Latent profile analysis of ethical consumers in the United States and Malaysia

Abstract

AbstractThrough using Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) and the Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) method, this study proposes a new approach to ethical consumer categorization. Based on a survey using national survey data of more than 1,000 people in the United States and Malaysia, this study found three common ethical consumer groups based on ethical sensitivity in both countries—moral enthusiast, moral interested, and moral indifferent. In addition to the aforementioned commonalities, we found national differences in consumer profiles: the U.S. sample also shows a moral progressivist group inclined to liberal ethics, while the Malaysia sample shows a moral intuitionist group with a relativistic approach in ethical decision making. The results indicate that ethical consumer profiling based on MFT has a sufficient level of criterion validity as it helps predict moral outrage, pro‐business attitudes, and boycott intentions in response to corporate irresponsibility. The study also demonstrates cross‐cultural differences in moral foundations and moral judgments in the context of ethical consumerism and corporate social irresponsibility.