International Journal of Nonlinear Analysis and Applications

Designing an ethical decision-making model for consumers in the clothing industry

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Business Management, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University,Rasht, Iran

2 Department of Business Management, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran

3 Department of Public Administration, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran

Abstract

Identifying consumers’ decision-making approaches in every industry is necessary. This study investigates consumers’ ethical decision-making approach in the clothing industry. This qualitative exploratory study uses grounded theory and is applied in terms of purpose. The research data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 17 experts, including business management professors and clothing industry activists, who were selected intentionally; the data were analyzed using MaxQDA2020 and the Grounded theory approach. This research identifies six categories. First, strategies that include government policymaking and empowering the business environment. Second, intervening factors include social relations and government policies. Third, consequences include sustainable development in Iran, increasing sellers' and producers' capacities, and enhancing customers' qualitative and quantitative levels. Fourth, contextual factors include individual and environmental factors. Fifth, causal factors include internal and external factors. Sixth, consumers' ethical decision-making includes supporting national production, ethical decision-making approaches, avoiding extravagance and luxury, and applying environmental ethics. All social entities across the country need to pay attention to ethical decision-making to see its reflection in consumers, from the individual level to the government.

Keywords

[1] J.A. Al-Khatib, S.J. Vitell, and M.Y.A. Rawwas, Consumer ethics: a cross-cultural investigation Jamal A. Al-Khatib, Eur. J. Mark. 31 (1997), no. 11, 750–767.
[2] S. Arsang-Jang, A. Khoramirad, D. Pourmarzi, and M. Raisi, Relationship between spiritual intelligence and ethical decision making in Iranian nurses, J. Humanist. Psychol. 60 (2020), no. 3, 330–341.
[3] A.B. Bangsa and B.B. Schlegelmilch, Linking sustainable product attributes and consumer decision-making: Insights from a systematic review, J. Clea. Prod. 245 (2020),  118902.
[4] S. Bayer, H. Gimpel, and S. Sarikaya, Bank customers’ decision-making process in choosing between ethical and conventional banking: A survey-based examination, J. Bus. Econ. 89 (2019), no. 6, 655–697.
[5] R.M.M.I. Chowdhury and M. Fernando, The role of spiritual well-being and materialism in determining consumers’ ethical beliefs: An empirical study with Australian consumers, J. Bus. Ethics 113 (2013), no. 1, 61–79.
[6] J.B. Ciulla, Business ethics as moral imagination, In: The search for ethics in leadership, business, and beyond, Springer, 2020.
[7] A. Crane, D. Matten, S. Glozer, and L.J. Spence, Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization, Oxford University Press, USA, 2019.
[8] M.S. Ghorbaniyan Gazafroudi, B. Kheyri, H. Esmaielpour, and M. Aligholi, Identifying the behavioral dimensions of mindful consumption as a consistent approach to ethical consumption in society, Ethics Sci. Technol. 1 (2022), no. 16(4), 127–132.
[9] M Hosseini Mahmoudi, K. Heydarzadeh Hanzaei and Y. Mansouriyan, Consumer ethics: The antecedents and consequences of the consumer’s guilt and regret in purchasing decisions, Ethics Sci. Technol. 1 (2022), no. 16(4).
[10] B. Izadi and A. Mahmoodian, The impact of awareness, emotions, and moral intensity on intention to buy counterfeit sports apparel, Res. Educ. Sport. 2018 (2018), no. 6(15), 201–222.
[11] Y. Kafi Lale, H. Bodaghi Khaji Nobar, A. Momeni and A.A. Peyvaste, The relationship between ethics in social media marketing and consumer behavior: The mediating role of brand equity, Ethics Sci. Technol. 1 (2021), no. 16(3), 76–80.
[12] G. Karimova, N.C. Hoffmann and L. Heidbrink, Virtue ethics between east and west in consumer research: review, synthesis and directions for future research, J. Bus. Ethics 165 (2019), no. 2, 1–21.
[13] M.A. Long and D.L. Murray, Ethical consumption, values convergence/divergence and community development, J. Agric. Envir. Ethics, 26 (2013), no. 2, 351–375.
[14] O. Mahdie, R. Sharif, and M. Sayabidzadeh, Investigating the effective factors on the occurrence of ethical behavior in the consumer, Ethical Res. 2018 (2018), no. 23(6), 190–212.
[15] R. Montaser Kuhsari, E. Hasanpour Ghoroghchi, M.H. Ranjbar, and M. Mohebi, Factors influencing consumer ethics purchasing decisions in a recession, Ethics Sci. Technol. 16 (2021), no. 3, 58–66.
[16] M. Naemi Nezam Abadi, H. Vazife Doust, M. Abdolv, and B. Khodayari, Ethical consumer movement: Consumer ethical concerns and behaviors, Ethics Sci. Technol. 15 (2021), no. 4, 13–21.
[17] V.-S. Osburg, P. Akhtar, V. Yoganathan, F. McLeay, and R. Posthuma, The influence of contrasting values on consumer receptiveness to ethical information and ethical choices, J. Bus. Res. 104 (2019), 366–379.
[18] C. Schamp, M. Heitmann, and R. Katzenstein, Consideration of ethical attributes along the consumer decision-making journey, J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 47 (2019), no. 2, 328–348.
[19] J.N. Sheth, N.K. Sethia, and S.Srinivas, Mindful consumption: a customer-centric approach to sustainability, J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 39 (2011), no. 1, 21–39.
[20] E.C. Tanner, J.F. Tanner and K. Wakefield, Panacea or paradox? The moderating role of ethical climate, J. Pers. Sell. Sales Manag. 35 (2015), no. 2, 175–190.
[21] F. Tejari, A. Zaree, and R. MirFallah Nasiri, Role of ethics (idealism) in sport consumers’ behavior, Ethics Sci. Technol. 12 (2017), no. 3, 152–157.
[22] S. VanderKaay, L. Letts, B. Jung and S.E. Moll, Doing what’s right: A grounded theory of ethical decision-making in occupational therapy, Scandinavian J. Occup. Ther. 27 (2020), no. 2, 98–111.
[23] S.J. Vitell, A. Singhapakdi, and J. Thomas, Consumer ethics: an application and empirical testing of the Hunt-Vitell theory of ethics, J. Consum. Mark. 18 (2001), no. 2, 153–178.
[24] O.M. Yacout and S. Vitell, Ethical consumer decision-making: The role of need for cognition and affective responses, Bus. Ethics Eur. Rev. 27 (2018), no. 2, 178–194.
International Journal of Nonlinear Analysis and Applications
Volume 16, Issue 3
March 2025
Pages 159-166
  • Receive Date: 28 April 2023
  • Accept Date: 25 June 2023