The mediating effect of consumers’ perceived ethicality in the relationship between consumer cynicism/material values and affective commitment

Owing to a significant decline in consumer trust, the power of arousing affective commitment to brands through perceived brand ethicality and corporate social responsibility (CSR) has now become an advantageous marketing strategy; however, there is little known whether cynics and materialists show similar responses toward such marketing efforts. This study analyzes the mediating effect of consumers’ perceived ethicality in the relationship between consumer cynicism/material values and affective commitment by comparing the perception of CSR efforts as weak or strong in the context of cosmetics brands among young women. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was utilized to test the data related to 271 participants obtained by purposive, convenient, and snowball sampling methods. The results reveal that cynicism has a serious negative effect on perceived ethicality that mediates affective commitment, whereas, materialism has a relatively stronger positive impact on perceived ethicality that triggers intensive affective commitment. In addition, perceiving CSR action as weak or strong is found not to change the established affective commitment among cynics, while leading materialists to develop strong emotional bonds through brand ethicality perceived exaggeratedly. Furthermore, cynics are found predisposed to making brand-related judgments on a rational basis, while materialists mostly address such issues on an emotional basis.