Are you up for fair-trade products? Vertical dimension as a metaphorical representation of virtuous consumption

Frédéric Basso, Julien Bouillé and Julien Troiville

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This article examines vertical dimension as a metaphorical representation of ethical consumption by testing the connection between ethical consumption and high verticality, and its implications for consumers when considering fair-trade products. This research first shows that the representation of ethical consumption in terms of high verticality manifests in a strong implicit association between moral virtues underpinning fair-trade consumption (e.g., justice, solidarity) and “up” (Study 1). This research then demonstrates that consumers explicitly associate fair-trade products with an elevated position (Study 2), and that a match between fair-trade products and increased physical elevation results in heightened altruistic behavior (Study 3). In addition, this article reveals that greater familiarity with fair-trade products enhances this metaphorical representation and its downstream effects on altruistic behavior (Studies 2 and 3). The theoretical and managerial implications of the present research are discussed in conclusion.

Keywords: fair trade; ethical consumption; conceptual metaphor; verticality; altruistic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 L81 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 11 pages
Date: 2021-10-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Journal of Business Research, 1, October, 2021, 135, pp. 508 - 518. ISSN: 0148-2963

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/111511/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Are you up for fair-trade products? Vertical dimension as a metaphorical representation of virtuous consumption (2021)
Working Paper: Are you up for fair-trade products? Vertical dimension as a metaphorical representation of virtuous consumption (2021)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:111511

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().