Religion, conspiracy theory and consumer ethics: a moderated mediation analysis

Purpose The purpose of this study is to show that the spread of conspiracy theories has resulted in many tragic incidents, such as January 6 Insurrection at the US Capitol Building. Interestingly, many of the conspiracy theory followers are religious individuals. In response to this phenomenon, this study will investigate the impact of religious (un)beliefs on consumer ethics. Secondly, this study will investigate the mediating role of conspiracy theory on consumer ethics. Finally, this study will investigate the moderating role of ethical ideology (i.e. relativism) on the relationship between consumers’ (un)belief (e.g. religiosity and atheism) and consumer ethics. Design/methodology/approach Overall, 328 participants living in the USA (32% female and 68% male) were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) in exchange for financial compensation. Findings The results show the negative impact of a belief in a conspiracy theory. These conspiracy beliefs can skew any individual irrespective of their beliefs or unbelief. Religious leaders, policymakers and educators need to keep this in mind when designing a campaign to reduce unethical behavior. Everyone is prone to conspiracy theories. Originality/value This is one of the first few studies exploring the impact of belief in conspiracy theories on consumers’ ethical beliefs. There are still limited studies investigating whether conspiracy beliefs lead individuals to engage in unethical behavior.