Moral beliefs versus moral emotions: customers' unethical behaviors in accommodation sharing

Purpose Customers' unethical behavior (CUB) in the information technology (IT)-enabled sharing economy harms the IT platforms, providers, customers and even social ethics. However, few studies have investigated the decision-making process behind CUB in the sharing economy. Based on the norm activation theory, this study aims to examine how different types of punishment affect CUB in the shared accommodation context. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a scenario-based experiment (N = 194), in which participants were randomly divided into four groups (no punishment, financial punishment, reputation punishment and financial with reputation punishment). Structural equation modeling and one-way analysis of variance are employed to test the hypotheses empirically. Findings Our scenario-based experiment shows that while both moral emotions and moral beliefs predict CUB, emotions have significantly higher predictive power. We find that the types of punishments used to deter CUB can affect customers' moral emotions significantly. Contrary to our expectations, harsh punishments can reduce negative moral emotions in customers. Moral emotions mediate the relationship between punishments and CUB. Moreover, we find a significant moderating effect, revealing that the preventative influence of negative moral emotions on CUB is substantially weakened for customers who hold strong negative moral beliefs. Originality/value These findings illustrate the decision-making process behind CUB and expand the application of the concept of moral emotions. The findings also help shared accommodation platforms to intervene in CUB effectively.