Corporate Social Responsibility Beyond Borders: U.S. Consumer Boycotts of a Global Company Over Sweatshop Issues in Supplier Factories Overseas

Abstract

The current research examines the effects of individualizing moral foundations (i.e., fairness and care) on consumer boycotts against the U.S. company that is entangled in an alleged sweatshop issue at a supplier’s factory in a developing country. On the basis of moral foundations theory, the current study tests six hypotheses that demonstrate the theoretical mechanism by which individualizing moral foundations have an impact on consumer boycott intentions through blame attributions and anger. Using a representative U.S. sample of 1,124 people, a national survey was conducted to test the proposed structural equation model. As predicted, results of mediation analysis showed that individualizing foundations, consisted of the fairness/care values, led to boycott intentions fully mediated by blame attribution and anger.