Dual-process theories of moral judgment suggest that responses to moral dilemmas are guided by two moral principles: the principle of deontology states that the morality of an action depends on the intrinsic nature of the action (e.g., harming others is wrong regardless of its consequences); the principle of utilitarianism implies that the morality of an action is determined by its consequences...

The development of Internet technology has facilitated the emergence of online marketplace for various kinds of tasks (e.g., Amazon’s Mechanical Turk in USA and Taskcn.com in China). Although the payment is relatively low, numerous people participate in the tasks in these online marketplaces. Drawing upon shopping value literature, we develop a research model by considering various value percep...

Convergence of communication technologies and innovative product features are expanding themarkets for technological products and services. Prior literature on technology acceptance and use has focused on utilitarian belief factors as predictors of rational adoption decisions and subsequent user behavior. This presupposes that consumers’ intentions to use technology are based on functional or u...

Philosophers and psychologists have long been interested in identifying factors that influence moral judgment. In the current analysis, we compare the literatures on moral psychology and decision making under uncertainty to propose that utilitarian choices are driven by the same forces that lead to risky choices. Spanning from neurocognitive to hormonal to interpersonal levels of analysis, we i...

Researchers have recently argued that utilitarianism is the appropriate framework by which to evaluate moral judgment, and that individuals who endorse non-utilitarian solutions to moral dilemmas (involving active vs. passive harm) are committing an error. We report a study in which participants responded to a battery of personality assessments and a set of dilemmas that pit utilitarian and non...

Grounded in the motivational aspects of product consumption, this study examines the hedonic and utilitarian value of digital games and their influence on product recommendation. The findings of an internet survey conducted among active game players who assessed the hedonic and utilitarian value of eight digital games are presented. The findings suggest that games should be viewed not only as h...

This paper introduces and characterizes the number-sensitive critical-level generalizedutilitarian family of population principles which is a generalization of the critical-level generalized-utilitarian family. number-sensitive critical-level utilitarian principles rank alternatives by using a value function that is equal to total utility minus a sum of critical levels that may depend on popula...

This Essay offers a utilitarian perspective on Martha Nussbaum’s theory of justice. Nussbaum believes that society should guarantee to every individual a threshold level of central human capabilities. Although Nussbaum’s approach has considerable appeal, it is implausible and unappealing when it diverges greatly from utilitarianism. Nussbaum’s theory requires that enormous sums of money be devo...

Is it acceptable and moral to sacrifice a few people's lives to save many others? Research on moral dilemmas in psychology, experimental philosophy, and neuropsychology has shown that respondents judge utilitarian personal moral actions (footbridge dilemma) as less appropriate than equivalent utilitarian impersonal moral actions (trolley dilemma). Accordingly, theorists (e.g., Greene et al., 20...