Simply Inequitable Or Exploitative Too? Exploitation, Self-Threats and Perceptions of Fairness in Marketplace Exchanges

Much of the fairness research either explicitly or implicitly assumes that unfairness requires responsibility or blame. Yet, certain dominant fairness theories, such as equity theory, make no such requirement. This research takes steps to resolve this tension by examining whether responsibility is integral to fairness judgments, and, if not, the nature of the relationship between responsibility and fairness. We argue that unfairness can exist in the absence of perceived responsibility but that responsibility exacerbates unfairness due to perceptions of exploitation. We find support for these predictions. Specifically, we find that consumers perceive exploitative inequities (i.e., situations where they pay more than another consumer because of deliberate, self-interested actions taken by the seller) as self-threatening, which exacerbates unfairness judgments.

Citation:

Lindsay McShane and Laurence Ashworth (2011) ,"Simply Inequitable Or Exploitative Too? Exploitation, Self-Threats and Perceptions of Fairness in Marketplace Exchanges", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Zhihong Yi, Jing Jian Xiao, and June Cotte and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 188-189.