The Impact of Sustainable Sourcing on Customer Perceptions: Association by Guilt from Scandals in Local vs. Offshore Sourcing Countries

Sustainability

Wim Lambrechts¹  Lieven Quintens²  Claire Veit²  Janjaap Semeijn² 

[1] Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, Open University of The Netherlands, P.O. Box 2960, 6401 DL Heerlen, The Netherlands;School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Tongersestraat 53, 6211 LM Maastricht, The Netherlands;

关键词: customer perception;    psychic distance;    supply chain;    sustainability;    sourcing strategies;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su10072519

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This study analyzes whether customer perceptions towards sustainability are affected by a company’s country of origin and sourcing strategies. This study builds upon the literature regarding customer interest in sustainable products. It adds the country of origin to the link between customer and company, and analyzes if and how customer perceptions change when they are introduced to a sustainability scandal, hence analyzing possible ‘association by guilt’. It compares their reactions to offshore scandals and to local scandals, therefore taking psychic distance as an important variable into consideration. Customer perceptions of company sustainability was found to have an impact on purchasing behavior. Findings show that perceptions are influenced by psychic distance. Furthermore, companies should take into account the risk of association by guilt when developing their global sourcing strategies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown