Who Receives Credit or Blame? The Effects of Made-to-Order Production on Responses to Unethical and Ethical Company Production Practices

Abstract

While prior research has found that consumer-influenced production improves purchase intentions, the author proposes that it can counterintuitively backfire. This work demonstrates that when consumers have some control over production (e.g., ordering products on demand, customization, preordering), they have lower purchase intentions for products made with unethical processes (e.g., pollution, underpaid labor) than if they had no role in production (i.e., buying what is already in inventory). This effect reverses, however, with positive ethical production (e.g., recycled materials). Because consumers have direct responsibility for whether a product is made, feelings of anticipated guilt or gratification result depending on the ethicality of the production process. This work also proposes a novel threefold conceptualization of responsibility that can be used as managerial levers: direct responsibility, diffusion of responsibility, and broad responsibility. Field studies using Facebook’s advertising platform demonstrate positioning strategies for fair-trade brands and advocacy groups.