Pizzetti, Marta Seele, Peter Gibbert, Michael 2015 There are empirical evidences that consumers do not walk the talk. Although they express a preference for ethical products, they often consume indifferently. Nonetheless, we know little about the factors that facilitate unethical consumption. This article uses the experimental method to investigate the unethical consumption in the gifting experience context and the impact of psychological distance. An exploratory study shows that consumers are willing to accept morally questionable gifts in order to not hurt the giver. Moreover, two experiments demonstrate that consumers are a. eager to accept an unethical gifted product and b. they cognitively reconstruct it as less unethical. However, the unethical gift cannot be reconciled from an emotional standpoint, resulting in an emotional misalignment. The recipient feels guilty about the decision, especially if the product is sourced locally. Several theoretical and managerial contributions are derived from this study’s findings. application/pdf https://n2t.net/ark:/12658/srd1318748 https://susi.usi.ch/global/documents/318748 https://susi.usi.ch/documents/318748/files/wpIMCA1501.pdf eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/ark/12658/srd1318748 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess License undefined Experimental design gift exchange moral disengagement psychological distance unethical consumption info:eu-repo/classification/udc/65 Experimental evidence of unethical gift reconstruction in consumer moral reasoning http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_816b