Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that drive consumer’s decisions for ethical and sustainable products. The present study compares consumer ethical and sustainable product evaluations associated with brands and ethical attributes benefits congruity with those associated without such benefit congruity. More specifically, the study reveals that consumer evaluations of ethical and sustainable branded products become more favorable when a utilitarian (symbolic) brand is presented with a utilitarian (symbolic) ethical attribute. Furthermore, we found that brand social responsibility severs as a mediator in the relationship between benefits congruity and consumer evaluation. Resource synergy beliefs as an individual difference were also tested in this study.