Ethics in Stigmatized Markets? The Interplay between Organizational and Consumer Stigma Management Strategies in Ethical Porn
研究伦理策略在污名化市场中的双刃剑效应：对非消费者有效，但会干扰现有消费者的道德合理化，降低其对产品的评价。
In stigmatized markets, the integration of an ethical strategy can be used to build support with stakeholders that have previously opposed or avoided the market. However, the impact of such a strategy on existing stakeholders is much less clear. Across three experiments in the context of ethical pornography, we show that an ethical strategy is beneficial for non-consumers but is detrimental for current consumers, and that the divergent reactions are based on different moral reasoning strategies. Our empirical discoveries show that using ethical practices in stigmatized markets offers an effective cleansing strategy for non-consumers by allowing them to morally decouple personal benefits from moral evaluation; yet this strategy backfires for current consumers by interfering with the moral rationalization strategy they had already been using, thereby lowering evaluations of the ethical-stigmatized product. By exploring the mediating role of moral reasoning strategies, our discoveries emphasize the complexity of managing stigma, showing that an organization’s stigma management strategy may be effective for non-consumers, but can conflict with current consumers’ own moral reasoning.