‘Monkey see, monkey do’ is an old saying referring to imitating another's actions without necessarily understanding the underlying motivations or being concerned about consequences, such as propagating harmful behaviors. This study examines the likelihood of firms imitating and proliferating others’ unethical, irresponsible practices thereby exacerbating harmful effects among even more firms; in doing so, irresponsible contagions can rapidly spread more broadly, negatively affecting even more consumers. Building upon rivalry- and information-based imitation theories, we examine if harmful behaviors of others, in combination with misbehavior of referent firms, influences the likelihood of a firm to engage in irresponsible consumer-related practices. After examining 25,824 firm-year observations over 12 years, our findings suggest that imitation of harmful product-related behavior occurs; with size an important factor related to proliferation of harmful behaviors. Testing the model against a holdout sample finds 94% accuracy. Implications for scholars, managers, and policy makers are explored.

中文翻译：

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不负责任的传染：通过模仿传播有害行为

“Monkey see, monkey do”是一句老话，指的是模仿他人的行为，但不一定了解潜在的动机或不关心后果，例如传播有害行为。这项研究考察了企业模仿和扩散他人不道德、不负责任的做法的可能性，从而加剧了更多企业的有害影响；在这样做的过程中，不负责任的传染可能会迅速传播得更广，对更多的消费者产生负面影响。基于竞争和基于信息的模仿理论，我们研究了其他人的有害行为以及相关公司的不当行为是否会影响公司从事不负责任的消费者相关行为的可能性。在检查了超过 12 年的 25,824 个公司年观测值后，我们的研究结果表明，会出现模仿有害产品相关行为的情况；与规模相关的有害行为扩散的重要因素。针对保留样本测试模型发现准确率为 94%。探讨了对学者、管理者和政策制定者的影响。