The role of deceptive advertisements and ethical decision outcomes in determining buying behavior

Abstract

The study was conducted to identify the opinions of consumers’ regarding deceptive advertisements and the extent to which they considered it immoral. It aimed to collectively examine the impact of deceptive advertisements on consumers’ perceptions and their ability to make an ethical decision regarding buying behavior. A cross-sectional design is conducted in order to gather data from respondents. The digital advertisements were shown to 378 respondents through web survey designs. SEM (structural equational modelling) was used to analyze the data. The results depicted that advertiser make use of moral decoupling strategies in developing countries as it becomes easier for the consumers to get influenced by a transgressor. After identifying the deception in an advertisement, it becomes necessary to analyze the role of consumers’ ethical decision-making abilities in order to determine their buying behaviors. Moral intensity, perceived risks and moral judgements have a significant impact on consumers’ ethical decision-making abilities. However, consumers’ perception regarding a deceptive claim was not found to have any significant impact on their buying behavior. The relation only becomes significant in the presence of consumers’ ethical decision-making abilities.