I’m ethical the way I think you think I am: A socio-intuitionist model of ethical consumption

Based on social intuitionism and symbolic interactionism, the author proposes a holistic and integrated framework showing how consumers’ a priori affect-laden intuitive moral judgments impact their post hoc reflective moral reasoning. The framework shows that moral emotions – such as elevation, gratitude, and empathy – interact with persuasion and social influence. Consumers are interdependent, socially-embedded, and self-construct their social identity through interactions with other consumers. Consequently, interpersonal persuasion drives moral emotions and intuition. Thus emotive and intuitive information processing may foster ethical consumption at individual and social levels. Theoretical propositions and implications for marketing theory and practice are discussed.