Consumer Perception of Unethical Marketing Behavior and its Consequences: Identifying the Role of Idealism and Egoism

Background: The unethical behavior of companies often leads to public outrage, which in turn causes a change in consumer behavior, like a consumer boycott. The purpose of this research is to develop and test a model that focuses on consumer perception of the company's immoral behaviors and its consequences. Method: This research is an applied study and in terms of data collection, it is a descriptive-correlative research. The statistical population of the present study is the customers who are interested in buying and receiving after-sale services of Iranian automobile companies such as Saipa and Irankhodro in Tehran. The cluster sampling method was used to select the 410 subjects as sample group. Data were gathered by questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS software 3 using structural equations. Results: The results of this study indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between self-esteem and idealism with consumer perception, and there is a positive and significant relationship between non-perceptions of consumers and non-futile behaviors of companies with anger and revenge of consumers. Conclusion: As much consumer perception is less of the company's immoral behaviors, companies will face more anger and more revenge on consumers after responding to those immoral behaviors.