Do Consumers’ Ethical Beliefs Vary with Age? A Substantiation of Kohlberg’s Typology in Marketing

Abstract

According to Kohlberg's cognitive moral development typology, people's beliefs and judgments of right or wrong may change as they move through stages of moral development. This is due to personal and life experiences. To test this typology in marketing, three age-groups of consumers (adults, teenagers, and children), consisting of 1019 respondents, were compared in terms of their ethical perceptions, Machiavellianism, relativism, and idealism. MANOVA analysis indicated that children were the most tolerant to questionable practices, most Machiavellian and relativistic, and least idealistic, than teenagers and adults. Adults were the most conservative group. Adults, such as family members, school teachers, television stars, and professionals may serve as role models and assist children and teenagers in shaping their behaviors toward veracity and integrity.