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The Influence of Love of Money and Religiosity on Ethical Decision-Making in Marketing

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Abstract

The impact of “love of money” on different aspects of consumers’ ethical beliefs has been investigated by previous research. In this study we investigate the potential impact of “love of money” on a manager’s ethical decision-making in marketing. Another objective of the current study is to investigate the potential impacts of extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity on ethical marketing decision-making. We also include ethical judgments as an element of ethical decision-making. We found “love of money”, both dimensions of religiosity, and ethical judgment to have significant impacts on ethical intentions in a marketing situation. In addition to providing an important contribution to the business ethics literature, the findings also have important managerial implications.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marketing Department, College of Business & Public Administration, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529-0220, USA

    Anusorn Singhapakdi

  2. University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA

    Scott J. Vitell

  3. Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea

    Dong-Jin Lee

  4. Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea

    Grace B. Yu

  5. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Amiee Mellon Nisius

Authors
  1. Anusorn Singhapakdi
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  2. Scott J. Vitell
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  3. Dong-Jin Lee
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  4. Amiee Mellon Nisius
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  5. Grace B. Yu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anusorn Singhapakdi.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Measurement Items

Love of money

Success

  1. (1)

    Money is how we compare each other. *

  2. (2)

    Money represents my achievement.

  3. (3)

    Money is a symbol of my success.

  4. (4)

    Money reflects my accomplishments

Motivator

  1. (1)

    I am motivated to work hard for money.

  2. (2)

    Money reinforces me to work hard.

  3. (3)

    I am highly motivated by money.

  4. (4)

    Money is a motivator. *

Rich

  1. (1)

    Having a lot of money is good. *

  2. (2)

    It would be nice to be rich.

  3. (3)

    I want to be rich.

  4. (4)

    My life will be more enjoyable, if I am rich and have more money. *

Importance

  1. (1)

    Money is valuable. *

  2. (2)

    Money is good. *

  3. (3)

    Money is an important factor in the lives of all of us.

  4. (4)

    Money is attractive.

Intrinsic religiosity

  1. (1)

    I enjoy reading about my religion.

  2. (2)

    It doesn’t much matter what I believe so long as I am good. ®

  3. (3)

    It is important to me to spend time in private thought and prayer.

  4. (4)

    I have often had a strong sense of God’s presence.

  5. (5)

    I try hard to live all my life according to my religious beliefs.

  6. (6)

    Although I am religious, I don’t let it affect my daily life. ®*

  7. (7)

    My whole approach to life is based on my religion.

  8. (8)

    Although I believe in my religion, many other things are more important in life. ®*

Extrinsic religiosity

  1. (1)

    I go to religious service because it helps me to make friends. *

  2. (2)

    I pray mainly to gain relief and protection

  3. (3)

    What religion offers me most is comfort in times of trouble and sorrow

  4. (4)

    Prayer is for peace and happiness

  5. (5)

    I go to religious services mostly to spend time with my friends. *

  6. (6)

    I go to religious services mainly because I enjoy seeing people I know there.

*Deleted items

® Reverse-scored item

Appendix 2

Scenario

The pricing committee of a large video game marketer suggests that prices be raised 20–30 % during the holiday season and that a highly popular game be kept in short supply.

Action

The vice president of marketing decides that this is a good idea since consumer demand indicates that consumers will be likely to pay the higher prices.

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Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S.J., Lee, DJ. et al. The Influence of Love of Money and Religiosity on Ethical Decision-Making in Marketing. J Bus Ethics 114, 183–191 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1334-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1334-2

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