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research_paper.docxResearch Paper Instructions
You will write a Research Paper on a topic relating to business ethics. Your paper must be 8–10 pages and double spaced, not including the title page, abstract, and references pages. You must include 8–10 scholarly references in addition to the course textbooks and the Bible. You must use your textbooks as sources; other acceptable sources are journal articles from peer-reviewed journals, theoretical texts, and the Bible. Citations must be in current APA format. As this is a Research Paper, it must be written in third person.
You will choose a topic and write a rationale for that topic. Final approval must be received from your instructor.
The Annotated Bibliography will not be part of the final Research Paper due in. The final Research Paper will have only the REGULAR references section AND in text citations WITH page numbers.
Research topic: The influence of business ethics on purchase intention: Do consumers really careabout a firm’s behavior?
References:
Boulstridge, E., & Carrigan, M. (2000). Do consumers really care about corporate responsibility? Highlighting the attitude—behaviour gap. Journal of Communication Management, 4(4), 355-368. doi:10.1108/eb023532
This article investigates whether there is any truth in the assumption that clients are so interested in the behavior of the companies that they engage with that they adjust their purchasing behavior accordingly. It is a good pointer of the opinions held at an earlier age where there were questions cast on whether corporate reputation did any good towards a financial payoff for businesses. Through their reported findings from focus group research, Boulstridge and Carrigan will provide a back in the day analysis of the matter at hand, and this will be useful for making comparisons to much more current literature and opinions in my research.
Brunk, K. H., & Bluemelhuber, C. (2010). The impact of un/ethical corporate conduct on consumers' ethical perceptions - a multidimensional framework. Advances in Consumer Research, 37, 368-373. Retrieved from http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v37/acr_v37_15198.pdf
Brunk and Bluemuelhuber look at how companies have grown, and how their influence is increasingly having a huge societal impact. As such, the two examine whether the abuse of these corporations’ positions, which has on occasion resulted in mass outrage, has had any effect on purchasing intention. This article helps my research in that it conceptualizes the various ways in which various business practices may actually lead to the formation of a negative consumer perception. It, therefore, provides insight into how understanding the formation of consumer perceived ethicality (CPE) may help companies facilitate the consumerism they so much depend on.
Byrum, K. (2017). Boosting brand reputation and promoting purchase intention through corporate social responsibility communication: A test of source, formats and sentiment effects in social media. Research Journal of the Institute for Public Relations, 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/Kristie-Byrum-2.pdf
This article looks at the role that the public relations professional plays today, and how effective the emerging consumer communicator is. It is important for my research because it presents survey evidence that points to what methods have been found effective in promoting the reputation of corporate brands and, consequently, in stimulating consumer purchase intention. The article looks at some of the methods used by corporations such as news release advertisements and articles, as well as advertising, and proceeds to illustrate which are more effective. This information is useful for showing corporations what, if any, method to use to convey their social responsibility and promote their brand, hopefully with the result being increased sales.
Carrigan, M., & Attalla, A. (2001). The myth of the ethical consumer - do ethics matter in purchase behaviour? Journal of Consumer Marketing`, 18(7), 560 - 578. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07363760110410263
Carrigan and Attalla consider the question of whether or not customers care about firms exhibiting ethical behavior at a time when social responsibility and marketing ethics are coming are topics that are beleaguered with controversy. The effects of good and bad ethical behaviors are investigated here, and the conclusion drawn gives my research topic an interesting and diverse perspective. The article finds that consumers do not necessarily care much about how ethical or unethical businesses are, and concludes that some action may need to be taken by marketers so that consumers can be encouraged to buy more from ethically sound firms.
Eshra, N., & Beshir, N. (2017). Impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer buying behavior in Egypt. World Review of Business Research, 7(1), 32-44. Retrieved from http://www.wrbrpapers.com/static/documents/March/2017/3.%20Noha.pdf
Eshra and Beshir argue that organizations today must not only take care of their employees and their families but also the community and society at large. Their article seeks to consider CSR from the consumers’ perspectives so that we may learn what they perceive about this business activity, and whether it influences them. I also chose this article for the reason that it focuses on Egypt, a country that is not in the Western sphere. The article should ideally confirm whether consumer behavior in a foreign country is influenced by CSR or, in fact, whether consumers are even aware of the CSR concept, and how this awareness translates into their purchasing behavior.
Hosmer, L. T. (2011). The Ethics of Management: A multidisciplinary approach (7th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill/Irwin. ISBN: 9780073530543. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077470206/
Hosmer in The Ethics of Management looks at the growing significance of Ethics in management at a time when the global economy is appears to be getting more complex and competitive. As pressure piles on organizations to increase sales and thus their financial return, the decisions that they make in the process may harm their social performance which, admittedly, is difficult to measure. The book insists that organizations now have a greater need to learn how to convincingly sell their proposed solutions to the ethical problems that face them so that they do not lose out on the benefits of a good corporate reputation.
Kaur, P. (2013). The effect of CSR on consumer’s buying behavior. International Journal of Innovative Research & Development, 2(11), 317-323. Retrieved from http://www.ijird.com/index.php/ijird/article/viewFile/41215/32813
This article points out that growing understanding on the part of consumers about the role and responsibilities that organizations ought to have in the society and towards the environment has had some impact on their purchasing patterns. It, therefore, aims to find out how CSR has impacted the trust of consumers, and whether this trust has, on the other hand, been essential to making purchasing decisions. Kaur’s findings indicate that there does exist a relationship between trust and purchasing intent, and gives recommendations useful for my research as useful lessons that managers and businesses ought to learn from, and which, if ignored, may result in consumer boycotts and criticism.
Madar, A., Huang, H. H., & Tseng, T. H. (2013). Do ethical purchase intentions really lead to ethical purchase behavior? A case of animal-testing issues in shampoo. International Business Research, 6(7), 102-110. Retrieved from http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ibr/article/download/28395/17001
The scholars in this article use surveys to investigate what impact, if any, the buying intentions of consumers have on purchasing behavior. It finds that for consumers to have ethical buying intentions, they must first be aware of a brand’s general corporate social responsibility undertakings. It is only in the circumstances where the customers are in the know about such activities can they be said to have had ethical purchasing intentions when considering whether or not to buy from a particular brand. As such, this article would be useful for pointing out that awareness of corporate behavior must first be present in the mind of the consumer if it is to factor in considering whether or not to make a purchase.
Servaes, H., & Tamayo, A. (2013). The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value: The role of customer awareness. Management Science, 59(5), 1045 - 1061. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1120.1630
In this article, Servaes and Tamayo seek to find out whether firm value and corporate social responsibility really do impact consumer preferences for goods. It shows that for those with high customer awareness, benefits are reaped when they engage in CSR, but that firms with a low customer awareness there is either negative or insignificant value realized for partaking in such activities. More importantly, however, is the fact that the article shows that CSR activities do not always add value to organizations. This is particularly so for those that may have had a poor reputation in the time before they engaged themselves in these activities.
Viriyavidhayavongs, V., & Yothmontree, S. (2002). The impact of ethical considerations in purchase behavior: A propaedeutic to further research. ABAC Journal, 22(3), 1-15. Retrieved from http://www.abacjournal.au.edu/2002/sep02/abacjournal_article01_sep02.pdf
This article investigates the attitudes consumers hold about the ethics of corporate organizations in relation to their employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders. It looks at the willingness of customers to reward the ethical behavior exhibited by businesses through their purchase decisions, as well as the impact that their attitudes have on firm behavior. Its conclusion that consumers do care about the behavior exhibited by firms contributes in a fundamental manner to the research topic that I have chosen to work on, as it is indicative of the fact that ethical firms may indeed have a significant marketplace advantage over the rest.
