Investigating the Moderating Role of Religiosity in Consumers’ Ethical Behavior: A Case Study of Food Consumers in Isfahan

Ethics have a high positions in religious teachings, and today they are considered in consumer behavior. The present study was an attempt to investigate the role moderating of religiosity in consumers’ ethical behavior.

This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey-based in terms of method. The statistical population of the study included all food consumers in Isfahan in autumn and winter in 2016. Participants the Cochran’s sampling formula was used considering the unlimited number of participants. 196 participants were accordingly selected by random sampling method and taking into account 0.07 error level. The instrument used for collecting data was a standard questionnaire. The reliability of questionnaire was analyzed using Cronbach’s alpha, which was found to be 0.852 and confirmed. In this study, all ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

The results indicated that attitude, subjective norms, ethical norms, descriptive norms and perceived behavioral control have a significant effect on ethical behavior intention, and ultimately, the moderating role of religious bias was approved.

Despite the fact that Iranian society is a religious community, consumers, regardless of any tendency and religious prejudice, tend to behave ethically, and this is more rooted in the norms governing the individuals. In this regard, it is important to examine the norms affecting the patterns of consumer ethical behavior.