Deontological and teleological evaluations are widely utilized in the context of consumer decision-making. Despite their use, the differential effect of these distinct types of evaluations, and the conditions under which they hold, remains an unresolved issue. Thus, we conduct a meta-analysis of 316 effect sizes, from 53 research articles, to evaluate the extent to which deontological and teleological evaluations influence ethical judgments and intentions, and under what circumstances the influence occurs. The effect is explored across three categories of moderators: (1) (...) contextual elements of the ethical issue, (2) stakeholders, and (3) methodological characteristics of primary studies. We find that the overall effect of deontological evaluations on ethical judgments and intentions is stronger than for teleological evaluations; however, the magnitude of the effect is contingent on several moderators. Deontological evaluations are weaker in offline consumer contexts and stronger when there are financial implications of the ethical issue. Conversely, the effect of teleological evaluations is relatively stable across ethical consumer contexts. Teleological evaluations are stronger from a utilitarian perspective than from an egoist one. Furthermore, the effect of deontological evaluations is weaker, but the effect for teleological evaluations is stronger, when the decision-maker has a personal relationship (as compared to an organizational relationship) with the victim of the unethical act. Findings validate the effect of both deontological and teleological evaluations on ethical judgments and intentions and highlight their importance in consumers’ ethical decision-making. Implications for developing programs to prevent consumer unethical behavior are discussed. (shrink)

The demand for ethical fashion products has grown in recent years, with consumers caring more about how the product is made. Based on the deontological underpinnings of ethical fashion, the present research provides recommendations to ethical fashion brands by leveraging the emotion of awe through visual representations. This research examines 5362 Instagram posts of five ethical fashion brands and shows that the presence of awe-inspiring visual elements increases consumer engagement on social media for ethical fashion brands. Further, this research identifies (...) the moderating roles of the color green and the size of the visual elements in this context. Two follow-up experiments provide causal evidence for these relationships. Experimental evidence for the role of deontological beliefs as a mediator of the relationship between feelings of awe and social media engagement with ethical fashion brands is also provided. Overall, the findings offer a more nuanced understanding of how ethical fashion brands can develop effective visual advertising campaigns on social media and the underlying process driving the effect, which is consistent with deontological ethics. (shrink)