Today, the contribution of customers in developing ethical programs and social responsibility standards is not quite clear. In a study, the ethical environment of a firm was found to be positively associated with customer loyalty. However, there are many variants of customer loyalty.
In competitive markets, market orientation and customer focus are the key drivers of organizational performance. Still, intense competition may also create unethical behaviors. For example, it is well documented how Pizza Hut and Papa John’s attacked each other in advertising campaigns, declaring that each provided the ‘freshest’ ingredients. The matter was in the court of law and was resolved by civil litigation.