Consumer Ethics among Youths in Indonesia: Do Gender and ... · Consumer Ethics The interest in...
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Consumer Ethics among Youths in Indonesia: Do Gender and Religiosity Matter?
Fandy Tjiptono
Monash University Malaysia
Albert*
Semarang University (USM), Indonesia
Tita Elfitasari
Diponegoro University, Indonesia
Abstract
The current study aims to examine the role of religiosity and gender in affecting
consumer ethics among Indonesian youths. A convenience sample of 482 students in a large
private university in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, participated in the research.
Established scales were adopted to measure the key constructs. Intrinsic religiosity and
gender were used as the independent variables, while each dimension of consumer ethics was
treated as the dependent variables. The results of seven multiple regression analyses indicated
that gender and intrinsic religiosity influence consumer ethics dimensions significantly,
except for ‘downloading’. Individuals who live daily life according to their religion are less
receptive towards unethical activities than those who do not. Further, females were found to
be more ethical than male counterparts on five dimensions of consumer ethics. Males tended
to be more supportive of ‘doing good’ for the seller compared to females. In general, the
findings suggest that gender and religiosity do matter in influencing consumer ethics among
youths in Indonesia. These findings provide important insights for religious leaders,
university lecturers, and policy makers in their efforts to reduce unethical acts among the
young generation.
Keywords: consumer ethics, gender, religiosity, youth, Indonesia.
* Presenting author.
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Introduction
Young consumers in developing countries are reported to be receptive towards
unethical behaviors such as downloading unauthorized digital materials, buying pirated
goods, and photocopying books illegally (Aleassa et al. 2011; Tjiptono et al. 2016). Indonesia
is one of the developing countries with a high level of piracy. For instance, about 84% of
software used in Indonesia was pirated versions (BSA 2014). In their latest report, IIPA
(2016) revealed that both physical and digital piracy in Indonesia remain rampant in 2015.
Interestingly, Indonesia is a religious country, where about 99% of its citizens claimed that
religion plays an important role in their daily life (Crabtree 2010). It poses an interesting
question on the role of religiosity in helping to reduce unethical behaviors.
The current study aims to examine the role of religiosity and gender in affecting
consumer ethics among youths in Indonesia. Religiosity has been suggested as an important
determinant of moral decision-making and moral behavior. However, empirical studies
produced mixed results where some highly religious individuals committed unethical acts
(Arli and Tjiptono 2014). Vitell and Paolillo (2003) suggested that more studies are needed to
examine the role of religiosity in influencing consumer beliefs regarding various questionable
consumer actions. Similary, despite gender is one of the most heavily studied variables in
business ethics (Roxas and Stoneback 2004), the relationship between gender and consumer
ethics may not be “as straightforward as one might presume” (Dalton and Ortegren 2011, p.
73). Some meta-analysis studies produced inconclusive results on gender differences in ethics
(Bossuyt and Van Kenhove 2016; You et al. 2011). Therefore, the present study aims to
address the following research question: “How do gender and religiosity influence consumer
ethics among youths in Indonesia?”
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Literature Review
Consumer Ethics
The interest in consumer ethics studies has grown rapidly since 1990s (Vitell and
Muncy 1992, 2005; Vitell 2003). Consumer ethics can be defined as “the moral principles
and standards that guide behaviour of individuals or groups as they obtain, use and dispose of
goods and services” (Muncy and Vitell 1992, p. 298). Vitell (2015) argued that consumer
ethics represents consumer responsibility toward other stakeholders in his/her one-on-one
dyadic relationships.
The mostly adopted scale to measure consumer ethics is Muncy and Vitell’s (1992)
Consumer Ethics Scale (CES). It focuses on how consumers assess a wide range of situations
that have ethical contents that they may face as consumers. CES consists of: (1) actively
benefiting from illegal actions; (2) passively benefiting; (3) questionable but legal actions,
and (4) no harm/no foul activities. The scale has been widely used in a number of cultural
contexts (Arli and Tjiptono 2014; Al-Khatib et al. 1997; Polonsky et al. 2001; Rawwas et al.
1994, 1995, 1998). These studies suggested the relatively consistent dimension structure for
the CES (Vitell 2003). In a further development, Vitell and Muncy (2005) added three new
categories: (a) downloading copyrighted materials/buying counterfeit products; (b)
recycling/environmental awareness; and (c) doing the right thing/doing good.
Gender and Consumer Ethics
Gender has been suggested as one of the most important factors influencing ethical or
moral reasoning (Robin and Babin 1997). According to Gilligan’s (1982) theory of female
moral development, men and women have different approaches to morality. While for men
morality is a matter of following impartial, impersonal, and abstract moral principles, women
tend to focus on caring and being responsible for those with whom they have personal
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relationships (Gilligan 1982; Velasquez 2012).
Many studies indicated that gender is related to ethical beliefs, but to date the results
are not definitive (Robin and Babin 1997; Vitell 2003; You et al. 2011). Some research
concluded that females tend to be more ethical than males (Lane 1995; Liu and Chen, 2012;
Valentin, Godkin and Rittenburg 2008), while some other studies found insignificant
differences (Izreaeli and Jaffe 2000; Kracher et al. 2002; McCabe, Ingram and Dato-on
2006). Few studies suggested that males are more ethical than females (Bossuyt and Van
Kenhove 2016; Phau and Kea 2006). The mixed findings suggest that more research on
gender differences and consumer ethics are needed to re-examine these inconsistencies. For
the current study, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H1: Female youths will have a higher ethical belief than their male counterparts in terms of
each dimension of consumer ethics scale: (a) active benefiting; (b) passively benefiting;
(c) questionable action; (d) no harm/no foul; (e) downloading; (f) recycling; and (g)
doing good.
Religiosity and Consumer Ethics
Religiosity has a strong impact on consumer ethics and consumer decision making
(Vitell and Paolillo 2003). Religiosity can be defined as “a belief in God accompanied by a
commitment to follow principles believed to be set forth by God” (McDaniel and Burnett
1990, p. 103). It is a degree of being religious (O’Connell 1975) or the extent to which an
individual is committed to his/her religion, reflected in his/her attitude and behavior (Johnson
2001). Religiosity can also be defined as the extent to which a person lives out his or her
religious beliefs (Allport and Ross 1967). Allport and Ross (1967) suggested that religiosity
has two different dimensions: intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity. The “extrinsically
motivated person uses his religion, while intrinsically motivated person lives his religion”
(Allport and Ross 1967, p. 434). In other words, intrinsically motivated individuals tend to
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internalize and use religious teachings more than their extrinsically motivated counterparts
(Wenger 2004).
Empirical studies seem to indicate that religiosity plays an important role in consumer
ethical beliefs and behaviors (Hunt and Vitell 1986, 2006; Vitell and Paolillo 2003), where
individuals with stronger religious beliefs tend to be more ethical and vice versa (Vitell 2015).
However, while several studies found that intrinsic religiosity significantly affects consumers’
ethical judgment (Arli and Tjiptono 2014; Kennedy and Lawton 1998; Vitell et al., 2005),
extrinsic religiosity seems to have only a very limited impact (Vitell 2014). Therefore, the
present study focuses on the impact of intrinsic religiosity on consumer ethics. The following
hypotheses are formulated:
H2: Intrinsic religiosity will negatively influence: (a) active benefiting; (b) passively
benefiting; (c) questionable action; (d) no harm/no foul; (e) downloading; and will
positively affect: (f) recycling; and (g) doing good.
Methodology
Research Context and Data Collection
Indonesia is the world’s fourth largest population with around 256 million people
(CIA, 2016) and is the largest economy in Southeast Asia with GDP of US$ 873 billion in
2015 (CIA, 2016) and Gross National Income (GNI) of US$ 9,788 per capita in 2011 (UNDP,
2016). Like many other developing countries, Indonesia has a young population: around 42%
of its people are under 25 years old.
Using a convenience sampling approach, 550 self-administered questionnaires were
distributed to undergraduate students at a large private university in Semarang, Central Java,
Indonesia. Semarang is the fifth most populous city in Indonesia (± 1.8 million people) and
the fifth largest Indonesian city (Wikipedia, 2016). Incomplete questionnaires were excluded,
resulting in 482 usable questionnaires (a response rate of 87.6%). The demographic profile of
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respondents are as follows: 64.3% of the respondents were female, 37.8% of them aged 19
years old and 27% were 18 years old, 56.6% studied social sciences, about 66% had an
average monthly allowance of less than Rp 1 million (±US76.5), and 96.1% are Muslims.
Table 1 summarizes the profile of the respondents.
Insert Table 1 about Here
Measures
Established measures were adopted, i.e. Consumer Ethics Scale (Muncy and Vitell
1992; Vitell and Muncy 2005) and Religious Orientation Scale (Allport and Ross 1967). The
items of both scales were translated into Bahasa Indonesia and back-translated into English as
required to ensure consistency. The Consumer Ethics Scales (CES) consist of seven
dimensions: (1) ‘Actively Benefiting from Illegal Activities’ (e.g., returning damaged
merchandise when the damage is your fault); (2) ‘Passively Benefiting’ (e.g., getting too
much change and not saying anything); (3) ‘Questionable Action’ (e.g., not telling the truth
when negotiating the price of a new automobile); (4) ‘No Harm/No Foul’ (e.g. using a
computer software or games that you did not buy); (5) ‘Downloading’ (e.g., downloading
music from the internet instead of buying it); (6) ‘Recycling’ (e.g., purchasing something
made of recycled materials even though it is more expensive); and (7) ‘Doing Good’ (e.g.,
correcting a bill that has been miscalculated in your favor). The intrinsic religiosity
dimension of the Religious Orientation Scale consists of items such as “I enjoy reading about
my religion” and “It is important to me to spend time in private thought and prayer”.
Intrinsic religiosity and gender were used as the independent variables, while each
dimension of consumer ethics (i.e. ‘actively benefiting’, ‘passively benefiting’, ‘questionable
action’, ‘no harm/no foul’, ‘downloading’, ‘recycling’, and ‘doing good’) were treated as the
dependent variables. Seven multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the
impact of gender and intrinsic religiosity on consumer ethics.
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Results
Cronbach’s Alpha was used to examine the reliability of the constructs (see Table 2).
The results show that all constructs are reliable with Cronbach’s Alpha between 0.636
(Downloading) to 0.789 (Doing Good). Composite item scores were calculated for each
construct by adding the relevant items and calculating the mean scores for the construct for
each individual.
Insert Table 2 about Here
The two hypotheses (H1 and H2) were tested using seven multiple regression analyses
(see Table 3 for a summary of the hypothesis testing results). The results show that gender
has a significant impact on actively benefiting, passively benefiting, questionable action, no
harm/no foul, recycling, and doing good. Female youths were found to have a higher ethical
belief on the actively benefiting, passively benefiting, questionable action, no harm/no foul,
and doing good than males. These findings were confirmed with independent t-tests showing
that females had significantly more negative perception toward unethical actions (actively
benefiting, passively benefiting, questionable action, and no harm/no foul) and stronger
support for doing the right thing/doing good (see Table 4). Males tend to be more supportive
for recycling. However, the effect of gender on downloading dimension was insignificant.
Therefore, H1a, H1b, H1c, H1d, and H1g were supported, while H1e and H1f were not supported.
The effects of intrinsic religiosity on consumer ethics dimensions were found to be
significant for all dimensions, except for downloading. Higher intrinsic religiosity is strongly
associated with higher ethical beliefs and vice versa. Hence, H2a, H2b, H2c, H2d, H2f,and H2g
were supported, while H2e was not supported.
Insert Table 3 and Table 4 about Here
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Findings and Discussion
Consumer Ethics among Youth in Indonesia
Both female and male youths in Indonesia believe that actively benefiting, passively
benefiting, questionable action, and no harm/no foul are unethical practices (the means are
between 1.69 and 2.80; see Table 4), while recycling and doing good are ethical activities (the
means are between 3.62 and 4.20; see Table 4). However, young people in Indonesia tend to
have a neutral perception on downloading dimension (an average of 3.06 for males and 2.94
for females; see Table 4). They considered ‘downloading music from the internet instead of
buying it’ to be acceptable (an average of 3.29; see Table 2). It may suggest that digital piracy
(i.e. buying, copying, uploading, downloading, and/or sharing illegal digital materials) is still
a serious issue in Indonesia. In fact, a recent report from International Intellectual Property
Alliance (IIPA, 2016) highlights that physical and digital piracy levels remain rampant in
Indonesia. Ironically, book piracy seems to be a common practice in and around campuses in
the country. It is relatively easy for students and lecturers to photocopy books, journals, and
course packs in nearby copy centers providing “print or copy to order” services (IIPA, 2016).
Previous studies in different contexts suggested that universities were considered to represent
an ideal proliferation place for digital piracy (Cheng et al. 1997), as a result of high-speed
network connections (Wade 2004).
As a consequence, universities (including their academic staff) have to be role models
in compliance with copyright laws and regulations. Initiatives such as using only original
software and textbooks need to be put in place. For policy makers, a clear rule and regulation
supported by consistent law enforcement and stricter codes of conduct pertaining to the
protection of intellectual property rights are essential to reduce unethical acts among young
generation in Indonesia. Such actions will help Indonesian youths to understand that a
copyright is not the same as “a right to copy”.
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The Role of Gender and Intrinsic Religiosity
The present study found that females tend to be more ethical than male counterparts.
This result confirms previous findings (e.g., Bateman and Valentine 2010; Liu and Chen
2012; Suar and Gochhayat 2016; Tjiptono et al. 2016). In general, it supports gender
socialization theory, which argues that males and females have different judgments and
attitudes toward ethical issues due to their differences in socialization (Gilligan 1987).
Furthermore, intrinsic religiosity was found to be a significant predictor of consumer
ethics. Individuals who live daily life according to their religion (Vitell et al. 2005) are less
receptive towards unethical activities than those who do not. As an implication, religious
leaders play an important role in helping young people to better understand about ethical and
unethical practices.
Conclusions and Future Research Direction
The findings of the current study suggest that gender and religiosity do matter in
influencing consumer ethics among youths in Indonesia. However, as with any other research
project, the present study has some limitations which, in turn, provide opportunities for future
research. The use of a convenience sample of undergraduate students from a university in one
city in Indonesia may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future studies may focus on
more cities and/or countries as well as include non-student samples. Furthermore, gender has
been suggested as a complex social-psychological construct (McCabe et al. 2006). Instead of
treating gender as a dichotomous variable (i.e. biological gender), future research may
explore the use of a multidimensional measure of gender. Finally, future studies may also
investigate other potential determinants of consumer ethics, such as age and income (Vitell
and Paolillo 2003), materialism and long-term orientation (Arli and Tjiptono 2014).
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Appendices
Table 1. Demographic Profile of the Respondents (n=482)
Description Frequency Percentage
Gender
Male 172 35.7
Female 310 64.3
Age
17 years old 15 3.1
18 years old 130 27.0
19 years old 182 37.8
20 years old 124 25.7
21 years old 15 3.1
22 years old 7 1.5
23 years old 5 1.0
24 years old 2 0.4
25 years old 2 0.4
Major
Social Sciences 273 56.5
Science and Engineering 209 43.4
Average Monthly Allowance
Less than Rp 1 million 316 65.6
Rp 1,000,000 – Rp 1,999,999,00 145 30.1
Rp 2,000,000 – Rp 2,999,999,00 12 2.5
Rp 3,000,000 – Rp 3,999,999,00 9 1.9
Religion
Islam 463 96.1
Christian (Protestant) 13 2.7
Catholic 5 1.0
Hinduism 1 0.2
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Table 2. Scale Items
Dimensions and Items Means
(S.D.)
Factor
Loadings
Cronbach’s
Alphas
Active Benefiting
0.639 Returning damaged merchandise when the damage is your fault. 1.97 (0.893) 0.747
Giving misleading price information to a clerk for an unpriced item. 2.14 (0.897) 0.735
Using a long distance access code that does not belong to you. 2.00 (0.741) 0.815
Passively Benefiting
0.742
Lying about a child’s age in order to get a lower price. 1.78 (0.664) 0.730
Not saying anything when the waitress miscalculates the bill in your
favor. 1.87 (0.732) 0.830
Observing someone shoplifting and ignoring it. 1.70 (0.697) 0.666
Getting too much change and not saying anything. 1.70 (0.648) 0.774
Questionable Action
0.755
Using an expired coupon for merchandise. 1.79 (0.630) 0.704
Returning merchandise to a store by claiming it was a gift when it
was not. 1.84 (0.696) 0.741
Using a coupon for merchandise you did not buy. 2.19 (0.783) 0.739
Not telling the truth when negotiating the price of a new automobile. 1.99 (0.834) 0.687
Stretching the truth on an income tax return. 1.63 (0.658) 0.697
No Harm/No Foul
0.742
Installing software on your computer without buying it. 2.64 (0.807) 0.795
Burning a CD instead of buying it. 2.49 (0.863) 0.789
Using computer software or games that you did not buy. 2.74 (0.901) 0.829
Spending over an hour trying on different dresses and not purchasing
any. 2.86 (0.894) 0.586
Downloading
0.636 Downloading music from the internet instead of buying it. 3.29 (0.893) 0.856
Buying counterfeit goods instead of buying the original
manufacturers’ brand. 2.67 (0.875) 0.856
Recycling
0.708
Buying products labeled as “environmentally friendly” even if they
do not work as well as competing products. 3.25 (0.856) 0.629
Purchasing something made of recycled materials even though it is
more expensive. 3.59 (0.871) 0.767
Buying only from companies that have a strong record of protecting
the environment. 3.59 (0.801) 0.793
Recycling materials such as cans, bottles, newspapers, etc. 4.38 (0.690) 0.738
Doing Good
0.789 Returning to the store and paying for an item that the cashier
mistakenly did not charge you for. 4.22 (0.779) 0.909
Correcting a bill that has been miscalculated in your favor. 4.07 (0.786) 0.909
Intrinsic Religiosity
0.771
I enjoy reading about my religion. 4.26 (0.691) 0.763
It is important to me to spend time in private thought and prayer. 4.05 (0.774) 0.743
I have often had a strong sense of God’s presence. 4.35 (0.661) 0.793
I try hard to live all my life according to my religious beliefs. 4.55 (0.594) 0.690
My whole approach to life is based on religion. 4.20 (0.755) 0.638
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Table 3. Regression Results
(a) Dependent variable: Actively Benefiting
Standardized β t value Sig.
Constant 3.327 12.528 0.000
Intrinsic Religiosity -0.184 -4.132 0.000**
Gender -0.130 -2.914 0.004**
R2 = 0.050 F-value = 12.631
Adjusted R2 = 0.046 Significance = 0.000
(b) Dependent variable: Passively Benefiting
Standardized β t value Sig.
Constant 2.988 14.285 0.000
Intrinsic Religiosity -0.209 -4.758 0.000**
Gender -0.178 -4.044 0.000**
R2 = 0.074 F-value = 19.252
Adjusted R2 = 0.071 Significance = 0.000
(c) Dependent variable: Questionable Action
Standardized β t value Sig.
Constant 3.449 16.861 0.000
Intrinsic Religiosity -0.274 -6.368 0.000**
Gender -0.207 -4.810 0.000**
R2 = 0.116 F-value = 31.454
Adjusted R2 = 0.112 Significance = 0.000
(d) Dependent variable: No Harm/No Foul
Standardized β t value Sig.
Constant 3.576 13.200 0.000
Intrinsic Religiosity -0.107 -2.387 0.017*
Gender -0.134 -2.978 0.003**
R2 = 0.029 F-value = 7.192
Adjusted R2 = 0.025 Significance = 0.001
(e) Dependent variable: Downloading
Standardized β t value Sig.
Constant 3.499 10.981 0.000
Intrinsic Religiosity -0.051 -1.119 0.264
Gender -0.073 -1.613 0.107
R2 = 0.008 F-value = 1.904
Adjusted R2 = 0.004 Significance = 0.150
(f) Dependent variable: Recycling
Standardized β t value Sig.
Constant 3.477 14.302 0.000
Intrinsic Religiosity 0.118 2.635 0.009**
Gender -0.180 -4.042 0.000**
R2 = 0.047 F-value = 11.779
Adjusted R2 = 0.043 Significance = 0.000
(g) Dependent variable: Doing Good
Standardized β t value Sig.
Constant 2.366 8.186 0.000
Intrinsic Religiosity 0.254 5.787 0.000**
Gender 0.102 2.320 0.021*
R2 = 0.074 F-value = 19.264
Adjusted R2 = 0.071 Significance = 0.000
Notes: ** significant at α = 1%; * significant at α = 5%. The coding for gender: 1 = male, 2 = female.
17
Table 4. Gender and Consumer Ethics
Dimension Mean (S.D.)
t-value (Sig.) Male Female
Actively Benefiting 2.14 (0.72) 1.97 (0.59) 2.814 (0.005)**
Passively Benefiting 1.88 (0.58) 1.69 (0.46) 3.896 (0.000)**
Questionable Action 2.03 (0.60) 1.81 (0.44) 4.545 (0.000)**
No Harm/No Foul 2.80 (0.71) 2.62 (0.61) 2.933 (0.004)**
Downloading 3.06 (0.84) 2.94 (0.70) 1.518 (0.130)
Recycling 3.84 (0.62) 3.62 (0.56) 3.936 (0.000)**
Doing Good 4.05 (0.73) 4.20 (0.70) -2.143 (0.033)*
Notes: A 5-point scale was used, where 1 indicates the action was perceived to be wrong and 5 indicates that
the action was believed to be acceptable.
S.D. = Standard Deviation; Sig. = Significance.
** significant at = 0.01; * significant at = 0.05.