A special emphasis and look at the emotional side of ethical decision-making

An overwhelming preponderance of the literature in marketing and consumer ethics assumes that decision makers follow cognitive, rational processes. While this is certainly a logical and valid approach to this topic, it tends to overlook an important aspect of ethical decision making, namely the decision maker's emotions or emotional state. Recently some scholars have begun to examine this "other side" of ethical decision making. Thus the current paper examines the literature regarding the role of emotions in ethical decision making, providing both an examination and synthesis of this literature. The paper culminates in both a theoretical model as well as testable research propositions.