Irresponsible contagions: Propagating harmful behavior through imitation

Abstract

After PPG, owner of the Glidden paint brand, introduced a zero volatile organic compounds (VOC) product in the mid-1990s, all other major paint companies, facing an imminent threat of federal regulations, followed PPG's lead by offering a version of a zero-VOC, eco-friendly product (Esposito, 2005). Corporate compliance with VOC regulations, however, was a protracted challenge due to higher research and development expenses (Valk, 2015). Subsequently, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged two large paint companies PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. and Sherwin-Williams for making deceptive claims that their interior paint products contain "zero" volatile organic compounds, VOCs (FTC, 2012).Why do corporations engage in harmful, unethical behavior toward essential stakeholders and, importantly, proliferate bad behaviors of others' irresponsible practices? We theorize that the mimicry of others' behaviors reduces uncertainty even if imitation propagates irresponsible consumer behaviors. These irresponsible behaviors include actions that violate normative or regulatory standards, such as selling harmful products, deceptive advertising, or other misinformation provision, targeting vulnerable consumers, or inciting other customer-related controversies. Reducing uncertainty through rivalryand information-based imitation (Lieberman & Asaba, 2006), can, we argue, unfortunately, encourage harmful behaviors of large, in-group members to be 'normed' and propagated across an industry sector.Building upon Lieberman and Asaba's (2006) theories of imitation, we

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