Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how psychological antecedents (i.e. consumer mindsets) and individual difference characteristics (i.e. moral identity) affect the intention to purchase Fair Trade products based on the triadic reciprocal causation model in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986). The primary factors that influence ethical consumption decisions in ethnic Chinese societies were explored by integrating the unique cultural environment of the Chinese. Design/methodology/approach: The study effective sample comprised university students and professors. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses and indirect effects. Results showed that moral identity internalization had a mediating effect on the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products. Findings: A high moral identity symbolization had a moderating effect on the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products. This demonstrated that the two dimensions of moral identity, internalization and symbolization, play different roles and have different functions in regards to the intention to purchase Fair Trade products. Research limitations/implications: Future studies are urged to examine this issue at a cultural level by performing a cross-cultural comparison and to integrate consumer heterogeneity for a deeper examination of the interaction between demographic factors and psychological traits on consumer behaviours regarding Fair Trade products. Originality/value: This study indicates that moral identity internalization is the primary factor that influences ethical consumption decisions in Chinese societies. In terms of the moderating effect of moral identity symbolization, results showed that the higher an individual’s moral identity symbolization, the stronger the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products is. These results can serve as a reference for marketing communications and market segmentation policies in the business world.

The present study examined consumer responses to strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) from the perspectives of consumer moral emotions (empathy) and cognition (moral identity), and investigated charitable activities conducted by convenience stores in Taiwan from theoretical and practical perspectives. The research method involved a comparison between two actual charitable activities conducted by convenience stores, namely “donation platform services” and “cause-related marketing”. A questionnaire was distributed into four regions spanning southern to northern Taiwan by using a convenient sampling method, and 332 valid responses were collected. The present study employed structural equation modelling to verify its hypotheses. In terms of theoretical contributions, the present study constructed two theoretical models and subsequently verified that empathy influences moral identity; this constitutes a major contribution to investigations of the causal relationship between moral emotions and cognitive theory. In practice, the present study recommends that convenience stores implement more cause-related marketing to reduce consumer suspicions that firms are motivated purely by profit and increase consumer trust in firms. Subsequent studies are recommended to conduct in-depth investigations of the underlying causes of moral identity internalization and symbolization generating different responses in consumers, as well as other possible situational variables.

As a crucial part of producer services, the logistics industry is highly dependent on the manufacturing industry. In general, the interactive development of the logistics and manufacturing industries is essential. Due to the existence of a certain degree of interdependence between any two factors, interaction between the two industries has produced a basis for measurement; identifying the key factors affecting the interaction between the manufacturing and logistics industries is a kind of decision problem in the field of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM). A hybrid MCDM method, DEMATEL-based ANP (DANP) is appropriate to solve this problem. However, DANP uses a direct influence matrix, which involves pairwise comparisons that may be more or less influenced by the respondents. Therefore, we propose a decision model, Grey DANP, which can automatically generate the direct influence matrix. Statistical data for the logistics and manufacturing industries in the China Statistical Yearbook (2006–2015) were used to identify the key factors for interaction between these two industries. The results showed that the key logistics criteria for interaction development are the total number of employees in the transport business, the volume of goods, and the total length of routes. The key manufacturing criteria for interaction development are the gross domestic product and the value added. Therefore, stakeholders should increase the number of employees in the transport industry and freight volumes. Also, the investment in infrastructure should be increased.

The original intent of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is to encourage enterprises to earn money from society and give back to society. In other words, enterprises should aim to not merely earn profits for shareholders, but also contribute to social and environmental sustainability. This study discusses the importance of corporate commitment when enterprises engage in CSR. Therefore, enterprises’ fulfillment of their CSR enables them to realize organizational development and sustainable management, in which human resource development plays a significant role. Based on a review of the literature and using the Delphi method, combined with expert interviews and consultations, this study analysed the concepts and practices concerning employee training, care, and safety, to identify relevant dimensions and criteria of corporate commitment. Using the analytic hierarchy process method (AHP), this study determined the weights of various factors. The findings will help enterprises formulate optimal strategies of corporate commitment, thus facilitating effective practices of CSR.

Companies nowadays strive to gain public recognition through corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. However, what are consumers’ cognition and evaluations of these CSR efforts, and can they be explained by the concentric circle model, the pyramid model, the intersecting circles model, or by a combination of all three? The novelty of this study is to reexamine the traditional theoretical models in order to find an empirical answer and offer it as a reference to companies. First, we specified the causal relationships of the principles using the modified decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL)-based analytic network process (ANP) (DANP); then we identified and examined consumers’ cognition and evaluation of these CSR efforts by importance-performance analysis (IPA). The research result demonstrates that, in a Taiwanese community, consumers’ cognition and evaluation of companies’ CSR rarely follows one single model. On basic economic and legal levels, consumers indicate characteristics of the intersecting circles model. On higher ethical and philanthropic levels, they exhibit characteristics of the pyramid/concentric circles models. Notably, consumers’ demands and expectations of companies have reached an ethical level but have not yet placed great value on a philanthropic level. Moreover, the actual phenomenon may be interpreted by a combination of the above-mentioned models. Low- and high-level CSRs reveal different characteristics; therefore, companies should cultivate various communication strategies to improve effectiveness.

Teng and Chang [European Journal of Operational Research 195 (2009) 358–363] consider optimal manufacturer's policies in the EPQ model under two levels of trade credit policy. The main purposes of this note are twofold: (1) This note explains why equation (17) in Teng and Chang (2009) is not true in general. So, the validity of the proof of Theorems 1 and 2 in Teng and Chang (2009) is doubtful. (2) The inventory models in Teng and Chang (2009) are correct and interesting. However, processes of proofs and arguments of Theorems 1 and 2 in Teng and Chang (2009) fill shortcomings. From the viewpoint of logic, their proofs are not complete. So, the main purpose of this paper is to overcome those shortcomings and present complete proofs for Teng and Chang (2009).