The assessment of multi-attribute and ethical trade-off patterns

Nowadays ethical product attributes are gaining on importance as consumers are better informed and more concerned about sustainable business practices. Research does not cover this topic sufficiently, therefore this study sheds light into the decision making process based on multi-attributes evaluation including ethical cues, their trade-offs and consumers inference-making. This work demonstrates that the evaluation of attributes is context sensitive, depends on different cues and does not follow a regular schema. The main part discusses the findings and delivers a definition as well as a ranking of attributes influencing the buying decisions. Three distinctive consumer groups - The Ethical, The Conscious and The Distruster - were identified based on the importance of ethical attribute evaluation, information gathering activities and buying patterns. The results are illustrated within frameworks of the distinctive groups’ categorisation, their relationship of ethical value to information importance and the multi-attribute evaluation process with regard to ethical cues. This study serves as advising material for companies, scientists and consumers alike including managerial implications and a future outlook.