Role morality discrepancy and ethical purchasing:Exploring felt responsibility in professional and personal contexts

The same person can make different moral judgments about the same activity in their professional role and in their personal life. For example, people may follow a different moral code when making purchases at work compared with in their private lives. This potential difference has largely remained unexamined. This study explores differences in felt moral responsibility in workplace and private purchasing settings, regarding the impacts of purchasing decisions on supply chain workers, and explores the influence of personal values and ethical work climate. The case of a high-profile university in the United Kingdom is studied, which has made strong commitments to socially responsible public procurement. Based on a survey of 318 university staff who make purchases at work, stronger moral values related to harm/care are associated with higher felt responsibility in personal purchasing than in workplace purchasing, whereas less strong harm/care values are associated with higher felt responsibility in workplace purchasing than personal purchasing. In relation to ethical work climate, detailed awareness of organizational ethical procurement commitments is found to be associated with higher felt responsibility in workplace purchasing and is also found to increase the discrepancy between workplace and personal felt responsibility, increasing felt responsibility in the workplace but not in personal purchasing. These findings demonstrate the influence of individual and contextual factors on felt responsibility across different roles. Recommendations are made for further empirical research on felt responsibility across roles and additional internal communication on social responsibility for devolved public procurement contexts.</p

A comparison of social media marketing between B2B, B2C and mixed business models

This paper explores the implicit assumption in the growing body of literature that social media usage is fundamentally different in business-to-business (B2B) companies than in the extant business-to-consumer (B2C) literature. Sashi’s (2012) customer engagement cycle is utilized to compare B2B, B2C, Mixed B2B/B2C and B2B2C business model organizational practices in relation to social media usage, importance, and its perceived effectiveness as a communication channel. Utilizing 449 responses to an exploratory panel based survey instrument, we clearly identify differences in social media marketing usage and its perceived importance as a communications channel. In particular we identify distinct differences in the relationship between social media importance and the perceived effectiveness of social media marketing across business models. Our results indicate that B2B social media usage is distinct from B2C, Mixed and B2B2C business model approaches. Specifically B2B organizational members perceive social media to have a lower overall effectiveness as a channel and identify it as less important for relationship oriented usage than other business models

How and why (imagined) online reviews impact frontline retail encounters

This research examines how frontline retail employees respond to customers whom they think might write an online review about their experience. Across six experiments (one field and five online) we illustrate that when employees identify potential online review authors, often by what the customer says or does, it catalyzes them to deliver better service. This ensues because they experience a rise in determination to do well, motivated by the prospect of being associated with a positive review, which they believe will impress the retailer. Thus, they go ‘above and beyond’. However, determination is tempered by two boundary conditions. When employees (i) do not consider that being associated with an online review is beneficial (i.e., not goal relevant) or (ii) feel poorly equipped to serve the customer (i.e., low in self-efficacy), then a better service delivery will not occur. We also prove that retailers can enhance customer service through internal championing of the importance of online reviews, so long as this is framed as promotional rather than punitive

The paradox of virtuous online presentation:Examining the receiver's perceptions of impression management

Virtue signaling, defined as the act of engaging in public moral discourse to enhance or preserve one’s moral reputation (Westra, 2021), happens frequently in daily interactions. It is particularly common online since social media has substantially lowered the costs of online self-presentation. Typical examples of virtue signaling include an individual making a virtuous post on social networking sites that advocate a social cause, such as racial equality and feeding the homeless. With virtuous posts, actors deliver a positive image to receivers and expect receivers to form a virtuous or morally respectable impression of them. However, it can also be perceived negatively. Actors may be perceived as manipulative when receivers consider them to be extrinsically motivated to self-promote their virtues online and/or impress others with their virtues (i.e., being perceived as virtue signaling by receivers). Perceptions of manipulativeness subsequently have a negative impact on the receiver’s online intention to like the post, and offline intention to support the social cause mentioned in the post. Additionally, receivers are more likely to unfollow the actor and avoid the actor’s future posts. Perceived manipulative intention mediates the relationship between perceived motivations of virtuous posts and receivers’ behavioral reactions. It has a direct positive effect on the relationship between perceived extrinsic motivation and avoiding/unfollowing. Besides, perceived manipulativeness has a direct negative effect on the relationship between perceived extrinsic motivation and receivers’ online intention to like the post and offline intentions to support the social cause mentioned in the post. This paper conducted semi-structured interviews and experiments to examine the perceptions of virtuous posts and the impact of virtue signaling perceptions

Saving Face on Facebook: Managing Impressions in the Presence of Multiple Audiences on Social Network Sites

Social network sites are now ubiquitous and self-presentation on these sites is, for many people, a major part of everyday life. The sites provide a novel context for impression management in which presentations can be viewed simultaneously, 24 hours a day, by multiple audiences with heterogeneous expectations. The argument outlined here is that this situation can increase the chances of social anxiety and regulatory behaviour when these expectations are not met. Through four studies including two experiments, a survey and a collection of semi-structured interviews, this thesis examines the process by which users regulate their actions both on- and offline with respect to multiple audiences online. A model is created out of intrapsychic theories grounded on Carver and Scheier’s (2001) selfregulatory process, in order to explain impression management in this context. Research is split into two phases and addressing young users aged predominately aged from 18-24; the first aiming to provide support for different components within the model and the second, to test the process as a whole. Phase 1 finds strong support for the model by providing evidence, first for the assumptions underlying the multiple audience problem and second, that public self-focus increases when engaged with the technology. A third contribution of Phase 1 is its categorisation of preventive and reactive regulatory behaviours. Phase 2 supports the process in the model, showing that self-focus leads to comparison between what is presented and the standards of multiple audiences, resulting in self-regulation mediated by anxiety.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Why premium in freemium: a hedonic shopping motivation model in virtual game retailing

© 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-01-2023-0082Purpose Hedonic shopping is a growing phenomenon designed to enhance gamers’ virtual content shopping experience with increasing economic significance, yet limited attention has been dedicated to this area. Our study explores key hedonic motivations of virtual content shopping and how hedonic shopping value builds trust (trust in virtual content and trust in virtual retailers) that enhances the intention to pay for premium. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a mixed-methods approach. Study 1 is qualitative; 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted with virtual game retail platform users. Study 2, based on the literature review and qualitative inquiry findings (obtained from Study 1), proposes a research model empirically validated by analyzing survey data administered to 437 online gamers from gaming zones, cybercafés and e-sports centers. Findings The results show that in-game shopping-related adventure-, gratification-, role- and idea-seeking motivations significantly influence gamers' perceived hedonic shopping value. In turn, perceived shopping value has a significant indirect effect through trust on gamers’ intention to pay for premium. Originality/value This research contributes to gaming literature by offering a comprehensive model that elucidates the role of hedonic shopping in increasing gamers’ trust, which explains purchase behavior in the virtual game retail context. The findings deepen the understanding of the game retailing landscape and offer strategies to build gamers’ trust, increase premium usage and retain existing spenders.Peer reviewe

Strength matters:self-presentation to the strongest audience rather than lowest common denominator when faced with multiple audiences in social network sites

On social network sites (e.g. Facebook), individuals self-present to multiple audiences simultaneously twenty-four hours a day. Prior research has inferred this results in a lowest common denominator effect (LCDE) whereby people constrain their online presentation to the standards of their strictest audience. However, this existing work neglects to address differences in the ‘value’ (social/economic) of the audience. Through the lens of self-presentation theory, we argue that it is not the strictest audience that constrains behavior but the strongest (i.e. that which has the highest score for standards and value combined). We call this the strongest audience effect (SAE). The aim of this research is to examine and contrast the LCDE and SAE. A survey of young Facebook users (n=379) provides support for the SAE when compared to LCDE, with the strength of the strongest audience predicting behavioral constraint and also social anxiety. Additional insights are generated into which audiences are perceived as the strongest. This study contributes a novel and more holistic lens to understand self-presentation in the presence of multiple audiences in social media

Tagger's delight? Disclosure and liking in Facebook: the effects of sharing photographs amongst multiple known social circles

The present work identifies the relationship between sharing photographs with different depictions in Facebook on relationship quality, which varies depending on the type of target sharing the photographs. With over 1 billion active users, disclosure on Facebook is frequent, considered a norm of online interaction, and actively encouraged by site providers. The extant academic literature identifies Facebook as an effective tool to connect with known and unknown others, and identifies the differences in sharing behaviour when users are aware of their audience. Operating within a lowest common denominator approach to disclosure on Facebook, the present work identifies the potential consequences to personal relationships when sharing day-to-day information. Results found from a sample of 508 Facebook users suggests individuals should actively adjust their privacy settings to ensure that even amongst flattened information – i.e. that deemed appropriate for release to all target types – disclosure does not harm current and potential relationships. Implications for, users, academic theory and disclosure practice are discussed