An assessment of ethical obligation and self‐identity in ethical consumer decision‐making: a structural equation modelling approach

Research has supported the addition of ethical obligation and self‐identity to models of consumer decision‐making in ‘ethical’ contexts. The particular placement of ethical obligation and self‐identity within a model of ethical consumer decision‐making remains unclear. Are these measures an antecedent to attitude or behavioural intention? This paper presents findings from a large scale survey of ethical consumers that explores, through structural equation modelling, the specific placement of these measures within a validated model of ethical consumer decision‐making, which uses the theory of planned behaviour as an initial framework. This research is examined within the ‘ethical’ context of fair trade grocery purchasing. (Fairly traded products are those purchased under equitable trading agreements, involving co‐operative rather than competitive trading principles, ensuring a fair price and fair working conditions for the producers and suppliers.)     

Do You Need a Receipt? Exploring Consumer Participation in Consumption Tax Evasion as an Ethical Dilemma

The paper focuses on the consumer side of consumption tax evasion (CTE), a subcategory of the shadow economy. The ethical dimensions of tax evasion have been effectively captured by the existent literature on tax morale, yet it fails to address the role consumers can play in CTE. Further, there is a shortage of tax morale studies that explore ethical decision making as a process composed of multiple steps and determinants. To bridge these gaps, we turned to the consumer ethics literature and Jones’ issue-contingent model of ethical decision making. We developed the conceptual model of consumer ethical decision making for CTE by incorporating four key elements from the issue-contingent model, i.e. moral recognition, moral judgement, moral intention and moral intensity, while personal moral philosophies were introduced as an antecedent to the consumer ethical decision-making process. The study was conducted on a sample of consumers from Slovenia, where CTE is a widespread phenomenon. The findings confirm that consumers’ recognition of CTE as a moral issue is influenced by their moral philosophy and perceptions regarding the magnitude of CTE’s consequences, their visibility, probability, and temporal immediacy. These perceptions also play an important role in determining consumers’ moral judgements and intentions regarding CTE. Moreover, through the process of moral recognition and moral judgement, consumers form intentions to participate in, or avoid CTE. The study holds important implications for public policy makers who are trying to reduce the tax gap in times of economic instability and fiscal crisis.     

Theory‐based approach to factors affecting ethical consumption

The main objective of this study is to introduce and validate a new model of ethical consumption intention with the aim of identifying salient factors that influence consumer's attitude and purchase intention towards ethical products. For this purpose, this study introduces an extended model of the theory of reasoned action, which embraces the emotional component (positive anticipated affection) and socially oriented value component (altruism), as predictors of ethical consumption attitude and intention. Using a questionnaire‐based survey, the data were collected from 343 respondents who had previously purchased ethical products. The result showed that ethical obligation, self‐identity and altruism were positively related to consumer attitude towards ethical consumption. Also, ethical obligation and altruism were found to positively influence ethical consumption intention. Further, attitude and positive‐anticipated affection positively affected ethical consumption intention.     

With the best of intentions: a large sample test of the intention‐behaviour gap in pro‐environmental consumer behaviour

Many consumers intend to make pro‐environmental purchases; however, this is not always what occurs. A gap exists between consumer intentions to purchase environmentally friendly products and their actual purchase behaviour. The current study uses a large sample of Australian consumers (N = 772) to test Carrington, Neville and Whitwell's (2010) conceptual model of the intention‐behaviour gap. Responses showed that implementation intentions mediated the relationship between intention and pro‐environmental consumer behaviour. Behavioural control and environmental involvement were found to moderate the relationship between implementation intentions and behaviour. Shopping context was found to moderate the relationship between intention and implementation intentions. The findings have theoretical implications for furthering understanding of pro‐environmental consumer behaviour, and practical implications regarding how to generate socially beneficial behaviours.     

Exploring consumers’ purchase intention towards green products in an emerging market: The role of consumers’ perceived readiness

Consumers’ awareness of green products has increased in the last few years, but studies show that the demand for green products has been stagnant. The purpose of this study is to explore the roles of consumers’ perceived readiness to be green and subsequently, how readiness to be green affects consumers’ purchase intention towards green products in an emerging market, Indonesia. A total of 916 survey responses were collected in three universities, two major shopping malls and several housing areas in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The findings reveal that consumers’ attitude (ATT), subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC), pro‐environmental self‐identity (PEI), ethical obligation and consumers’ readiness to be green are the determinants of intention to purchase green products. Consumers’ readiness to be green mediates the effects of ATT, PBC, PEI and perceived sense of responsibility on purchase intention. The study provides further insights into the discrepancy between professed positive attitudes towards the environment and the slow uptake of green behaviour in an emerging market.     

Ethical consumer decision‐making: The role of need for cognition and affective responses

Most of the academic research in the field of consumer ethics has focused on the cognitive antecedents and processes of unethical consumer behavior. However, the specific roles of discrete emotions such as fear have not yet been investigated thoroughly. This research examines the role of the need for cognition (NFC), the three affective responses—fear, power, and excitement—and perceived issue importance on moral intensity, ethical perceptions, and ethical intentions for four types of unethical consumer behaviors. A sample of consumers from the two cities of Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt (n = 346) participated in the survey. Most research hypotheses were supported. NFC, issue importance, and affect variables were all predictors of moral intensity, ethical perceptions, and ethical intentions in four different consumer ethics scenarios. The specific predictors varied from one consumer ethics scenario to another, however.     

Health and cosmetics: Investigating consumers’ values for buying organic personal care products

In investigating consumers’ intentions to re-purchase organic personal care products (PCP), this study extends the theory of planned behaviour by including perceived value dimensions as the antecedents of attitude in the model. The findings revealed that most of the hypothesised relationships linking the consumer perceived value constructs (namely, health, safety, hedonic and environmental) with attitude towards the rebuying of organic PCP, were supported. Also, better product knowledge about organic PCP would lead to more positive attitudes towards re-purchasing the product. In contrast, social value was not important in predicting attitude. Similarly, the influence of subjective norm on rebuying intention was not supported. In terms of ranking of importance with regards to prediction of re-purchasing intention, attitude was the most important predictor followed by perceived behavioural control, product knowledge, hedonic value, environmental value and safety value.     

Understanding the factors affecting consumers’ behaviour when purchasing refurbished products: A chaordic perspective

This paper seeks to develop an integrated conceptual framework to explain the conditions that lead to consumers' behaviour when purchasing refurbished products. Innovative methodology was used, including “fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis” (FsQCA), to explore the factors affecting consumers’ behaviour in this regard. Data gathered from 472 consumers were used to test the suggested model. The results revealed that ethical constructs (i.e., “moral obligation, moral accountability, moral outrage”), threat and coping appraisal variables (i.e., perceived severity, perceived venerability), and value are key drivers of the purchase of refurbished products. The findings also revealed that moral obligation, moral outrage, perceived venerability, egoistic value, and attitude are necessary to stimulate purchase behaviour, while perceived severity, rewards, perceived cost, and altruistic value, although sufficient, are not in themselves necessary. This study offers useful implications for retailers, and re-manufacturers, which may help to enhance their marketing strategies and policies.     

Do gender identities of femininity and masculinity affect the intention to buy ethical products?

This study shows that gender identity affects ethical intentions. We investigate the intention to purchase ethical products through a survey study among young consumers in Italy. Measures of planned behavior, internal ethics, self-identity, and moral harm, together with proxies for individual gender identities of femininity and masculinity are included in our model of intention to purchase ethically. Results show that femininity significantly increases ethical intent, whereas masculinity has an opposite effect. These findings are robust to gender. In fact, the relations of femininity and masculinity on the intention to consume ethical products hold when the subsamples of males and females are considered. This study relates to the ongoing debate regarding the determinants of ethical decision-making and the feminine stereotype by extending the understanding of the attitude-intention gap in ethical consumption among young consumers in Italy. Finally, implications and avenues for further research are discussed.     

Evaluating the purchase behaviour of organic food by young consumers in an emerging market economy

Promoting consumer purchase behaviour of eco-friendly products is key to environmental sustainability. This research aims to investigate how different factors may enhance or impede young consumers’ intentions to purchase a specific type of eco-friendly product, i.e. organic food. Data were obtained from 289 respondents in an emerging market economy, i.e. Vietnam. Multivariate data analysis using structural equation modelling revealed that food safety concern, health consciousness and media exposure to food messages played integral roles in the formation of attitude towards organic food. Interestingly, consumers’ environmental concern and food taste were of little value in predicting their attitude. Notably, perceived barriers (i.e. high price, inadequate availability, poor labelling and extra time required) significantly impeded both attitude and purchase intention towards organic food. The insights gained from this research extend current knowledge about pro-environmental behaviour in developing countries and they have important practical implications for marketers and other key stakeholders.     

The role of ethical obligation and self‐identity in ethical consumer choice

Many variables have been proposed as additions to the theory of planned behaviour structure, and evidence exists to support the value of a measure of ethical obligation and self‐identity. Furthermore, some research has suggested that ethical obligation may serve as an antecedent to attitude as well as intention. This paper presents findings from a large scale survey that highlights the usefulness of ethical obligation and self‐identity in the prediction of intention. Additionally, the role of both these variables in the prediction of attitude is also suggested. This is examined within the ‘ethical’ context of fair trade grocery purchases. Methodological implications for further research are discussed.     

Caring and Conflicted: Mothers’ Ethical Judgments about Consumption

Literature on consumer ethics tends to focus on issues within the public sphere, such as the environment, and treats other drivers of consumption decisions, such as family, as non-moral concerns. Consequently, an attitude–behaviour gap is viewed as a straightforward failure by consumers to act ethically. We argue that this is based upon a view of consumer behaviour as linear and unproblematic, and an approach to moral reasoning, arising from a stereotypically masculine understanding of morality, which foregrounds abstract principles. By demonstrating the importance of context to consumption decisions and articulating the impact of caring relationships, we highlight how such decisions are both complex and situated. This is particularly evident for decisions involving the needs of others, as occurs in family life. We argue that the incorporation of care ethics provides both theoretical insights and a more complete account of consumer ethics. This is explored empirically through an investigation of the ethical dilemmas arising from consumption decisions made by mothers of young children. Such decisions juxtapose an ethical consumption orientation (representing impartial concerns) with care for one’s child. Therefore, what has been previously considered a failure to act ethically may in fact be the outcome of complex decision making, which involves competing ethical considerations. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice and how this approach to consumer ethics could be applied more widely.     

Who Says There is an Intention–Behaviour Gap? Assessing the Empirical Evidence of an Intention–Behaviour Gap in Ethical Consumption

The theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour (TRA/TPB) have fundamentally changed the view that attitudes directly translate into behaviour by introducing intentions as a crucial intervening stage. Much research across numerous ethical contexts has drawn on these theories to offer a better understanding of how consumers form intentions to act in an ethical way. Persistently, researchers have suggested and discussed the existence of an intention–behaviour gap in ethical consumption. Yet, the factors that influence the extent of this gap and its magnitude have not been systematically examined. We, therefore, contribute to the debate on the intention–behaviour gap by reviewing the empirical TRA/TPB studies that have assessed both intention and behaviour in ethical contexts. The findings from our review show that few studies assessed the intention–behaviour relationship and as a result, there is limited empirical evidence to date to quantify more accurately the intention–behaviour gap in ethical consumption. Our second contribution aims to provide an empirical case study which assesses the magnitude of the intention–behaviour gap in the context of avoidance of sweatshop clothing and to assess the roles of planning and actual behavioural control in potentially reducing the intention–behaviour gap. The findings of our case study suggest that there is indeed a large gap between intention and behaviour, and we conclude by calling for more empirical longitudinal studies to assess the complex nature of the relationship between intention and behaviour.     

Personal Characteristics Underlying Ethical Decisions in Marketing Situations: A Survey of Small Business Managers*

This study analyzes the marketing ethics decision‐making process of small business managers. In particular, it examines the relative influences of ethical perceptions, personal moral philosophies, and gender on ethical intentions of small business managers. The sample of this study consists of professional members of the American Marketing Association working in companies with 500 employees or fewer. The results reveal that perceived ethical problem is a positive factor of a small business manager's ethical intention. The results generally support our hypothesis that female managers tend to be more ethical in their intention than their male counterparts. However, the results indicate that neither dimension of personal moral philosophy—idealism and relativism—is a significant predictor of a manager's ethical intention.     

Critical factors characterizing consumers’ intentions to use drones for last-mile delivery: Does delivery risk matter?

Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, has become popular in military and recreational circles. Although their usage in commerce is relatively low, a continuous rise in commercial use, especially for last-mile delivery, in the future is anticipated. Consequently, there is a necessity for a greater understanding of consumers' readiness to accept the latest technological application to increase knowledge, business, and managerial practice. Specifically, this study aims to investigate consumers’ intentions to deploy drones for last-mile delivery. The study applies the social cognitive theory and the model of goal-directed behaviour. It investigates the effect of outcome expectancy, lifestyle compatibility, perceived self-efficacy, consumer attitude, and the desire of usage for delivery drones among European millennial consumers. Additionally, it examines whether delivery risk moderates the influence of attitude and desire to use delivery drones. The authors discovered that the aforementioned are positively related to consumer attitude. Consumer attitude as such is positively associated with the desire and intention to use this method of delivery. Furthermore, the intention to use drone delivery is positively influenced by the desire for this delivery, outcome expectancy, and lifestyle compatibility. These findings indicate the importance of desire and lifestyle compatibility as predictors. At the theoretical level, the results support the perspective that social cognitive theory, together with the model of goal-directed behaviour, is an adequate framework to account for consumer intentions.     

Consumer Attitude and Visit Intention toward Food-Trucks: Targeting Millennials

Food-trucks are growing in popularity, and they are now part of the foodie culture. As they fit well with Millennials’ desire to try new things—new foods, and a new food culture—the number of trucks on the streets is expected to continue to rise. To understand, how millennial consumers think and make decisions about food-truck dining, this study identifies benefits and risks of food-truck dining and their impact on a millennial consumer’s attitude and visit intention. This study finds consumers see hygienic and environmental risk and convenience and hedonic benefits in food-truck dining. The findings from this study provide evidence that hygienic and environmental risks of food-trucks negatively influence consumers’ attitudes and visit intentions toward food-truck dining experience, while hedonic benefit leads to favorable attitude and visit intention. The findings further indicate that a significant relationship exists between consumer attitude and purchasing intention. This study helps food-truck marketers and operators to develop effective marketing and operational strategies to increase the visits of existing food-truck diners and attract potential consumers.     

Gender Differences in Psychosocial Determinants of University Students’ Intentions to Buy Fair Trade Products

This study examined gender differences in university students’ intentions to buy fair trade (FT) products through the lens of the moral norm extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Data were obtained from 782 students at the University of Luxemburg. Results of structural equation analysis indicated that the inclusion of moral norms increased the explained variance in behavioural intentions from 62 to 69.4%. Compared to men, women reported more favourable attitude, higher moral obligation, and stronger intentions toward buying FT products. Moderating analyses showed that the attitude–intentions relationship was stronger for men, whereas the perceived behavioural control–intentions relationship was stronger for women. The implications of the moderation analysis are that sustainability professionals seeking to encourage university students’ intentions to buy FT products should develop gender-targeted interventions: for men, more emphasis should be placed on attitude toward buying FT products (i.e., the advantages of adopting this behaviour), and for women, more emphasis should be placed on perceived behavioural control (e.g., factors that facilitate the purchase of FT products).     

Religiosity, Attitude Toward Business, and Ethical Beliefs: Hispanic Consumers in the United States

Growth of the Hispanic consumer population in America is changing the marketplace landscape. Due to their considerable buying power, a better understanding of Hispanic consumer behavior has become a necessity. The marketing literature has examined issues regarding religiosity and attitude toward business in regards to consumer ethical beliefs as well as research differentiating consumers on the basis of ethnicity due to their inherently different religious principles. Therefore, the present study contributes to the existing consumer ethics literature by examining the roles of religiosity and attitude toward business in determining consumer ethical beliefs. Furthermore, this study compares the relationships among religiosity, attitude toward business, and ethical beliefs at the sub-cultural level (i.e., between Hispanic and Anglo-American consumers). Survey data compare a sample of 187 predominately Catholic Hispanic consumers with a sample of 127 predominately protestant Anglo consumers. Results suggest a positive relationship between intrinsic religiousness and beliefs that questionable consumer activities are unethical. However, extrinsic religiousness does not impact consumer views as to the ethicality of consumer practices. Hispanics exhibit higher levels of extrinsic religiousness than Anglos, but no difference in terms of their intrinsic religiousness. Results also suggest that Hispanics have a more negative attitude toward business than Anglos do. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Pirating Pirates of the Caribbean: The curse of cyberspace

Abstract

This study investigates the factors influencing the ‘illegal’ downloading of films and TV series through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Specifically, it examines how social and ethical orientations and attitudes towards downloading impact on downloading intentions. The neutralisation theory and theory of planned behaviour are used to underpin the research framework. The data analysis of 284 usable responses produced several significant relationships. Facilitating conditions, social factors, collectivism, and personal moral obligation were found to predict attitudes towards ‘illegal’ downloading. Social factors, collectivism, personal moral obligation, and attitudes towards ‘illegal’ downloading were also found to influence intentions to download. The findings derived from this study will provide marketers and policymakers with strategic and managerial initiatives to counteract this persistent problem.