In ethical consumerism, the issue of ethical attitudes not translating to ethical behaviors has been highly debated. While previous studies attribute this attitude-behavioral mismatch to the lack of education, hypocrisy, or low commitment, we propose a novel approach of applying Moral Foundation Theory (MFT) to account for the phenomenon. MFT identifies two dimensions of morality: individualizing moral foundations (INDI) which focuses on justice and harm, and binding moral foundations (BIND) which emphasizes authority and loyalty. Using responses from more than 4,000 consumers from four culturally and regionally diverse markets, we investigate the differing roles of moral foundations in response to a scenario on a sweatshop issue of a supplier whose factory is in a developing country. We use the mediator-moderator model of MFT-anticorporate attitude-boycott behavioral intention sequence to examine the differing role of INDI and BIND. Our results show that INDI and BIND are both positively related to anticorporate attitude; However, BIND is negatively related to boycott behavioral intention while INDI is positively related. That is, consumers with a strong BIND may show an attitude-behavioral mismatch although they are highly ethical.

• Jikyung Kim(Kyujin Shim)
• Kyujin Shim(IE Universtiy, Spain)