Ethical Consumerism: Movement From Desire to Decision to Buy Green
Understanding what spurs consumers to buy environmentally sustainable (ES) or so-called green products can be elusive. Most people agree that buying green is an attempt to do the right thing. Yet there is variability in individuals’ adherence to this espo
- PDF / 284,764 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 69 Downloads / 242 Views
Leslie E. Sekerka, Menlo College, USA Deborah Brown McCabe, Menlo College, USA Richard P. Bagozzi, University of Michigan, USA ABSTRACT Understanding what spurs consumers to buy environmentally sustainable (ES) or so-called green products can be elusive. Most people agree that buying green is an attempt to do the right thing. Yet there is variability in individuals’ adherence to this espoused belief, as expressed in their overall product choices and purchase decisions. We expect that the decision to buy green is influenced by both deliberate and automatic cognitive and affective processes that require self-regulatory management. To add clarity to the literature on ethical consumerism, we present theoretical propositions that add granularity toward understanding what supports movement from having a desire to buy green to actually making a purchase decision in an online setting. This area is ripe for inquiry, presenting a lever to affect social change in the virtual marketing domain. INTRODUCTION Some people would agree that buying a green product represents an ethically sound choice, and yet many of us do not act on this belief (Shaw et al. 2005). This incongruence may stem from the view that choosing one product over another will not make a worthwhile difference. Consumers may be unwilling to spend extra money and time that may be required when making informed environmentally sustainable (ES) purchases or to change consumption practices (Montgomery and Stone 2009). A lack of commitment to buying green may also be attributable to erroneous, confusing, or conflicting information about ES issues and green products or the inability to make a connection between a purchase decision and actually resolving ES problems. The concept of ES associated with a product means that it does no harm, or, in comparison to other similar products, imposes less harm to the natural environment in its creation, use, and recycling or reuse. The product must also be on par with other offerings, in terms of quality, usefulness, and appeal. Whatever the rationale in forming a desire to buy green, the ultimate decision to do so may require additional effort in the consumer’s decision-making process. As a result, a person may have some initial desire to buy green, but not possess a strong enough compulsion to make an actual purchase. Belk and Askegaard (1997) describe consumers’ desires as belief-based passions that involve fervently wishing for something. Passion plays an important role and conveys the influence of emotions, with positive and negative experiences consciously or automatically influencing a desire to proceed with action. The reality is that every purchase is a moral choice, suggesting that moral emotions are likely involved (Heberlein 1972). This is markedly so with product decisions that involve ES, which, by definition, have moral and social implications. With the Internet, social implications of one’s purchase decisions are more visible than ever before. While ethical markets possess vast potential (Doane 2001), we know very l
Data Loading...
