Ethical intentions among frontline employees working in the US-based fast food chains in Pakistan: The moderating role of love of money

Abstract

Purpose

Following the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between ethical decision-making attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and past behavior; to examine ethical intentions of frontline employees with their love of money as a moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from 310 frontline employees (FLEs) in five US-based fast food chains (McDonald’s, Subway, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hardees) across three cities of Pakistan, using self-administered questionnaires. The authors adopt the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to test the theoretical model.

Findings

The authors demonstrate that LOM is a significant moderator. The relationships between two dimensions of TPB – the ethical attitude and subjective norms – and ethical intentions are much stronger for FLEs with a lower LOM orientation.

Originality/value

The inclusion of LOM to enrich TPB framework, investigation of ethical intentions of frontliners employed in US-based fast food chains and a developing country context are unique products of this study.

Citation

Kashif, M. and Khattak, A. (2017), "Ethical intentions among frontline employees working in the US-based fast food chains in Pakistan: The moderating role of love of money", British Food Journal, Vol. 119 No. 7, pp. 1547-1561. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2016-0396