Don’t blame the powerless: The impact of hierarchy on reactions to responses to ethical scandals

Mauricio Palmeira, Nathaniel N. Hartmann, Eugene Chan and Samuel B. Sekar

Journal of Business Research, 2023, vol. 165, issue C

Abstract: We examine consumer reactions to the blaming of higher-level (e.g., upper managers) vs. lower-level (e.g., sales associates) employees for an ethical scandal. Using a multi-methods approach involving interviews and three experiments, we find support for a series of insights: (1) consumers are biased toward attributing greater responsibility for an ethical scandal to higher-level vs. lower-level employees; (2) consumers hold more favorable attitudes regarding the company when the CEO places the blame on the higher- (vs. lower-) level employees; (3) consumers, even when parties are considered equally responsible, react more positively to a company that blames higher-level employees; (4) the effect of blaming higher-level employees is only observed among those more dispositioned to reject hierarchical differences (i.e., individuals low on power distance beliefs).

Keywords: Ethical scandal; Blame attribution; Hierarchy; Power distance beliefs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:165:y:2023:i:c:s0148296323004332

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114075

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