How Do Consumers Perceive the Morality of Retailers: Scale Development and Validation
(A2019-9587)

AUTHORS

diletta acuti, University of Portsmouth; Gabriele Pizzi, University of Bologna; Marco Visentin, University of Bologna

KEYWORDS

moral perception; scale development; retailing

ABSTRACT

Acknowledging a gap in the literature, the current research aims at developing a psychographic scale to measure consumers’ perceived morality of retailers, a central node in the company-customer relationship that includes both and exchange and a moral dimension. The new scale is tested and compared to an existing scale in three relevant and problematic retailing contexts, namely home delivery, opening hours and food waste. Data support the validity and reliability of the new scale and call for new research to shed further light on the way consumers perceive the morality of a retailer and behave accordingly.