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This study aims to fill the gap between academia and reality by empirically confirming the effect of moral preferences on consumer responses (purchase intention) to fashion companies’ unethical activities. This study also explores the moderating effect of collectivism and individualism on the paths from moral preferences to purchase intention.

Respondents read a stimulus passage describing unethical activities of imaginary fashion brand A and the economic benefits of purchasing/using the brand's products. Then, they were asked to answer questions about homo moralis, homo economicus, individualism, collectivism and purchase intention.

Homo moralis significantly and negatively influenced respondents’ purchase intention. Homo economicus significantly and positively affected purchase intention. Collectivism further increased the negative influence of homo moralis on purchase intention. In contrast, individualism increased the positive effect of homo economicus on purchase intention.

The scope of future research should include various products and explore variables that help consumers perceive that the ethical issues of the industry are deeply related to themselves. Studies should also examine the intention not to purchase products from unethical companies as an outcome variable. The economic aspect that responds to incentives affects purchase intention more strongly than the moral aspect of consumers, which helps explain the behavior of consumers who think of themselves as ethical but purchase products from unethical companies.

This study can help fashion companies establish strategies such as corporate social responsibility that will lead to a positive effect on consumers’ purchase intention.

This paper aims to present the trajectory of corporate family-friendly policies (FFPs) in South Korea, as it evolved from an emerging economy to a developed country. The adoption of FFPs by South Korean corporations since the 1960s has been shaped by a dynamic interplay of cultural, political, economic, legal, social and organizational forces. The authors use the example of South Korea to propose a three-stage conceptual model for the adoption of FFPs in emerging economies.

Adopting the institution-based view, the authors explore the theoretical framework for implementing FFPs in corporations in emerging economies. This paper uses South Korea as a case study, reviewing its economic and corporate transitions from the early 1960s through 2023. The authors analyze cultural and macro-level forces, including political, economic, legal and social contexts to understand their impact on the adoption of FFPs.

The adoption of FFPs in South Korea encompassed three historical stages – embryonic, stagnant and leaping. The embryonic stage brought the birth of social interest in a worker-friendly environment, alongside rapid economic growth. In the stagnant stage, economic growth plateaued, resulting in stalled discussions of FFPs. In the leaping stage, economic recovery raised employee expectations, societal demands for FFPs to address ultralow fertility rates intensified and corporations adopted FFPs. All three stages are apparent in an emerging economy that is undergoing rapid growth and industrialization.

There has been scant investigation into the historical adoption of FFPs by emerging economies. The findings enrich the international literature by proposing a developmental model of the adoption of FFPs in emerging economies.