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Moral Salience and the Role of Goodwill in Firm-Stakeholder Trust Repair

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2016

Jill A. Brown ,
Ann K. Buchholtz  and
Paul Dunn
Jill A. Brown
Affiliation:
Bentley University
Ann K. Buchholtz
Affiliation:
Rutgers University
Paul Dunn
Affiliation:
Brock University
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Abstract:

Re-establishing trust presents a complex challenge for a firm after it commits corporate misconduct. We introduce a new construct, moral salience, which we define as the extent to which the firm’s behavior is morally noticeable to the stakeholder. Moral salience is a function of both the moral intensity of the firm’s behavior and the relational intensity of the firm-stakeholder psychological contract. We apply this moral salience construct to firm misconduct to develop a model of trust repair that is based on goodwill, and moderated by the firm’s stakeholder culture.

Keywords

goodwillfirm misconductmoral intensitymoral saliencepsychological contractstrust
Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 181 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2016 

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