Judging Firms' Unethical Behaviors: Does Cultural Similarity Matter?

Youcef Meriane (), Hind Dib‐slamani and Sami Ben Jabeur ()
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Youcef Meriane: UR CONFLUENCE : Sciences et Humanités (EA 1598) - UCLy - UCLy (Lyon Catholic University), ESDES - ESDES, Lyon Business School - UCLy - UCLy - UCLy (Lyon Catholic University)
Sami Ben Jabeur: UR CONFLUENCE : Sciences et Humanités (EA 1598) - UCLy - UCLy (Lyon Catholic University), ESDES - ESDES, Lyon Business School - UCLy - UCLy - UCLy (Lyon Catholic University)

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Abstract: Do people mete out harsher punishments for identical unethical behaviors committed by foreign compared to domestic firms? Liability of foreignness (LOF) reasoning suggests that this is the case. Using a quasi-experimental survey in France, we go a step further by investigating the influence of cultural similarity on ethical judgment. We examine whether people mete out less harsh judgment on a foreign company from a culturally similar country compared to a foreign company from a culturally dissimilar country. Our findings show that cultural similarity does not have a significant impact. Moreover, in the French context, the findings show that punishment for unethical behavior meted out to domestic and foreign firms relates more to cultural characteristics and does not apply in the same way for all dimensions of corporate social responsibility. Thus, we discuss various strategies and managerial implications.

Keywords: quasi-experimental survey; moral judgment; liability of foreignness; cultural similarity/dissimilarity; corporate social responsibility; business ethics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-02
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Published in Business ethics, the environment & responsibility, 2025, 35 (1), pp.308-320. ⟨10.1111/beer.12788⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05496072

DOI: 10.1111/beer.12788

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