee et al (2017) argue that the distinction between companies that have a social mission versus those who have a profit mission is salient for consumers, and in the case of Panera Cares and Bread, is not clear. A nonprofit orientation can paradoxically drive consumer perception of organizational greed.…”

Section: Philosophical Discomfortmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is supported in the data in the form of (a) resisting the task of acting responsibly, (b) resisting the notion that responsibilization would bring about wide-scale change or solutions to complex social problems, and (c) resisting the motives of the company. Relatedly, Lee et al (2017) have suggested more research is needed to understand when consumers will credit organizations for simultaneously doing good (for society) and doing well (for their shareholders). They argue that when an organization's social mission is prominent relative to a profit mission, it triggers communal norms rather than exchange norms.…”

Section: Consumer Experience Of Responsibilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Consumer Experience of Responsibilization: The Case of Panera Cares

Eckhardt

Dobscha

2018

J Bus Ethics

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In this paper, we explore the consumer experience of responsibilization, wherein consumers are tasked with addressing social issues via their consumption choices. We study an approach to responsibilization which we label conscious pricing. Conscious pricing asks consumers to place a price on morality: How much would they pay for their lunch to combat the social issue of food insecurity? Conscious pricing stems from the broader movement of conscious capitalism, defined by its chief architects as an approach to business wherein the goal is to create value for all stakeholders: financial, ecological, ethical, and spiritual. Strategies such as conscious capitalism rely on consumers acting responsibly, assuming that consumers, when presented with the opportunity to "do good," will do so, and that consumers will prefer companies who provide them this opportunity. Using a case study approach and online reviews, in our analysis of Panera Cares, we find that consumers in fact experience discomfort when asked to address social issues via how much they choose to pay for their meal. Because food insecurity is embodied by homeless people eating with them in the café, eating in the café is perceived as unpleasant, and the homeless also feel demoralized. This discomposure leads consumers to resist the subject position of being responsibilized by not supporting the organization that is tasking them to do so. This study is the first empirical examination of the consumer experience of consumer responsibilization and allows us to contribute to a deepened understanding of consumer ethics.

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Section: Conscious Capitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Philosophical Discomfortmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Consumer Experience Of Responsibilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Consumer Experience of Responsibilization: The Case of Panera Cares

Eckhardt

Dobscha

2018

J Bus Ethics

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“…The dependent variable (intention to buy the socks) was measured via four items similar to the ones from Study 4 (e.g., Lee, Bolton, & Winterich, 2017;White, MacDonnell, & Ellard, 2012;White & Peloza, 2009), answered on a 7 point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Participants had to indicate to what extent they would be likely to purchase the product, they would be willing to buy the product, they would exert a great deal of effort to purchase the product, and they would be likely to recommend it to others (α = .916).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utopian Impulse: An Individual-differences Approach to Transformative Social Change

Basso¹,

Krpan²

2020

Preprint

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“…Similarly, consumer's expectations of moral performance may be greater for larger entities than for smaller companies that do not have the resources to ensure ethical performance. Organizations that are perceived as warm and caring, such as non‐profits, may also be held to different standards than those that are perceived as competent, such as for‐profit firms (Aaker, Vohs, & Mogilner, ) although brand positioning may alter moral expectations as well as consumer responses (Lee, Bolton, & Winterich, ). As more and more companies seek to position themselves on moral high ground, be it due to environmental initiatives, social responsibility, or otherwise, research must consider the implications of such positioning on consumers’ moral values, emotions, judgments, and behaviors.…”

Section: External Factors That Influence Consumers’ Moral Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%