University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Honors Theses and Capstones Student Scholarship Spring 2017 Making a Difference: the Impact of Corporate Ethical Behavior on Consumers in the Beauty Industry Paige M. Gould University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/honors Part of the Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, and the Marketing Commons Recommended Citation Gould, Paige M., "Making a Difference: the Impact of Corporate Ethical Behavior on Consumers in the Beauty Industry" (2017). Honors Theses and Capstones. 356. https://scholars.unh.edu/honors/356 This Senior Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses and Capstones by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. INFLUENCE OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOR 0 2017 Making a Difference: the Impact of Corporate Ethical Behavior on Consumers in the Beauty Industry Honors Thesis submitted to the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics University of New Hampshire Paige M. Gould Thesis Advisor: Bruce E. Pfeiffer, Ph.D. INFLUENCE OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOR 1 Abstract Over the years, the cosmetic industry has struggled with a variety of ethical issues. This research examines the effects of these unethical practices on consumers’ perceptions and judgements. More specifically, do consumers consider ethical issues when evaluating cosmetics? Can consumers’ ethical perceptions and decision making be influenced? If so, are heuristic appeals or systematic appeals more persuasive? The results of this study indicate that unless prompted, most consumers do not consider ethical issues when purchasing cosmetics.