Reciprocity on the Edge of Distance Paradox: How Sustainability Motives and Hypocrisy Shape Consumer Responses to Nearshoring

Dayangan C., Bicakcioglu-Peynirci N., ÖZGEN Ö.

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2026
  • Doi Number: 10.1002/bse.70905
  • Journal Name: BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, ABI/INFORM, Environment Index, Geobase, Greenfile, INSPEC, Psycinfo, Public Affairs Index
  • Dokuz Eylül University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Despite growing interest in corporate relocation decisions and sustainability, the existing literature is limited in its consumer-centric approach. Integrating social exchange theory and construal level theory, this research investigates how consumers perceive sustainability-driven nearshoring motives (i.e., socio-economic vs. environmental) and further examines how psychological distance (i.e., spatial and social) shapes consumer gratitude and consumer brand reactions (i.e., willingness to reciprocate and brand avoidance), following a corporate hypocritical event. Based on three preregistered experiments, including a prestudy, we demonstrate that although sustainability motives foster consumer gratitude and willingness to reciprocate, corporate hypocrisy significantly diminishes positive consumer responses when it occurs in a recently nearshored country with lower spatial distance, rather than in a formerly offshored country with higher spatial distance. Interestingly, consumers often disregard corporate hypocritical practices when they occur in a formerly offshored country (vs. a recently nearshored country) or involve brands with a higher (vs. a lower) social distance, uncovering a distance paradox in consumer concern for sustainability. Highlighting the norm of reciprocity generated through nearshoring, with the conditioning role of psychological distance, we shed light on the mechanisms affecting consumer-brand relationships and provide important implications for both research and practice.