This article aims at conceptually analyzing environmental concern and at understanding Tunisian citizens' attitude toward this concept and at determining a typology of the different profiles of ecologically concerned consumers (ECCs). The results show a three-dimension structure of ECCs and identify four types of consumer profiles.Keywords environmental management, social issues in management, management, social sciences, environmental psychology, applied psychology, psychology, business law and business ethics, research methodology and design, research methods 2 SAGE Open person who bases his/her supply, use and elimination of products on the desire to eliminate any negative effects and to maximise their long-term effects on society" (p. 92).Roberts (1995) classifies SRC according to two dimensions: a social dimension according to which consumers should consider their impact on society and the environment.In this article, we will focus on the environmental dimension or "environmental concern." Kinnear, Taylor, and Ahmed (1974) broadly define an ecologically concerned consumer (ECC) as one who "adopts purchasing behaviour which is coherent with preserving ecosystems." A more specific definition is given by Grunert and Juhl (1991) who distinguish between the different contexts in which ECCs manifest themselves. Accordingly, an ECC is the one who "attempts to minimise the negative impact of external costs of production, distribution, use and elimination of products on the environment" (p. 14).Similarly, Dembrowski and Hanmer-Lloyd (1994) categorize ECCs into three dimensions. A cognitive dimension reflecting the individual's knowledge of the consequences of his or her actions on the environment, an affective dimension concerned with the emotional reactions linked to the perceived environmental problems, and a connotative dimension reflected in the efforts a consumer makes to contribute to improving the environment.Research on ECCs is abundant, but with different objectives. Many attempted to conceptualize, measure, and determine the factors explaining behavior concerned with protecting the environment and define types of ECCs. Our contribution to this array of research consists of the following question:
Research Question 1:What is "an ecologically concerned consumer" for Tunisian consumers? Giannelloni (1998), reviewing 30-year-old literature on ECC, points to two groups of factors explaining ECCs and environmentally friendly behavior: These are, on one hand, economic and socio-demographic factors and, on the other hand, psychological factors.However, there are conflicting results on the influence of "age" on ECCs. According to some authors, like Baldassare and Katz (1992) and Van Liere and Dunlap (1981), the older people get, the less concerned they become about environmental problems. Other authors like Giannelloni (1995) believe that as people get older, the greater their concern for the environment is. Yet, Kristensen and Grunert (1990) find no correlation between the two variables.As for income, edu...
