This study was conducted with two-fold purposes. The first was to explore if the anti-corporate sentiment exists in Korea by comparing the public perceptions toward the same misbehavior committed by corporations and individuals. An experimental result...
This study was conducted with two-fold purposes. The first was to explore if the anti-corporate sentiment exists in Korea by comparing the public perceptions toward the same misbehavior committed by corporations and individuals. An experimental result indicates that the anti-corporate sentiment exists to a degree. The public’s perception that the wrongdoer could have and should have done something to prevent the negative result(i.e. counterfactual thinking) was highest when a large-size corporation committed a misbehavior compared to a medium-to-small size corporation and an individual. The public also perceived that the negative result was more unfair when the wrongdoer was a corporation(large and medium-to-small size included) than an individual. Furthermore, it believed that the wrongdoer should take more moral responsibility as well as actual responsibility when the wrongdoer was a corporation than an individual. The second purpose of the study was to explore the cognitive process of public’s responsibility attribution by applying the fairness theory. As the theory has predicted, the more the public engaged in counterfactual thinking, the more it perceived the negative result as unfair. This perceived unfairness mediated between the counterfactual thinking and the actual and moral accountability.