The Importance of Moral Intensity: An Application to Ethical Food Issues

Richard Bennett and Simone Pfuderer

No 273488, 92nd Annual Conference, April 16-18, 2018, Warwick University, Coventry, UK from Agricultural Economics Society

Abstract: In this study we analyse moral decision making in a food related setting. Jones (1991) argues that ethical issues vary in their perceived moral intensity, where moral intensity is “the extent of issuerelated moral imperative in a situation”. According to Jones, moral intensity is an issue-related construct that is made up of six main components: magnitude of consequences, social consensus, probability of effect, temporal immediacy, proximity and concentration of effect. The moral intensity of an issue affects all stages of moral decision making. We measure the relative importance of different dimensions of moral intensity in a food related setting. We carry out a survey to investigate the impact of varying components of moral intensity in two setting where a food producer sells potentially harmful products. The aim is to measure how changes in these dimensions impact on individuals’ assessment of these dimensions as well as two stages in the ethical decision process.. We find a complexity of issues relating to how people consider morality in food production and consumption and the importance of the specific context to moral decision making.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Security and Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 8
Date: 2018-04-17
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aesc18:273488

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.273488

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