Abstract

This research aims to verify the effect of consumers’ evaluation of sellers’ ethical behaviour on their emotion and behaviour intention. Actually, the concept of ethics have been partially studied before Reidenbach and Robin’s work and its consideration as an antecedent of consumer behaviour has not been proven. Previous studies have integrated few indirect effects of ethics on behaviour intention through the mediation of affective reactions. The present study aims to check all possible direct effects of ethics on the frequentation intention and indirect ones through emotions. The proposed model is verified using structural equations modelling. A quantitative study is conducted with 227 consumers who were recently involved in a shopping experiment. The effects of moral fairness and contractualism on interest, positive and negative emotions as well as on frequentation intention are confirmed. Relativism has, whereas, no significant effect. Contrarily to previous studies’ results, the frequentation intention was found not increased by emotions.

Key words: Ethics evaluation, emotion, frequentation intention, structural equations modelling.