Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Why People Don’t Take their Concerns about Fair Trade to the Supermarket: The Role of Neutralisation

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article explores how neutralisation can explain people’s lack of commitment to buying Fair Trade (FT) products, even when they identify FT as an ethical concern. It examines the theoretical tenets of neutralisation theory and critically assesses its applicability to the purchase of FT products. Exploratory research provides illustrative examples of neutralisation techniques being used in the FT consumer context. A conceptual framework and research propositions delineate the role of neutralisation in explaining the attitude-behaviour discrepancies evident in relation to consumers’ FT purchase behaviour, providing direction for further research that will generate new knowledge of consumers’ FT purchase behaviour and other aspects of ethical consumer behaviour.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajzen I., Fishbein M. (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behaviour. Prentice-Hall Inc, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen I. (1985). From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behaviour. In: Kuhland J., Beckman J. (eds) Action Control: From Cognition to Behaviour. Spring,Verlag, Heideberg, pp. 11–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen I. (1991) The Theory of Planned Behaviour. Organizational Behaviour & Human Decision Processes 50:179–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen I. (2001). Nature and operation of attitudes. Annual Review of Psychology 52:27–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen I., Fishbein M. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behaviour. In: Albarracín D., Johnson B. T., Zanna M. P. (eds) The handbook of attitudes. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 173–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez A. (1997). Adjusting to genocide: The techniques of neutralization and the holocaust. Social Science History 21(2):139–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage C., Conner M. (2001). Efficacy of the theory of planned behaviour: A meta-analytic review. British Journal of Social Psychology 40:471–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage C. J., Conner M. (1999). Distinguishing perceptions of control from self-efficacy: Predicting consumption of a low-fat diet using the theory of planned behaviour. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 29:72–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball R. A. (1966). An empirical exploration of neutralization theory. Criminologica 4(2):22–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck L., Ajzen I. (1991) Predicting dishonest actions using the theory of planned behaviour. Journal of Research in Personality 25:285–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett R. (1996) Effects of horrific fear appeals on public attitudes towards AIDS. International Journal of Advertising 15(2):183–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Bersoff D. M. (2001) Why good people sometimes do bad things: Motivated Reasoning and Unethical Behaviour. The Next Phase of Business Ethics 3:239–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bird K., Hughes D. (1997) Ethical consumerism: The case of “Fairly-Traded” coffee. Business Ethics: A European Review 6(3):159–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohner G., Reinhard M.-A., Rutz S., Sturm S., Kerschbaum B., Effler D. (1998) Rape myths as neutralizing cognitions: Evidence for a causal impact of anti-victim attitudes on men’s self-reported likelihood of raping. European Journal of Social Psychology 28:257–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers B., Crider B. W., Biggers G. K. (1999). Bias crime motivation: A study of hate crime and offender neutralization techniques used against the Amish. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 15(1):78–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrigan M., Attalla A. (2001) The myth of the ethical consumer – do ethics matter in purchase behaviour? Journal of Consumer Marketing 18(7):560–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan K. (1998) Mass communication and proenvironmental behaviour: Waste recycling in Hong Kong. Journal of Environmental Management 52:317–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang M. K. (1998). Predicting unethical behaviour: A comparison of the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behaviour. Journal of Business Ethics 17(16):1825–1834

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatzidakis A., Hibbert S., Mitussis D., Smith A. (2004) Virtue in consumption?. Journal of Marketing Management 20(5/6):526–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherrier H. (2005) Becoming sensitive to ethical consumption behaviour: Narratives of survival in an uncertain and unpredictable world. Advances in Consumer Research. 32:600–604

    Google Scholar 

  • Copes H. (2003) Societal attachments, offending frequency and techniques of neutralization. Deviant Behaviour 24:101–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello B. J. (2000) Techniques of neutralization and self-esteem: A critical test of social control and neutralization theory. Deviant Behaviour 21:301–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowe, R., & Williams, S. (2000) Who are Ethical Consumers? The Co-Operative Bank

  • Crane A. (1999). Are you ethical? Please tick Yes? or No? on researching ethics in business organizations. Journal of Business Ethics 20:237–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane A., Matten D. (2004) Business Ethics: A European Perspective – Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabney D. (1995) Neutralization and deviance in the workplace: Theft of supplies and medicines by hospital nurses. Deviant Behaviour 16:313–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies J. D., Foxall G. R., Pallister J. (2002). Beyond the intention-behaviour mythology: An integrated model of recycling. Marketing Theory 2(1):29–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodder R., Hughes S. P. (1987) Collegiate drinking behaviour – a test of neutralization theory. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education 33(1):73–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunford F. W., Kunz P. R. (1973) The neutralization of religious dissonance. Review of Religious Research 15(1):2–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagly A. H., Chaiken S. (1993) The Psychology of Attitudes. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Fort Worth, TX

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliason S. L., Dodder R. A. (1999) Techniques of neutralization by deer poachers in the western United States: A research note. Deviant Behaviour 20:233–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferraro K. J., Johnson J. M. (1983) How women experience battering: The process of victimization. Social Problems 30(3):325–339

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell O. C., Gresham L. G. (1985) A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing. Journal of Marketing 49(3):87–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fershing J. L. (2003) “To Snitch or Not to Snitch?” Applying the concept of neutralization techniques to the enforcement of occupational misconduct. Sociological Perspectives 46(2):149–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R. J. (1993) Social desirability bias and the validity of indirect questioning. Journal of Consumer Research 20(Sep):303–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R. J., Katz J. E. (2000) Social-Desirability bias and the validity of self-reported values. Psychology & Marketing 17(2):105–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford R. C., Richardson W. D. (1994) Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical literature. Journal of Business Ethics 13(3):205 – 221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox K. J. (1999) Reproducing criminal types: Cognitive treatments for violent offenders in prison. The Sociological Quarterly 40(3):435–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritsche, I. & Mayrhofer, R. (2001). Account Strategies and Norm-contradictive Behaviour: A New Taxonomy Exemplified in the Context of Environmentally Harmful Behaviour. Paper presented at the 14th Annual Conference of the International Association for Conflict Management, 24–27 June 2001, Cergy (Paris), France.

  • Fritsche, I. (2003). Pre-Behavioural Account-Giving and its Impact on Behaviour. Unpublished Manuscript

  • Fritsche. I. (2005) Predicting deviant behaviour by neutralization: Myths and findings. Deviant Behaviour. 26(5):483–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukukawa K. (2002) Developing a framework for ethically questionable behaviour in consumption. Journal of Business Ethics 14:99–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier D. K. (2001) Professional Lapses: Occupational deviance and neutralization techniques in veterinary medicine practice. Deviant Behaviour 22:467–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grove, S. J., Vitell, S. J., & Strutton, D. (1989). Non-Normative Consumer Behaviour and the Techniques of Neutralization. Proceedings of the 1989 AMA Winter Educators Conference, pp. 131–135.

  • Hazani M. (1991) Aligning vocabulary, symbols banks and sociocultural structure. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 20:179–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heltsley M., Calhoun T. C. (2003) The good mother: Neutralization techniques used by pageant mothers. Deviant Behaviour 24:81–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland R. W., Meertens R. M., Van Vugt M. (2002) Dissonance on the road: Self-Esteem as a moderator of internal and external justification strategies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 28(12):1713–1724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollinger R. (1991) Neutralizing in the workplace: An empirical analysis of property theft and production deviance. Deviant Behaviour 12:169–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt S. D., Vitell S. J. (1986) A general theory of marketing ethics. Journal of MacroMarketing 6:5–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. D., & Vitell S. J. (1992). The General Theory of Marketing Ethics: A Retrospective and Revision. in Smith C & Quelch J (1992), Ethics in Marketing, Irwin R, pp.775–784

  • Jones T. M. (1991) Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue contingent model. Academy of Management Review 16(2):366–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalafatis S. P., Pollard M., East R., Tsogas M. H. (1999) Green marketing and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour: A cross-market examination. Journal of Consumer Marketing 16(5):441–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunda Z. (1990) The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin 108(3):480–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levi K. (1981) Becoming a hit man: Neutralization in a very deviant career. Urban Life 10(1):47–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Loe T. W., Ferrell L., Mansfield P. (2000) A review of empirical studies assessing ethical decision making in business. Journal of Business Ethics 25(3):185–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luzar E. J., Cosse K. J. (1998) Willingnes to pay or intention to pay: The attitude behaviour relationship in contingent evaluation. Journal of Socio-Economics 27(3):427–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malhotra N. K. (2004) Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation (4th ed). Pearson-Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason J. (1996) Qualitative Researching. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald G., Pak P. C. (1996) It’s all fair in love, war, and business: Cognitive philosophies in ethical decision making. Journal of Business Ethics 15(9):973–996

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minor, W. W: 1981 ‚Techniques of Neutralization: A Reconceptualization and Empirical Examination’, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, July, 295–318

  • Mitchell V.-W., Chan K. L. J. (2002) Investigating UK consumers’ unethical attitudes and behaviours. Journal of Marketing Management 18:5–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nancarrow C., Brace I., Wright L. T. (2001) Tell me Lies Tell me Little Sweet Lies: Dealing with social desirable responses in market research. The Marketing Review 2:55–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Notani A. S. (1998) Moderators of perceived behavioural control’s predictiveness in the theory of planned behaviour. Journal of Consumer Psychology 7(3):247–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Fallon M. J., Butterfield K. D. (2005) A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 1996–2003. Journal of Business Ethics 59(4):375 – 413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogden J. (2003). Some problems with social cognition models: A pragmatic and conceptual analysis. Health Psychology 22:424–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton M. Q. (1990) Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Peretti-Watel P. (2003) Neutralization theory and the denial of risk: Some evidence from cannabis use among French adolescents. British Journal of Sociology 54(1):21–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. R.: 1979, Development in Judging Moral Issues (University of Minessota Press, Minneapolis).

  • Roberts, J. A.: 1996, Will the Real Socially Responsible Consumer Please Step Forward? Business Horizons, Jan–Feb, pp. 79–83.

  • Rosenbaum M. S., Kuntze R. (2003) The relationship between anomie and unethical retail disposition. Psychology & Marketing 20(12):1067–1093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz S. H., Howard J. A. (1981) A Normative Decision-Making Model of Altruism. In: Rushton J. P., Sorrentino R. M. (eds) Altruism and helping behaviour: Social, personality, and developmental perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 189–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz S. H. (1977) Normative Influences on Altruism. In: Berkowitz L (ed) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Vol 10. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, N., & Bayer, A: 1989, Variationen der Fragenreihenfolge als Instrument der Kausalitätsprüfung: Eine␣Untersuchung zur Neutralisationstheorie devianten Verhaltens (ZUMA-Arbeitsbericht Nr. 89/23) [Variation of Question Order as an Instrument of Causality Testing: A Study on the Neutralization Theory of Deviant␣Behaviour (ZUMA-work report no. 89/23)]. Mannheim, Germany: Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen

  • Shaw D., Clarke I. (1999) Belief formation in ethical consumer groups: An exploratory study. Marketing Intelligence & Planning 17(2):109–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw D., Shiu E. (2002a) An assesment of ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer decision-making: A structural equation modelling approach. International Journal of Consumer Studies 26(4):286–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw D., Shiu E. (2002b) The role of ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer choice. International Journal of Consumer Studies 26(2):109–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw D., Shiu E. (2003) Ethics in consumer choice: A multivariate modelling approach. European Journal of Marketing 37(10):1485–1498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw D., Shiu E., Clarke I. (2000) The contribution of ethical obligation and self-identity to the theory of planned behaviour: An exploration of ethical consumers. Journal of Marketing Management 16:879–894

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparks P., Shepherd R. (1992) Self-identity and the theory of planned behaviour: Assessing the role of identification with "green consumerism". Social Psychology Quarterly 55:388–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparks P., Shepherd R., Wieringa N., Zimmermanns N. (1995) Perceived behavioural control, unrealistic optimism and dietary change: An exploratory study. Appetite 24:243–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strong C. (1996) Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism – A preliminary investigation. Marketing Intelligence& Planning 14(5):5–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strutton D., Pelton L. E., Ferrell O. C. (1997) Ethical behaviour in retail settings: Is there a generation gap? Journal of Business Ethics 16:87–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strutton D., Vitell S. J., Pelton L. E. (1994) How consumers may justify inappropriate behaviour in market settings: An application on the techniques of neutralization. Journal of Business Research 30:253–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sykes G. M., Matza D. (1957) Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review 22(6):664–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevino L. K. (1986) Ethical decision making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model. Academy of Management Review 11(3):601–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler T. R., Orwin R., Schurer L. (1982). Defensive denial and high cost prosocial behaviour. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 3(4):267–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitell S. J., Grove S. J. (1987) Marketing ethics and the techniques of neutralization. Journal of Business Ethics 6:433–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitell S. J. (2003) Consumer ethics research: Review, synthesis and suggestions for the future. Journal of Business Ethics 43:33–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward D. A., Beck W. L. (1990). Gender and dishonesty. The Journal of Social Psychology 130:333–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worcester, R., & J. Dawkins: 2005, ‚Surveying Ethical and Environmental Attitudes,’ in R. Harrison, T. Newholm, D. Shaw (eds.), The Ethical Consumer (Sage Publications), pp. 189–203.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, UK

    Andreas Chatzidakis, Sally Hibbert & Andrew P. Smith

Authors
  1. Andreas Chatzidakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sally Hibbert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrew P. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Chatzidakis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chatzidakis, A., Hibbert, S. & Smith, A.P. Why People Don’t Take their Concerns about Fair Trade to the Supermarket: The Role of Neutralisation. J Bus Ethics 74, 89–100 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9222-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9222-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation