Abstract
For decades, marketing research in ethical consumption has been facing the gap between attitude and behavior of the ethical consumer. This topic has been explored mainly through a rational and cognitive approach. We intend to develop a new approach with the socio-intuitionist psychological model on three different markets: food, cosmetics and clothes. These three markets are interesting from a sociological and marketing view. Based on an online panel composed of 1080 consumers, structural equation modeling is used to analyze intuitive judgments and ethical concerns. Our results indicate that inferential intuition significantly predicts the ethical reasoning, which in turn significantly influence the purchase and the attention paid to the ecological and social commitments of the chosen products of ethical consumption behavior. The effects are however different according the three markets we analyzed, suggesting that marketing managers should focus on non-rational influences such as inferential and emotional intuition to effectively promote ethical consumption.
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Appendix: CFA Results
Appendix: CFA Results
FOOD | COSMETICS | FASHION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
γ | CR | AVE | γ | CR | AVE | γ | CR | AVE | |
REASONING (EMCB) | 0.885 | 0.492 | 0.796 | 0.520 | 0.892 | 0.713 | |||
When there is a choice, I always choose the product that contributes to the least amount of environmental damage | 0.746 | 0.738 | 0.738 | ||||||
I have switched products for environmental reasons | 0.752 | 0.768 | 0.741 | ||||||
I do not buy household products that harm the environment | 0.671 | 0.716 | 0.724 | ||||||
If I understand the potential damage to the environment that some products can cause, I do not purchase those products | 0.620 | 0.671 | 0.631 | ||||||
I do not buy products from companies that I know use sweatshop labor, child labor, or other poor working conditions | 0.610 | 0.643 | 0.664 | ||||||
I do not buy products from companies that I know use sweatshop labor, child labor, or other poor working conditions | 0.815 | 0.793 | 0.793 | ||||||
I have paid more for environmentally friendly products when there is a cheaper alternative | 0.704 | 0.705 | 0.674 | ||||||
I have paid more for socially responsible products when there is a cheaper alternative | 0.669 | 0.726 | 0.723 | ||||||
EMOTIONAL INTUITIONS | 0.721 | 0.464 | 0.725 | 0.468 | |||||
I generally don’t depend on my feelings to help me make decisions (R) | 0.646 | ||||||||
I prefer to follow my head rather than my heart (R) | 0.716 | ||||||||
It is foolish to base important decisions on feelings (R) | 0.805 | ||||||||
INFERENTAL INTUITION | 0.787 | 0.554 | 0.749 | 0.500 | 0.760 | 0.516 | |||
When making a quick decision in my area of expertise, I can justify the decision logically | 0.776 | 0.651 | 0.648 | ||||||
If I have to, I can usually give reasons for my intuition | 0.791 | 0.700 | 0.707 | ||||||
When making a quick decision in my area of expertise, I can justify the decision logically | 0.659 | 0.759 | 0.792 | ||||||
HOLLISTIC BIG PICTURE INTUITION | 0.72 | 0.563 | 0.667 | 0.500 | 0.667 | 0.502 | |||
I try to keep in mind the big picture when working On a complex problem | 0.737 | 0.730 | 0.763 | ||||||
I am a “big picture” person | 0.563 | 0.884 | 0.650 | ||||||
RESPONSABILITY | 0.825 | 0.445 | 0.868 | 0.621 | 0.852 | 0.742 | |||
I buy organic food /cosmetic/ apparel products | 0.767 | 0.813 | |||||||
I buy food /cosmetic/ apparel products with labels | 0.671 | 0.771 | 0.834 | ||||||
I buy locally made food /cosmetic/ apparel products | 0.665 | 0.728 | 0.888 | ||||||
I buy fair-trade food /cosmetic/ apparel products | 0.834 | 0.837 | |||||||
ATTENTION | 0.805 | 0.580 | 0.821 | 0.605 | 0.813 | 0.593 | |||
I find out about the ethical commitments of the food/ Cosmetic/apparel brand I buy | 0.745 | 0.771 | 0.709 | ||||||
I am willing to pay more for food/cosmetics/apparel products That contribute less to environmental damage | 0.815 | 0.806 | 0.837 | ||||||
I am willing to pay more for cosmetic/apparel food products That pay for the work of the producers in a decent way | 0.721 | 0.756 | 0.759 | ||||||
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Montmasson, S., Hollet-Haudebert, S., Muller, B. (2022). Is Ethical Consumption Intuitive? A Comparative Study on Food, Cosmetic and Clothes Markets. In: Allen, J., Jochims, B., Wu, S. (eds) Celebrating the Past and Future of Marketing and Discovery with Social Impact. AMSAC-WC 2021. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95346-1_47
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