Yes, Consumers Care if Your Product Is Ethical

Some studies show that people want to believe that the products they buy support their values. Other studies found the opposite and even dismissed the idea of the ethical consumer.

However, a review of existing research on consumer morality identified weaknesses in how previous studies assessed morality. As a result, a recent study tested a new way of consumer morality and found that morality does matter but that consumers interpret morality differently from researchers.

An attitude-based approach makes it possible to identify what consumers view as a moral decision or not.

Research found that getting people to self-perceive their own attitudes about a product based on morality makes them more likely to purchase it. Furthermore, the more moral a person perceived a product to be, the more likely they were to consider buying it, regardless of how well the product was reviewed.