Exploring the Paradox of Ethical Branding: Ethical Consumers and Brand Avoidance

Abstract

This study examines how ethical consumers perceive and evaluate ethical branding, focusing on why they avoid certain brands both individually and collectively. Using an ethnographic case study of an ethical consumer group in South Korea, we find that their brand avoidance is driven primarily by identity avoidance (symbolic incongruence) rather than moral avoidance (ideological incongruence). We develop a model that explains the factors leading ethical consumers to avoid ethical brands at both the personal and group levels, highlighting the role of social dynamics. The study advances understanding of ethical consumption by showing that identity misalignment, not only ideological conflict, underpins brand avoidance, and by integrating individual and collective processes. Managerially, it underscores that ethical consumption is heterogeneous and context dependent, that is, ethical branding is not automatically welcomed by highly engaged consumers, and indiscriminate or superficial use of ethical labels can undermine branding efforts.