NC West Virginia News

Consumers who believe in karma are more forgiving of companies that behave immorally, according to research from West Virginia University. Kylie Vo, a teaching assistant professor at the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics, found that consumers who think the universe will address corporate wrongs tend not to hold negative feelings toward the corporation and are less likely to engage in consumer activism like boycotts.

Vo explained that as consumers become more informed and socially conscious, digital media and social networks are increasingly motivating moral outrage about "brand transgressions" such as the 2018 Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal or the #DeleteUber movement. These events led to significant consumer backlash against the brands involved.

"Whether the transgressions are 'moral,' as in labor malpractice, or 'non-moral,' as with shoddy manufacturing, they can escalate and severely damage consumer-brand relationships and brand value," Vo stated. However, she found that people who believe in karma are less concerned about brands' moral transgressions than non-moral ones.

"The phrase 'You reap what you sow' encapsulates the cause-and-effect essence of the karmic belief system," Vo said. She noted that over 65% of Americans express strong beliefs in karma, influencing their daily behaviors and decisions. For instance, because of karma, a consumer might justify a luxury purchase or try to reduce overconsumption.

When consumers believe karma will punish a bad deed, they are not motivated to penalize it themselves. In several studies, Vo demonstrated that people with stronger karmic beliefs were more forgiving towards morally transgressing brands and were less likely to boycott them.

Vo's findings were presented in a paper for The Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. She noted that consumers may be less lenient regarding non-moral transgressions like defective products or misleading claims since these directly affect consumer experience.

"When products don’t meet functional expectations, consumers feel personally affected," Vo said. She cited Mattel's sales decline after lead was discovered in its toys as an example where questions about competence hurt the brand independently of moral implications.

For those who believe in karma, forgiving brands' moral transgressions is important because they want to accumulate good karma through forgiveness. Vo's research showed that stronger belief in karmic forces increases likelihood of forgiving morally errant brands.

"Understanding how belief in karma affects consumers’ responses allows marketers to strategize around messaging emphasizing themes like good deeds or cosmic justice," Vo suggested. Brands need to identify whether issues are moral or non-moral; corrective actions should be universal for non-moral wrongdoing while responses should be nuanced for moral wrongdoing.