Motivations of the Ethical Consumer

Abstract

There are strong indications that many consumers are switching towards more socially and environmentally responsible products and services, reflecting a shift in consumer values indicated in several countries. However, little is known about the motives that drive some toward, or deter others from, higher levels of ethical concern and action in their purchasing decisions. Following a qualitative investigation using ZMET and focus group discussions, a questionnaire was developed and administered to a representative sample of consumers; nearly 1,000 usable questionnaires were collected. The degree of awareness, concern and action regarding 16 ethical issues was quantified, using a measure developed from the Stages of Change concept within the Transtheoretical model. Motivations for ethical behaviour, in relation to each individualÕs most salient ethical issue, were investigated using initially 22 motive statements within the framework of the Decisional Balance Scale (DBS). The findings suggest that the DBS and Stages model have an explanatory value within the ethical decision-making context, and that the motives identified do reflect the Decisional Balance Constructs. Indeed the study suggests that respondentsÕ motivational attitudes are a function of their stage of ethical awareness, concern and action. Therefore, the Decisional Balance Scale may well prove useful for designing appropriate interventions and communications to facilitate movement towards more ethical decision-making. These findings yield strategic insight for communicating messages to ethical consumers and for better understanding their purchasing decisions.

Why Ethical Consumers Don’t Walk Their Talk: Towards a Framework for Understanding the Gap Between the Ethical Purchase Intentions and Actual Buying Behaviour of Ethically Minded Consumers

“…'Green' consumerism, it should be noted, is subsumed within the wider category of ethical consumerism. The broader range of issues (including environmentalism) integrated within ethical consumerism creates complex decision-making processes for ethically minded consumers (Freestone and McGoldrick, 2008). This trend towards ethical purchasing and consumption is illustrated by the 47% growth in global sales during 2007 of products endorsed by Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (2007).…”

Neutralisation and Mental Accounting in Ethical Consumption: The Case of Sustainable Holidays

“…The participants were assured of the anonymity of the interview and, thus, pseudonyms names are included in Table 1. The provision of anonymity complied with ethics procedures but also encouraged interviewees to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings [12] and thus minimised the social desirability bias, which is anticipated when participants' identities and beliefs are exposed [61]. Each individual gave consent for taking part in this project.…”

“…The term ethical consumption relates to the purchase of organic, local and fair trade products, the boycott of unethical organisations [12] as well as purchasing products that are low in carbon emissions, among others [13]. Ethically orientated consumers are considered to display their concerns in at least one of the subsequent areas: human welfare, animal welfare or environmental welfare [14].…”

Re-Framing Environmental Social Science Research for Sustainable Water Management in a Changing Climate

“…The observed can also become the researcher by engaging in data collection through keeping diaries, and developing their own materials that help them to explain what they are thinking, feeling and doing, and the constraints they know are present that may not be obvious to the outsider. Freestone and McGoldrick (2008) for example introduced the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique, a patented market research tool to their work and encouraged interview subjects to produce images that helped them to convey their thoughts and feelings "The advantage of such a technique is that issues emerge from the data collected by the respondents as opposed to the researchers imposing their own thoughts and structures." (Freestone and McGoldrick 2008, p 451) Those being researched provided their own frames in this piece of work.…”