Sustainable and non-sustainable consumer behavior in young adults

Abstract

Purpose Using broad definitions of sustainable and non-sustainable consumer behavior, identifying key elements of these types of consumer behavior and differentiating between spirituality and religiosity, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a research model. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was conducted to identify elements of the research constructs. Literature on sustainable business practices was particularly important. Once elements were identified, measures used in previous consumer behavior research were used to collect data from 116 undergraduate students enrolled in marketing and management classes at a major university located in the southwestern USA. Findings Results indicate that the level of a consumer’s spirituality affects both sustainable and non-sustainable consumer behavior. In addition, the model predicts that the level of a consumer’s religiosity has no impact on non-sustainable consumer behavior, and this prediction is verified by the study results. Practical implications As it is important for businesses to conduct sustainable business practices, it may also be beneficial to consumers to practice sustainable behavior. A significant predictor of this sustainable consumer behavior is spirituality, and it is important to distinguish spirituality from religiosity. Originality/value Sustainable consumer behavior is more thoroughly described. Also, religiosity and spirituality are delineated. Finally, for the first time, the separate and distinct impact of religiosity and spirituality on sustainable and non-sustainable consumer behavior is assessed.

Factors Affecting on Purchase Intention towards Green Products: A Case Study of Young Consumers in Thailand

“…This study used a questionnaire survey method to collect data for testing the validity of the model and to test the hypotheses. According to previous studies have mentioned that these young consumers are interested in more sustainable behavior as well, such as buying green products [18], [41]. Therefore, data were collected through face to face interviews from young Thai consumers and focus young consumers group among 18 to 29 year olds.…”

Green behaviour and switching intention towards remanufactured products in sustainable consumers as potential earlier adopters

“…Sustainable consumer behaviour has been defined as “a consumer's wise balance of financial responsibility, environmental stewardship, social equity and sustenance of personal health” (Lee et al , 2016, p. 79); this behaviour is characterised by consumption oriented towards green value or environmental products, such as biodegradable detergents, organic produce, recycled paper products, non-aerosol products and locally produced foods (Gilg et al , 2005; Quoquab et al , 2019).…”

Sustainable consumption behaviour: A conceptual assessment

“…According to some studies in the literature, the factors affecting sustainable consumption behaviour are; environmentalism and security (Karalar & Kiracı, 2010), personality traits (Luchs & Mooradian, 2012), environmental orientation and sustainability innovation (Hamid, Khan, Kiani, Shah & Kiani, 2014), total household income (Aksu & Gelibolu, 2015), election architecture (Theotokis & Manganari, 2015), environmental knowledge (Castaneda, Martinez, Marte & Roxas, 2015), spirituality level (Lee, Bahl, Black, Duber-Smith & Vowles, 2016), emotional motives and demographic characteristics , cognitive effects and product characteristics (Trudel, 2019), attitudes (Castaneda et al, 2015;Hamşıoğlu, 2020;Hameed, Khan, Waris & Zainab, 2021), ecological intelligence (Hettiarachchi, 2020), love of nature (Dong, Liu, Li, Yang, Liang & Deng, 2020), environmental values (Elhoushy & Lanzini, 2021), environmental and social effects (Trudel, 2019;Hosta & Zabkar, 2021), motivation (Khan & Hameed, 2019;Soyer & Dittrich, 2021), ability (Soyer & Dittrich, 2021), subjective norms and perceived behavioural control (Hameed et al, 2021), culture and educational degree (Boca, 2021), emotional closeness to nature (Taufique, 2022), self (Trudel, 2019), feared self (Rasool, Cerchione, Centobelli & Oropallo, 2022) and social interaction (Cui, Lissillour, Chebeň, Lančarič & Duan, 2022).…”