Research Article
The Effect of Moral Identity on Brand Attitude
1 스타일앤, 2 Hongik University
Published: January 2016 · Vol. 45 No. 4 · pp. 1119-1145
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2016.45.4.1119
Full Text
Abstract
Recently, consumers have shown great interest in ethical consumption. Accordingly, consumers pursue value-oriented consumption tendencies and exhibit greater interest in corporate social responsibility activities. However, such ethical consumption tendencies may vary depending on an individual's moral identity. That is, consumers' responses may differ according to their moral identity, which evaluates their behavior in moral situations. Therefore, this study examined the influence of consumers' moral identity on consumption. Specifically, among the two dimensions of moral identity, we investigated the moderating effect of product type in the process through which internalization affects brand attitude, examined the mediating role of pride in the relationship between internalization and brand attitude, and also investigated the mediated moderation effect of product type on the mediating effect of pride. The results of this study are as follows. First, the analysis of the effect of moral identity on brand attitude showed that, consistent with prior research, only internalization among the dimensions of moral identity had a favorable effect on brand attitude. Second, regarding the moderating effect of product type on the relationship between internalization and brand attitude, in the case of utilitarian products compared to hedonic products, individuals with higher internalization exhibited more favorable attitudes. Third, an examination of the mediating effect of pride on the relationship between internalization of moral identity and brand attitude revealed that pride partially mediated the relationship between internalization and brand attitude. Finally, the mediated moderation effect of product type when pride mediates the relationship between internalization and brand attitude was analyzed but was not significant. Therefore, product type exhibited a moderating effect only on the relationship between internalization and brand attitude.
