GOOD ETHICS IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS - ETHICAL ATTRIBUTIONS AND RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL ADVERTISING

Researchers have used attribution theory as a basis for exploring the relationship between consumers' inferences of advertiser motivation (a ttributions) and advertising response. This study postulated the exist ence of two new types of attributions which relate to the perceived et hics of the advertiser (advertiser ethical attributions) and the adver tising message (message ethical attributions). Research conducted amon g a nationally representative sample of 273 adults: (1) verified the e xistence of both advertiser and message ethical attributions, (2) demo nstrated the independence of advertiser and message ethical attributio ns both from each other and from other measures of advertiser and mess age evaluation, (3) identified the specific advertising characteristic s which lead to the formation of each type of ethical attribution and (4) demonstrated a significant relationship between advertiser and mes sage ethical attributions and measures of advertising response.