Power, Consumers’ Perception of Ethical Products, and Purchase Intention: The Case of the Clothing Industry

Abstract

: The present research examines how power influences consumers’ perception of and intention for regular and ethical products. One experimental study was conducted to test the proposed relationships using hypothetical purchase scenarios. A total of 201 participants were recruited from an online data collection website and randomly assigned to a regular (vs. ethical) attributes condition and asked to read an advertisement about a sweatshirt. The results provided evidence for the differential effects of power on consumers’ purchase intention for regular and ethical products. However, the results partially supported the interaction between power and regular (vs. ethical) attributes on consumers’ purchase intention for regular and ethical products. Specifically, the results found that consumers