Ethical Awareness, Ethical Judgment and Whistleblowing: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

This study aims to examine the ethical decision-making (EDM) model proposed by Schwartz (J Bus Ethics, doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2886-8,2016), where we consider the factors of non-rationality and aspects that affect ethical judgments of auditors to make the decision to blow the whistle. In this paper, we argue that the intention of whistleblowing depends on ethical awareness (EAW) and ethical judgment (EJW) as well as there is a mediation–moderation due to emotion (EMT) and perceived moral intensity (PMI) of auditors. Data were collected using an online surveywith 162 external auditors who worked on audit firms in Indonesia as well as 173 internal auditors working in the manufacturing and financial services. The result of multigroup analysis shows that emotion (EMT) can mediate the relationship between EAW and EJW. The nature of this relationship is more complex and then tested by adding moderating variables using consistent partial least squares approach. We found that EMT and PMI can improve the relationship between ethical judgments and whistleblowing intentions. These findings indicate that internal auditors are more likely to blow the whistle than external auditors; and reporting wrongdoing internally and anonymously are the preferred way of professional accountants to blow the whistle in Indonesia

Comfort your Online Customer: Quality, Trust and Loyalty on the Internet

Contains fulltext : 138684.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)In e‐commerce, loyal customers are considered extremely valuable. Loyalty is generally attributed to satisfaction with the quality of service. Since online transactions involve many uncertainties for the customer, trust is a condition for exchange. Trust in the electronic medium – here called “e‐trust” – is believed to increase online customer loyalty, but empirical confirmations are scarce. The present study empirically investigates the roles of service quality, satisfaction and trust in an e‐commerce context. In the study, e‐trust is found to directly affect loyalty. The e‐service quality dimension of assurance, i.e. trusting the merchant, influences loyalty via e‐trust and e‐satisfaction. Other e‐quality dimensions, such as ease of use, e‐scape, responsiveness, and customization influence e‐loyalty mainly indirectly, via satisfaction. Managerial implications and suggestions for further research are provided.11 p

To serve and protect: A typology of service robots and their role in physically safe services

Purpose Although consumers feel that the move towards service robots in the frontline so far was driven by firms’ strive to replace human service agents and realize cost savings accordingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has led customers to appreciate robots’ ability to provide services in ways that keeps them safe and protected from the virus. Still, research on this topic is scant. This article offers guidance by providing a theoretical backdrop for the safety perspective on service robots, as well as outlining a typology that researchers and practitioners can use to further advance this field. Design/methodology/approach A typology is developed based on a combination of a theory- and practice-driven approach. Departing from the type of behavior performed by the service robot, the typology synthesizes three different service robot roles from past literature, and proposes three new safety-related role extensions. These safety-related roles are derived from a search for examples of how service robots are used in practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings The typology’s roles are corroborated by discussing relevant robot implementations around the globe. Jointly, the six roles give rise to several ideas for future research. Originality This manuscript is (one of) the first to provide in-depth attention to the phenomenon of service customers’ physical safety needs in the age of service robots. In doing so, it discusses and ties together theories and concepts from different fields, such as hierarchy of needs theory, evolutionary human motives theory, perceived risk theory, regulatory focus theory, job-demand resources theory, and theory of AI job replacement

The effect of humor in electronic service encounters

By means of an experimental design, we investigate the moderating effect of humor on the interplay between process and outcome in terms of customer evaluations of the electronic service encounter. We conclude that a favorable process mitigates an unfavorable outcome in terms of enjoyment, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions when related humor is included on the website. Contrary, on a non-humorous website, the functional process has no effect when outcome is negative. However, in addition to the positive, compensatory effect, we find that for websites that are unfavorable in terms of process and outcome, the use of related humor causes more negative customer evaluations compared to a non-humorous website