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Goenka, Shreyans Thomas, Manoj Gilovich, Thomas Kim, Soo van Osselaer, Stijn 2020-08-10T20:24:12Z 2020-08-10T20:24:12Z 2020-05 ProQuest Submission ID: 11942 ProQuest Publication ID: 27956686 https://hdl.handle.net/1813/70418 https://doi.org/10.7298/0az1-c860 13254303 157 pages While several scholars have examined the influence of morality in consumption contexts, the extant research has largely assumed a monistic definition of morality. That is, the research has assumed that morality consists of harm/fairness concerns. Contrastingly, this dissertation introduces a pluralistic approach to morality. That is, I demonstrate how different moral beliefs (harm, fairness, respect, loyalty, and sanctity) motivate divergent behaviors across four consumer contexts. Consequently, I show how investigating the diversity in moral beliefs can shed light on heterogeneous consumer preferences across political and cultural groups. First, Chapter 1 demonstrates how heterogenous moral beliefs can increase or decrease preferences for conspicuous consumption. Chapter 2 demonstrates how certain moral beliefs can suppress the desire for sensory pleasure. Chapter 3 demonstrates how different moral beliefs influence reactions to the SNAP welfare program. Finally, Chapter 4 demonstrates how heterogenous moral beliefs shape attitudes towards bodily markets. Importantly, these chapters show how the moral insights can explain paradoxical consumption patterns and subsequently be used to generate targeted marketing and policy campaigns. Hence, this dissertation underscores the importance of using a pluralistic lens to investigate the heterogeneity in consumers’ moral beliefs. en Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Bodily Markets Conspicuous Consumption Consumer Behavior Moral Values Sensory Pleasure Welfare Programs A PLURALISTIC APPROACH TO CONSUMER MORALITY dissertation or thesis https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/13254303 application/pdf Management Cornell University Doctor of Philosophy Ph. D., Management https://hdl.handle.net/1813/59810 Publication Cornell Theses and Dissertations Goenka, Shreyans 5893a6ea-7af3-41d7-abc6-04bcd26ab5df open.access open.access <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="0e642be3-3674-4cf0-ad5d-fb2846dec7df"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Language>en</Language> <Title>A PLURALISTIC APPROACH TO CONSUMER MORALITY</Title> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2020-05</PublicationDate> <DOI>https://doi.org/10.7298/0az1-c860</DOI> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Goenka, Shreyans</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</License> <Keyword>Bodily Markets</Keyword> <Keyword>Conspicuous Consumption</Keyword> <Keyword>Consumer Behavior</Keyword> <Keyword>Moral Values</Keyword> <Keyword>Sensory Pleasure</Keyword> <Keyword>Welfare Programs</Keyword> <Abstract>While several scholars have examined the influence of morality in consumption contexts, the extant research has largely assumed a monistic definition of morality. That is, the research has assumed that morality consists of harm/fairness concerns. Contrastingly, this dissertation introduces a pluralistic approach to morality. That is, I demonstrate how different moral beliefs (harm, fairness, respect, loyalty, and sanctity) motivate divergent behaviors across four consumer contexts. Consequently, I show how investigating the diversity in moral beliefs can shed light on heterogeneous consumer preferences across political and cultural groups. First, Chapter 1 demonstrates how heterogenous moral beliefs can increase or decrease preferences for conspicuous consumption. Chapter 2 demonstrates how certain moral beliefs can suppress the desire for sensory pleasure. Chapter 3 demonstrates how different moral beliefs influence reactions to the SNAP welfare program. Finally, Chapter 4 demonstrates how heterogenous moral beliefs shape attitudes towards bodily markets. Importantly, these chapters show how the moral insights can explain paradoxical consumption patterns and subsequently be used to generate targeted marketing and policy campaigns. Hence, this dissertation underscores the importance of using a pluralistic lens to investigate the heterogeneity in consumers’ moral beliefs.</Abstract> <Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right" > </Access> </Publication>