An Overview of Moral Disengagement in Consumer Studies

Abstract

Moral Disengagement is a collection of socio-cognitive mechanisms by which individuals detach themselves from ethical actions and participate in inhumane, abusive, damaging, or horrifying acts toward others without showing remorse and self-censure. Previous studies revealed the significant role of moral disengagement between individuals’ moral standards and their unethical actions. Moral disengagement mechanisms allow people to perform unethical behaviors they normally do not approve or are against their moral standards, however consumer perspective in previous studies are either omitted or quite limited. Therefore, in this study, a general outlook to consumer behavior studies is presented to understand the role of moral disengagement in varying contexts. A general discussion and future research avenues are also presented at the end.

Keywords

• moral disengagement
• consumer psychology
• unethical behavior

Tüketici Çalışmalarında Ahlaki Çözülmeye Genel Bir Bakış

Abstract

Ahlaki çözülme (ahlaki uzaklaşma/ahlaki kayıtsızlık/ahlaki geri çekilme), bireylerin kendilerini etik eylemlerden ayırdıkları ve pişmanlık ve öz-kınama göstermeden başkalarına karşı insanlık dışı, taciz edici, zarar verici veya dehşet verici eylemlere katıldıkları bir sosyo-bilişsel mekanizmalar bütünüdür. Önceki çalışmalar, bireylerin ahlaki standartları ile etik olmayan eylemleri arasındaki ahlaki çözülmenin önemli bir rolü olduğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. Ahlaki çözülme mekanizmaları, insanların normalde onaylamadıkları veya ahlaki standartlarına aykırı olan etik olmayan davranışları gerçekleştirmelerine izin verir, ancak önceki çalışmalarda tüketici perspektifi ya ihmal edilmiş ya da oldukça sınırlı kalmıştır. Bu nedenle bu çalışmada, farklı durumlarda ahlaki çözülmenin rolünü anlamak için tüketici davranışı çalışmalarına genel bir bakış sunulmuştur. Çalışmanın sonunda genel bir tartışma ve gelecekteki araştırmalar için de tavsiyeler sunulmuştur.

Keywords

• Ahlaki çözülme
• tüketici psikolojisi
• etik olmayan davranış

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