This research area combines expertise from economics, psychology and business ethics to explore the possibilities and limitations of moral value orientation in market environments. Recent years have seen a vivid debate on whether and under which circumstances markets erode morals. Research in this area will advance our understanding of how different market environments and market designs interact with moral awareness and moral concerns of market participants. This provides the basis for understanding when policy interventions would be required if the main objective was to meet individual or societal moral concerns.
Moral values orientation is a pressing topic also for environmental protection. Environmentally responsible individuals and societies call for institutions, markets and ultimately public policy interventions that efficiently foster sustainable resource consumption. This research area will explore behavioral interventions that sharpen the awareness of resource consumption.
All research projects in this area share an interest in exploring the effectiveness of behavioral interventions, such as nudging or micro-targeting. We not only ask how nudges and micro-targeting shape behavior but also how such interventions are perceived morally, and explore the determinants of acceptance as well as unintended counter-effects.