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American professors Gresham M. Sykes and David Matza in 1957 proposed neutralization theory. It was focused on how a criminal mind person can neutralize his values and commit crimes against the values he believed in.
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Master Thesis
Executive Summary Neutralization techniques have been verified if can explain the gap between intentions and behavior of Danish consumers when it comes to buying ethically made textile and clothing products Lack of ethicality in the textile and clothing industry is a global issue and the “buyer-‐driven” characteristics of the industry makes it possible for consumers to lead a change through more ethical demands and preferences. By the theory of Neutralization, this thesis provides explanation for why consumers, when buying clothing, do not behave ethically as they intend to. This phenomenon is referred to as the gap, the difference between their ethical intentions and ethical actions. This project approach the decision making through the Theory of Planned Behavior Model, which states that consumer behavior is determined by their deontological and teological considerations. The model illustrate how the gap between moral intentions and moral actions create a feeling of guilt, which we hypothesize is nullified through the neutralization technique. The theory of Neutralization consist of five different neutralization techniques and through a quantitative consumer survey of the textile and clothing industry in Denmark. Denmark is a country with high ethical awareness and high consumption in clothes from unethical brands, therefore representing a good place for research. The findings prove that a gap between moral intention and moral action does exist among Danish consumers in the clothing industry. In other words, consumers want to buy more ethically made products. This fact proves that there is a potential market for more ethical clothing in Denmark. Through analysis and discussion of the findings, this paper provides the following recommendations for marketers interested in the ethical clothing market. (H2A)The findings suggest that Danish consumers clothing consumption is highly influenced by the style and /or price rather than ethicality. It is therefore recommended to think of ethicality as a third attribute rather than the only attribute of clothing. In other words, marketers interested in the ethical clothing market cannot rely solely on the ethicality of the clothing they sell if they want to reach the Danish consumers.
Textile and Clothing industry 2 plays a very important role in international trade. It fosters the development process of countries, it is more important to developing countries but the effect is significant for developed world as well. Textile exports facilitate economic and technological growth, more importantly it facilitates the region’s integration into the global economy (Malik, 2008). The global textile and clothing industry has been steadily increasing in production and consumption (Oerlikon, 2010). The textile and clothing industry in developing countries is highly labor intensive and has reputation of questionable employment contracts, which has become of concern for the consumers living in the developed countries (Dumas, 2011). Nonetheless, the industry has become an integral part of some developing economies due to its significant contribution to national output and GDP. For the countries international integration into international networks the exports play a role, which for countries like China, India and Brazil are among the (^1) The project use the concepts “moral intentions” and “intentions” equivalent just like “action” and “moral action” are used equivalent. (^2) The concepts of “textile and clothing”, “clothing” and “textile” are used equivalent through the project.
highest in the world of textiles (Malik, 2008). Overall, the developing countries account for over half of the exports of clothing. Furthermore, the textile and clothing industry is the second largest employment supplier in the world with approximately 80 million workers (Malik, 2008). The textile and clothing industry has experienced extensive outsourcing of production from the Western world (US, Europe and a few other small producers) into countries and regions (mostly Asia) where production costs were low and production systems were flexible and easily adjustable (Malik, 2008; Fugazza ir Conway 2010). However, the procedures and practices employed in the developing countries by the textile industry are often viewed as either illegal (slave and child labor) and/or unethical (inhumane working conditions) in the Western cultures (Dumas, 2011). Beside the social issues in the textile and clothing industry, the industry also poses a serious global environmental threat if nothing changes. According to the Danish Fashion Institute fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world (Ditty, 2015). Several initiatives and organizations are working towards more sustainable and ethical practices in the textile and clothing industries, including Clean Clothes Campaign, Fair Trade Organization and Nordic Initiative Clean & Ethical. Unethical treatment of animals is another major concern within the textile and clothing industry for consumers and organizations. Most notable is the organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal) that has over three million members and several celebrity supporters (PETA, About us, 2015; PETA, Celebrities, 2015).
In recent years there has been a growing trend among consumers to become more socially and environmentally conscious in relation to the products they consume. (Luchs, Naylor, Irwin, & Raghunathan, 2010; Carrington, Neville, & Whitwell, 2010). This is supported by consumer studies (White, MacDonnell, & Ellard, 2012; Dupré, 2005; Janssen & Vanhamme, 2014), which have continuously shown that consumers’ purchase intention increases with corporate social
products associated with a social cause if they had the opportunity to do so (Janssen & Vanhamme, 2014). However, statistics has shown that in reality consumers spend a very small amount of their household disposable income on socially or environmentally friendly products. In the Untied Stated less than two percent of sales of 22 household products sold between March 2006 and March 2011 were environmentally friendly options. In the United Kingdom the average consumer spends less than four percent of the annual household expenditures on ethical products (Janssen & Vanhamme, 2014). It is therefore clear that, although consumers state that they are willing to buy ethical products, their actions do not reflect it. This gap between consumer moral intentions and actual buying behavior is termed the gap.
Previous researches have proven the usefulness of the Neutralization Theory in investigated the gap between ethical consumer intention and actual action (Brunner, 2014). The theory is well-‐ established and provides a comprehensive framework, which include five different techniques that individuals use to neutralize the self-‐blame and feeling of guilt when acting inconsistently to own values, morals (Chatzidakis, Hibbert, & Smith, 2006). Although the theory was first proposed by American professors Gresham M. Sykes and David Matza in 1957 to uncover the roots of juvenile delinquency (Sykes & Matza, 1957). The theory suggest that those participating in juvenile delinquency learn a set of justifications or rationalizations, “which can insulate him/her from self-‐blame and the blame of others” (Chatzidakis, Hibbert, & Smith, 2006). Chatzidakis et al. (2006) adapted the five neutralization techniques in relation to ethical consumer behavior (Chatzidakis, Hibbert, & Smith, 2006):
control were operating; e.g. “It’s not my fault I don’t recycle, the government should make it easier”.
To reiterate, while many consumers declare their willingness to buy ethically made products, only a fraction does so. This is even more pronounced in the textile industry. It is the industry where the ethicality can be questioned at every production and consumption stage (essentially the whole life cycle). Recently there have been an increasing number of unethical cases and
neutralization upon the gap. The authors decided to question the influence of the neutralization upon the gap and also on its forming parts: moral intentions and moral actions.
Sub-‐hypotheses:
**1. The neutralization level influences the MA level negatively
Sub-‐hypotheses: Age has been proven to play a significant role in consumer behavior related to social and environmental causes. Research by Scott (1999) found a significant positive correlation between age and environmental awareness and behavior (Scott, 1999). This positive correlation between age and different types of ethical behavior has also been shown in other surveys. Squires et al. found a positive correlation between age and consumption of organic food (Squires, Juric, & Cornwell, 2001). The same results were obtained by De Pelsmacker et al. (2006) when the fair trade beliefs, attitudes and buying behavior were surveyed; action,
concern and buying behavior were found to be positively correlated with age (De Pelsmacker, Janssens, Sterckx, & Mielants, 2006). There might be several reasons for why older consumers in some surveys have been shown to act more ethically than younger consumers. Scott (1999) argues that older consumers have more time to actively behave ethically. Other suggestions have been that older consumers who experienced the Second World War are more concerned about the environment and the world (Gilg, Barr, & Ford, 2005; Scott, 1999).
1. Younger consumers are more likely to use neutralization techniques Much previous research on ethical consumer behavior has shown that female consumers are more likely to intend to and act in an ethical way (Webster, 1975) (Olli, Grendstad, & Wollebaek, 2001). Sikula and Costa (1999) researched whether women generally are more ethical than men and concluded that men and women value different things and that one can argue that women are more ethical than men. This argumentation can also be made when considering the fact that men in many ways act more unethical than women (e.g. most violent crimes are committed by men) (Sikula & Costa , 1994). 2. Men are more likely to use neutralization techniques than women Higher education is generally associated with more ethical and environmentally friendly behavior because highly educated people are assumed to be more exposed to and able to understand information needed to act sustainable and ethical (Olli, Grendstad, & Wollebaek, 2001). Ethical consumers need first to be aware or conscious about the fact that a social and/or environmental dimension exists when making a purchase, before he or she can act (deliberately) ethically. One survey found that those mostly engaged with environmentally friendly behavior were well educated while those showing low degree of environmentally friendly behavior often had no education. (Gilg, Barr, & Ford, 2005).
become more competitive in the marketplace; and hopefully might provide companies with a push to become more environmentally and socially friendly. Furthermore, the authors make significant contribution to the existing literature:
Figure 1 -‐ The process of Methodology – Own creation The chapter will begin with a description of key assumption and terminologies in AB and BM. Thereafter follows a presentation of each paradigm before the discussion and final choice of paradigm is given.
Before paradigms can be discussed it is important to understand the assumption behind the development of the different approach presented by BM and AB. BM defines a paradigm based on four basic assumptions; ontologies, epistemologies, human nature and methodology. The chosen approach to research is often a choice between the objective and subjective. The distinction has also been referred to as the positivistic and interpretive approach (Andersen, 1990). Figure 2 illustrate BM’s distinctions.
