Is There a “Fair” in Fair-Trade? Social Dominance Orientation Influences Perceptions of and Preferences for Fair-Trade Products

In recent years, there has been a surge in popularity of the fair-trade industry, which seeks to improve trading conditions and to promote the rights of marginalized workers. Although research suggests that fair-trade products are perceived as promoting social and economic responsibility, some indiv...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics
Authors: Rios, Kimberly (Author) ; Finkelstein, Stacey R. (Author) ; Landa, Jennifer (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2015
In: Journal of business ethics
Further subjects:B Justice
B Consumer behavior
B Social dominance orientation
B Fair-trade products
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In recent years, there has been a surge in popularity of the fair-trade industry, which seeks to improve trading conditions and to promote the rights of marginalized workers. Although research suggests that fair-trade products are perceived as promoting social and economic responsibility, some individuals—namely, those who seek to maintain existing group inequalities (i.e., those high in social dominance orientation or SDO) or those induced to think inequality is a good thing—may not share this perception. Across three studies, we found that (1) SDO relates negatively to fair-trade consumption, and (2) this relationship is mediated by the tendency for high-SDO individuals to see fair-trade products as less compatible with their conception of social justice. Our findings held after controlling for related individual-differences variables, and regardless of whether SDO was measured or manipulated. Implications for how to maximize the likelihood that people will perceive fair-trade products as “fair” are discussed.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2221-9