To What Extent Do Consumer Ethical Beliefs Differ Across Countries? A Cross-Country Investigation Using Best-Worst Scaling Methodology

Abstract

This study uses best-worst scaling experiments to examine differences across six countries in the attitudes of consumers towards social and ethical issues that included both product related issues (such as recycled packaging) and general social factors (such as human rights). The experiments were conducted using over 600 middle class respondents from Germany, Spain, Turkey, USA, India, and Korea. The results show that there is indeed some variation in the attitudes towards social and ethical issues across these six countries. However, what is more telling is the similarities seen and the extent to which individual variations dominates observable demographics and country based variables.

Keywords: Social Issues, Best-Worst Experiments, Cross-Country Study

JEL Classification: M14, M31