Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

5997

Date

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Business Administration

Concentration

Marketing

Committee Member

Daniel Sherrell

Committee Member

Satish Kedia

Abstract

Social marketing campaigns frequently utilize victims in an attempt to encourage helping behavior. However, even with greater awareness of victims and their plight, individuals do not always choose to help. We utilize social cognitive theory to explain how some individuals justify the continued purchase of products (i.e., counterfeit products) tied to victimization by blaming the victims. In a second context, we investigate the association between victim blaming and donation intentions to a non-profit organization tasked with helping local homeless victims. We find a positive relationship between character blame and counterfeit purchase intentions and a negative relationship between character blame and donation intentions. In both contexts, we do not find a significant relationship between behavior blame and the respected dependent variables. In the final study, we utilize just world theory in an effort to explain when and why individuals blame victims. Findings support the claim that belief in a just world has a positive association with victim blaming. We also find justice restoration potential and victim-observer similarity as significant moderators in this relationship. However, due to limitations, some reservations are appropriate when considering these results.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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