KANT VS ARISTOTLE: EVALUATING CONSUMER RESPONSES TO A PRODUCT RECALL

Abstract

The raison d'être of this study was to understand how consumer perceptions of an image damaging event such as a product recall can differ based on their philosophical proclivities. Towards this end, the paper contrasts responses from two groups of consumers, one which was trained in Aristotelean Ethics, and another which was not. The authors felt that the latter group’s response presented a more Kantian perspective to the issues involved and was distinctly different from the group representing Aristotelean Ethics (Nichomachean). For the purpose of this study, the authors develop and validate an instrument to measure consumers’ perceptions about product recalls. The resultant Product Recall Confidence Survey (PRCS) measures the perceptions of possible Toyota consumers in light of the recalls of Toyota vehicles due to acceleration problems.

The instrument also measures consumer confidence in the firm in terms of a future purchase. The ethical systems of Kant and Aristotle provide a theoretical underpinning in terms of understanding the complex issue of product recalls. The authors have used statistical tools like factor analysis (PCA – Varimax Rotation) and scale statistics (internal consistency) for determining the initial psychometric properties of the PRCS. Response differences were then measured and evaluated based on an Independent Samples TTest thus verifying Known-Groups Validity (Spector, 1992) and also confirming the initial hypothesis suggested above.