Deontological Evaluations Research Articles

A Meta-Analytical Assessment of the Effect of Deontological Evaluations and Teleological Evaluations on Ethical Judgments/Intentions.

Deontological and teleological evaluations are widely utilized in the context of consumer decision-making. Despite their use, the differential effect of these distinct types of evaluations, and the conditions under which they hold, remains an unresolved issue. Thus, we conduct a meta-analysis of 316 effect sizes, from 53 research articles, to evaluate the extent to which deontological and teleological evaluations influence ethical judgments and intentions, and under what circumstances the influence occurs. The effect is explored across three categories of moderators: (1) contextual elements of the ethical issue, (2) stakeholders, and (3) methodological characteristics of primary studies. We find that the overall effect of deontological evaluations on ethical judgments and intentions is stronger than for teleological evaluations; however, the magnitude of the effect is contingent on several moderators. Deontological evaluations are weaker in offline consumer contexts and stronger when there are financial implications of the ethical issue. Conversely, the effect of teleological evaluations is relatively stable across ethical consumer contexts. Teleological evaluations are stronger from a utilitarian perspective than from an egoist one. Furthermore, the effect of deontological evaluations is weaker, but the effect for teleological evaluations is stronger, when the decision-maker has a personal relationship (as compared to an organizational relationship) with the victim of the unethical act. Findings validate the effect of both deontological and teleological evaluations on ethical judgments and intentions and highlight their importance in consumers' ethical decision-making. Implications for developing programs to prevent consumer unethical behavior are discussed.

Epistemic deontology and the Revelatory View of responsibility

AbstractAccording to Universal Epistemic Deontology, all of our doxastic attitudes are open to deontological evaluations of obligation and permissibility. This view thus implies that we are responsible for all of our doxastic attitudes. But many philosophers have puzzled over whether we could be so responsible. This paper explores whether this puzzle can be resolved, and Universal Epistemic Deontology defended, by appealing to a view of responsibility it calls the Revelatory View. On that view, an agent is responsible for something when it reveals the kind of person the agent is. The paper explores four ways of developing the Revelatory View and argues that none of the views ultimately defends Universal Epistemic Deontology.

How Do Consumers in General Evaluate, Judge, and Act toward Shoplifting? The Moderating Effects of Personal Characteristics and Motives

Despite the seriousness of shoplifting, consumers’ evaluations, judgements, and intentions toward shoplifting remain underexplored by scholars from business ethics, marketing, retailing, and consumer behavior. We propose a new shoplifting ethics model, which integrates Hunt and Vitell’s theory of ethics with Nadeau, Rochlen, and Tyminski’s typology of shoplifting, by incorporating the moderators of consumers’ personal characteristics (i.e., age, gender, marital status, income) and shoplifting motives (i.e., social, experiential, economic, emotional) onto the relationships among deontological evaluation, teleological evaluation, ethical judgment, and intention. Based on a two-by-two randomized experimental design, two shoplifting cases (i.e., swapping price tags, stealing products) are investigated in four scenarios (i.e., deontologically unethical condition with positive consequences, deontologically unethical condition with negative consequences, deontologically ethical condition with positive consequences, deontologically ethical condition with negative consequences). We discover that age, marriage, and income enhance the relationship between consumers’ deontological evaluations of shoplifting and ethical judgments of shoplifting; that employment strengthens the relationship between the ethical judgments of shoplifting and shoplifting intentions; and that marriage enhances the relationship between consumers’ teleological evaluations of shoplifting and shoplifting intentions. Nevertheless, the economic factor weakens the relationship between consumers’ deontological evaluations of shoplifting and ethical judgments of shoplifting. We find that ethical judgments of shoplifting mediates the relationship between consumers’ deontological/teleological evaluations of shoplifting and shoplifting intentions. The results imply that younger, single, unemployed, and low-income consumers engage in more shoplifting activities compared to their older, married, employed, and high-income counterparts. Moreover, even though acknowledging the inherent wrongness of shoplifting and its negative consequences, consumers can still be impelled by economic reasons to participate in shoplifting. We contribute to the ongoing debate on whether economic reasons change consumers’ ethical judgments of shoplifting and whether economic disadvantage motivates consumers to shoplift. Contrary to conventional wisdom, negative consequences and punishment do not fully deter consumers from shoplifting. Under the contingencies of personal characteristics and shoplifting motives, shoplifting intention is influenced directly by ethical judgment and indirectly by deontological and teleological evaluations. Theoretical and practical insights are discussed to help policy makers and store managers prevent shoplifting behavior.

Consumers' intention toward buying ethically produced products in Bangladesh

PurposeWhile many companies begin to promote ethically produced products, much remains to be known about consumers' buying intention toward these products. This paper attempts to integrate the theory of planned behavior and the Hunt–Vitell theory of marketing ethics to explore the buying intention toward ethically produced food products in a developing economy.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a questionnaire survey in Bangladesh. Structural equation modeling technique was used to test the research model.FindingsResearch findings showed that deontological evaluation and teleological evaluation have significantly positive effects on perceived behavioral control and subjective norm. Perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, attitude, hedonic and utilitarian value have significantly positive effects on buying intention toward ethically produced foods.Originality/valueThe results are practically and theoretically meaningful because the integrated model holds well explanatory power to predict consumers' intention toward buying ethical foods and thereby understand consumers' ethical decision-makings.

Social norms and tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors: Do ethical evaluation and Chinese cultural values matter?

Tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors are a prerequisite to the sustainability of tourist sites. Drawing from normative, ethical and cultural value perspective, this research aims to investigate the influences of social norms (e.g., injunctive norm and descriptive norm) on tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors. This study further explores the mechanism and the boundary condition of the effects by testing the mediating effect of ethical evaluation (e.g., deontological evaluation and teleological evaluation) and the moderating effect of Chinese cultural values (e.g., collectivism and human-to-nature orientation). The survey data collected from 537 tourists showed that injunctive norm and descriptive norm pose no significant direct influence on tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors but an indirect one via deontological evaluation and teleological evaluation. That is, ethical evaluation mediates the relationships between social norms and tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors. Moreover, this research revealed that collectivism and human-to-nature orientation positively moderate the relationships between social norms and tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors.

МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНІ КОНСТРУКЦІЇ АНАЛІЗУ МАРКЕТИНГОВОЇ ЕТИКИ

The proposed article substantiates the feasibility of using the term «marketing ethics» to denote the content of the behavior of the subject in terms of morality and decency in relations with key partners of the company. The main functional areas of application of marketing ethics in the context of elements of the marketing complex and relationships with key counterparties with which the company interacts in the market. On the example of a typical model of the marketing complex (4 "P"), typical ethical issues that may arise in the company's activities are considered. It is determined that approaches to the study of marketing ethics are often limited to a special interpretation of the categories of "ethical" or "socio-ethical" marketing. It is argued that it is more appropriate to consider the moral contexts of specific marketing decisions, rather than clarifying the content of marketing management concepts. Adherence to the principles of marketing ethics is becoming crucial today. Marketing ethics act as long-term methods of branding, sundress marketing and trust building, allowing you to optimize the presence of a product or service, potential customers, sales and conversions. Marketing ethics is built around ethical marketing principles and standards that demonstrate acceptable marketing behavior. It is worth noting that unethical marketing can potentially succeed in the short term, but in the long run it is not a very good strategy. Over time, customers will distrust your brand as a whole, and you will find it difficult to find brand supporters who are willing to spread awareness about your product or service through «sundress marketing». Using the provisions of the general theory of marketing ethics, Gant and Vitella modeled the mechanism of formation of ethical marketing decisions by an individual or organization. The model shows that the ethical judgments of the individual are a function of deontological evaluation of the individual and teleological evaluation. The relevance of adherence to ethical principles for companies that focus on the long term in order to build long-term, trusting relationships with key market participants is substantiated.

Selfish or Utilitarian Automated Vehicles? Deontological Evaluation and Public Acceptance

ABSTRACT This research involves a controversial topic in the public sphere: should automated vehicles (AVs) be programmed with selfish algorithms to protect their passengers at all costs or utilitarian algorithms to minimize social loss in crashes involving moral dilemmas? Among a growing number of studies on what AVs should do in sacrificial dilemmas from the perspective of laypeople, few have considered how laypeople respond to AVs programmed with these crash algorithms. Our survey collected participants’ deontological evaluation (i.e., evaluations of the moral righteousness of the decisions made by these AVs and of adopting these AVs), their perceived benefit and risk of these AVs, and their behavioral intention to use and willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for these AVs. The participants (N = 580) perceived greater benefits from selfish AVs and reported a greater intention to use and higher WTP a premium for selfish AVs than utilitarian AVs. Deontological evaluation and perceived risk were non-significantly different between these AVs. Overall, selfish AVs were more acceptable to our participants. Deontological evaluation, perceived benefit, and perceived risk were predictive of behavioral intention. Additionally, after controlling for them, vehicle type still exerted a direct influence on behavioral intention. Perceived benefit was the dominant predictor of WTP a premium. Remarkably, participants expressed an insufficient intention to adopt both AVs, probably indicating that in regards to AV deployment, non-positive public attitudes toward AVs are more pressing than the challenge of deciding upon their ethical behaviors in rare moral dilemmas.

Is it unethical to waste food? exploring consumer’s ethical perspectives and waste intentions

Since food waste can be viewed as an ethical issue, consumers may face an ethical dilemma when they decide to waste food. This study explores consumer views on wasting food using ethical decision-making model in a Chinese society, such as Taiwan. The findings of this study indicate that moral philosophy principles are significant predictors of ethical judgments about food waste, which in turn influence behavioral intentions. The impact power of deontological philosophy is stronger than that of teleological philosophy. Additionally, consumers with a high level of vertical individualism tend to view food waste as not violating their moral principles using deontological evaluation. The higher the horizontal individualism or the lower the values of materialism, the stronger the beliefs that food waste violates moral norms and imposes negative consequences on society and the environment. Finally, theoretical and practical contributions are offered as a basis for future studies.

Trauma vs. Duty: Confronting the Moral Obligation of Newsrooms to Protect Journalists From Psychological Harm

Journalists are at the forefront of many dangerous and hazardous situations like wars, crimes, and natural disasters. Recent research in the field of psychology suggests that workers exposed to events like these have potential to develop trauma, which can in turn develop into mental disorders like post- traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. This is why think tank Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma has been backing calls for additional organizational support from media companies for the protection of their journalists from trauma, as a proposed inclusion to the ethical and legal duty of media companies to keep their workers safe. A perceived duty of resilience and stigma attached to mental health however appears to drag efforts of opening up newsrooms to discussions on mental health. This paper thus seeks to contribute to the discussion by providing an ethical analysis on the dilemma. Such an evaluation may pave the way for an understanding on the liability of the concerned parties to the consequence of potential psychological trauma in sending journalists out to cover traumatic events. In the ethical evaluation, it is found that both journalists and media companies have the moral obligation of protecting journalists’ mental well-being and among the steps to do so is eradicating the stigma surrounding mental health and resilience in newsrooms. This decision has been based on deontological evaluation of media companies’ duty to protect their workers, and the journalists’ duty to serve the public interest, as well as a consequentialist evaluation of other possible courses of actions to the dilemma.

Company–customer conflicts and ethical decision-making of life insurance agents: the role of ethics institutionalization

PurposeFor the financial service industry, company–customer conflict is a topic that deserves special attention. This study explores the impacts of ethics institutionalization on the life insurance agents' ethical decision-making under the company–customer conflicts.Design/methodology/approachTwo types of company–customer conflicts are studied. In one situation, selling the life insurance product is profitable to the life insurance company, but the product is unsuitable for the customer. In another situation, selling the life insurance product is unprofitable to the life insurance company, while the product will fully satisfy the customer's interests. The study selects Taiwan's full-time life insurance agents as a sample.FindingsThe main results show that implicit ethics institutionalization has a stronger influence on teleological evaluations and deontological evaluations. This study then finds that different types of company–customer conflicts would change the influences of teleological evaluations on ethical intentions and cause different influences of implicit ethics institutionalization on teleological evaluations and deontological evaluations.Originality/valueEthics institutionalization and company–customer conflicts are important issues in the literature. This is the first study to discuss the roles that ethics institutionalization and company–customer conflicts play in the ethical decision-making of life insurance agents.

Key person ethical decision-making and substandard drugs rejection intentions

Substandard drugs are a major public health issue worldwide. Key person such as the Qualified Person in China and Europe is responsible for rejecting substandard drugs during the manufacturing stage. This study applies the Hunt-Vitell ethical decision-making model to study their rejection intentions on substandard drugs. Using the experimental vignette methodology, two scenarios were developed to represent different levels of deviation from regulations in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Responses from 204 Chinese key persons show a decline in deontology, ethical judgment, and rejection intention, and an increase in teleology in the minor deviation scenario, in comparison with the major deviation scenario. The results from the two scenarios show that the Hunt-Vitell ethical decision-making model is well fitted to explain substandard drug rejection intentions. Organizational and occupational commitments have a significant positive impact on deontological evaluation. Whereas, occupational commitments have a significant negative impact on teleological evaluation. This study suggests that strengthening occupational commitment can significantly affect key person’s rejection intentions of substandard drugs.

Consumer Intention toward Bringing Your Own Shopping Bags in Taiwan: An Application of Ethics Perspective and Theory of Planned Behavior

Following Chan and coworkers’ (2008) research, the current study integrated Hunt and Vitell’s (1986) ethics perspective and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to present a model that explains consumers’ intention to “Bring Your Own Shopping Bags” (BYOB) with grocery shopping. The proposed model is empirically validated in Taiwan. Based on a survey of 601 respondents, the findings suggest that consumers’ deontological evaluation is positively related to their attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, while teleological evaluation is positively related to perceived behavioral control only. In addition, the results also indicate that consumers’ attitude and perceived behavioral control has a positive relationship with BYOB intention, while subjective norm does not have a signification relationship with BYOB intention. In sum, this study contributes to the literature by providing insights for applying general ethics and theory of planned behavior to explain consumers’ BYOB behavior. The results also provide policy makers guidelines regarding BYOB. Managerial implications and research limitations are discussed at the end of this paper.

The perceiver’s social role and a risk’s causal structure as determinants of environmental risk evaluation

We present a dual-process risk perception model that integrates cognitive and emotional as well as consequentialist and deontological components by distinguishing between two modes of evaluative processing: (a) a consequentialist evaluation that focuses on potential consequences and (b) a deontological evaluation that focuses on moral values. Each of these two modes is assumed to trigger specific cognitive evaluations, specific emotions, and specific behavioral tendencies concerning a perceived risk. We conducted an experiment (N = 270) that tested whether the relative dominance of the two evaluative modes would depend on the causal structure of the environmental risk being evaluated and on the social role of the evaluator. Three types of causal structure were varied by providing scenario information: (a) anthropogenic risks that endanger only nature, (b) naturally caused risks with potential harmful consequences for humans, and (c) anthropogenic risks that may harm humans. Participants evaluated each scenario from the perspective of one of three social roles: mayor, expecting parent, and environmental activist. For each scenario, participants specified their focus and evaluated the event’s morality and perceived risk, the intensity of specific emotions, and their preferences for prospective behaviors. Results showed that the consequentialist evaluation was generally stronger than the deontological evaluation and was less affected by the experimental manipulations. The deontological evaluation was substantially affected by the risk’s causal structure. It was stronger for anthropogenic than for natural causation; risks caused by humans were associated with greater perceived moral blameworthiness, more intense morality-based emotions (e.g. outrage), and a stronger tendency to perform agent-related behaviors (e.g. aggression) than naturally occurring risks. The effect of the social role was less pronounced than that of the causal structure. Furthermore, the effect of an evaluative focus on behavior was fully mediated by emotions for deontological evaluations and partially mediated for consequentialist evaluations. The implications for environmental risk perception and communication are discussed.

Applying Ethical Concepts to the Study of “Green” Consumer Behavior: An Analysis of Chinese Consumers’ Intentions to Bring their Own Shopping Bags

Drawing on the general ethics and social psychology literature, this study presents a model to delineate the major factors likely to affect consumers’ intentions to bring their own shopping bags when visiting a supermarket (called “bring your own bags” or “BYOB” intention). The model is empirically validated using a survey of 250 Chinese consumers. Overall, the findings support the hypothesized direct influence of teleological evaluation and habit on BYOB intention, as well as that of deontological evaluation and teleological evaluation on ethical judgment about the BYOB practice. Teleological evaluation exerts a much stronger influence on ethical judgment than does deontological evaluation. In addition, the findings reveal that consumers who perceive the BYOB practice to be more important are more inclined to rely on their ethical judgment to derive their BYOB intention. Academically, these findings provide some encouraging evidence for the application of general ethics theories to explain green consumption-related practices. Practically, the findings also suggest that a utilitarian approach (i.e., emphasizing the consequences of BYOB) may represent an effective means for the Chinese government to promote BYOB practice among consumers.

A Cross-Cultural Application of a Theoretical Model of Business Ethics: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Data

Hunt and Vitell's General Theory (1992) is used in a cross-cultural comparison of U.S. and Taiwanese business practitioners. Results indicate that Taiwanese practitioners exhibit lower perceptions of an ethical issue in a scenario based on bribery, as well as milder deontological evaluations and ethical judgments relative to their U.S. counterparts. In addition, Taiwan respondents showed higher likelihood of making the payment. Several of the paths between variables in the theory are confirmed in both U.S. and Taiwan samples, with summary data suggesting the Hunt and Vitell theory performs well in both U.S. and Taiwan. Some unanticipated linkages within the model were uncovered in the samples. Results and implications are discussed.

The Hunt–Vitell General Theoryof Marketing Ethics: Can it Enhance our Understanding of Principal-Agent Relationships in Channels of Distribution?

This paper advances the Hunt–Vitell General Theory of Marketing Ethics as a framework for enriching current understanding of both long-term marketing relationships in general, and principal-agent associations specifically. Under economic models of agency theory, manufacturer-distributor relationships are conceptualized as principal-agent associations where both parties are assumed be motivated exclusively by short-term financial self-interest within the logical constraints of zero-sum game conditions. As a general model of ethical decision making and behavior in marketing, the Hunt–Vitell theory illustrates how ethical decisions are predicated not only upon estimations of potential benefits or outcomes (using teleological criteria), but also deontological evaluations which invoke norms and values. Furthermore, the recent ideas advanced in "relationship marketing" perspectives suggest that distribution channel associations premised upon non-zero-sum or symbiotic assumptions may be more effective and more jointly profitable. Based upon the Hunt–Vitell model, propositions are formulated that complement the understanding of agency theory within the context of marketing channel relationships, and thus, may represent a basis for more effective agency selection and interaction in marketing practice.

An Empirical Investigation of Locus of Control and the Structure of Moral Reasoning: Examining the Ethical Decision-Making Processes of Sales Managers

A study of sales managers examines the utility of locus of control to predict managers' moral reasoning and its effect on ethical decision-making. Results indicate that external managers attach greater importance to teleological and act-oriented reasoning than do internals. To form ethical judgments, internal managers rely more on deontological evaluations than externals. In forming behavioral intentions, external managers rely more on teleological evaluations than internals.For managerial practice, the findings suggest that internal managers exhibit harsher judgments of bribery, less intention to pay a bribe, and greater emphasis on rule-based decision-making. Internals' preference for deontological reasoning is related to behavior-based control and supervision structures, possibly leading to improvements in organizations' ethical climate.

How Do Managers Make Teleological Evaluations in Ethical Dilemmas? Testing Part of and Extending the Hunt-Vitell Model

A study involving purchasing managers was conducted to test specific Hunt-Vitell theoretical propositions concerning the determinants of managers' teleological evaluations. We extended the Hunt-Vitell model by developing a new integrative construct, namely the desirability of consequences to self versus others. We hypothesized that desirability of consequences affects teleological evaluations in that the more desirable the consequences of a particular action, the more likely managers evaluate that action positively. The results of the present study provided support for this hypothesis. Furthermore, we extended the Hunt-Vitell model by developing a new integrative construct, namely the desirability of consequences of self versus others. We hypothesized that cognitive moral development moderates the relationship between the desirability of consequences of self versus others and teleological evaluation. The results failed to support this hypothesis. We explained the lack of support in terms of the level of aggregation of the data, the possibility of the confounding effect of respondents' sensitivity to ethical issues, and the possibility that deontological evaluations confounded the respondents' teleological judgments. Future research and managerial implications of the findings were also discussed.

Organizational Consequences, Marketing Ethics and Salesforce Supervision: Further Empirical Evidence

This study comparatively examines supervisory reactions of Turkish sales managers to potentially ethical and unethical salesperson behaviors while replicating Hunt and Vasquez-Parraga (1993). Four scenarios representing ethical and unethical conditions of over-stating plant capacity utilization and over-recommending expensive products were presented to the managers. As a result of this comparative study, it is empirically demonstrated that Turkish managers primarily rely on the inherent rightness of a behavior with a focus on the individual (i.e., deontological evaluations) in determining whether a salesperson's behaviors ethical or unethical, but the moral worth of a behavior (i.e., teleological evaluations) also play a role. Turkish managers rely both on the deontological and teleological evaluations in determining their intention to intervene through discipline and rewards. Furthermore, the results are consistent with Hunt and Vitell (1986), Etzioni's moderate deontology and inconsistent with the P-utility theory and ethical egoism.