Moralized consumer choice

Three essays investigate the consequences and psychological processes underlying moral choice conflict in consumer decision making. In the first essay, Self-interest without Selfishness, I explore affective reactions consumers experience after having to choose between self-interested option and an option that benefits others. Through a series of psychological experiments I show how self-other tradeoffs can present a lose-lose situation for consumers. If a consumer selects an option of self-interest, he may feel guilt or reproach for prioritizing himself above others. However, if a consumer selects a prosocial option, he fails to reap the benefits inherit in self-interest. I show that imposing an option of self-interest maximizes happiness because it allows consumers to enjoy the benefits of self-interest without feeling selfish. In the second essay, Judgments of Virtue in Consumer Behavior, I examine how consumers think about moral self-regulation. Both researchers and consumers alike use moral language to discuss a wide range of non-moral decision where temptation is strong. For instance, ordering fruit salad instead of chocolate cake for dessert is considered virtuous even though most people do not believe it is a moral choice. Through a series of psychological experiments, I show that people interpret virtue differently across intertemporal (i.e., present self/future self) and moral (i.e., self/other) temptations. For intertemporal temptations (e.g., cheating on a diet), willpower primarily determines judgments of virtue: a person who resists temptation is seen as more virtuous than someone who does not feel tempted by the vice. However, when a temptation is immoral (e.g., cheating on a spouse), purity of character is primary: a person who resists temptation is seen as less virtuous than a person who does not feel tempted by the vice. Finally, in the third essay, Context Effects in Moral Consumer Choice, I provide an overview of the different ways that context influences consumer preference for moral outcomes. I summarize research showing that preferences for moral outcomes highly dependent on the local problem structure, and draw upon this research in order to identify key psychological drivers of moral choice