Abstract
In recent years a greater shift of market power towards consumers is observed and consumers are referred to as “the new counterbalancing force to capitalists” (Murphy & Bendell, 2001). In this context, individuals may take consumer decisions evaluating different dimensions of the augmented product offering, including its ethical features (Brinkmann & Peattie, 2008). This has led to the gradual consolidation of the ethical consumers that express ethical concerns about issues such as environmental degradation and sweatshops in Third World countries through their consumer decisions.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Ajzen, I. 1991. “The theory of planned behavior.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50: 179–211.
Brinkmann, J. and Peattie, K. 2008. “Consumer Ethics Research: Refraining the Debate about Consumption for Good.” Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies 13: 22–30.
Carrington, M.J., Neville, B.A. and Whitwell, G.J. 2010. “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.” Journal of Business Ethics 97: 139-158.
Chatzidakis, A., and Mitussis, D. 2007. “Computer ethics and consumer ethics: The impact of the internet on consumers’ ethical decision-making process.” Journal of Consumer Behavior 6: 305–320.
Faraj, M. F., and Newman, A. J. 2009. “Exploring consumer boycott intelligence using a socio-cognitive approach.” Journal of Business Research 63: 347–355.
Ferrell, O.C. and Gresham, L.G. 1985. “A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing.” Journal of Marketing 49: 87–96.
Follows, S., and Jobber, D. 2000. “Environmentally responsible purchase behavior: a test of a consumer model.” European Journal of Marketing 34: 723–747.
Hunt S.D. and Vitell S.J. 1986. “A general theory of marketing ethics.” Journal of Macromarketing 6: 5–15.
Jones, T.M. 1991. “Ethical decision-making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contigent model” Academy of Management Review 16: 366–395.
Low, W., and Davenport, E. 2007. “To boldly go…exploring ethical spaces to re-politicise ethical consumption and fair trade.” Journal of Consumer Behaviour 6: 336–348.
McEachern, M.G., Shröder, M.J.A., Willock, J., Whitelock, J., and Mason, R. 2007. “Exploring ethical brand extensions and consumer buying behavior: the RSPCA and the “Freedom Food” brand.” Journal of Product and Brand Management 16: 168–177.
Murphy, D., and Bendell, J. 2001. “Getting enganged: Business-NGO Relations on Sustainable Development.” In The Earthscan Reader in Business and Sustainable Development. Eds. R.Starkey & R. Welford. London: Earthscan Publications.
Newholm, T. 1999. “Relocating the ethical consumer”. In Ethics and the Market. Eds. R. Norman. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Rest, J.R. 1986. Moral development: Advances in research and theory. New York: Praeger.
Shaw, D., and Shiu, E. 2002. “An assessment of ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer decision-making: A structural equation modeling approach.” International Journal of Consumer Studies 26: 286–293.
Shaw, D., and Newholm, T. 2002. “Voluntary Simplicity and the Ethics of Consumption.” Psychology & Marketing 19: 167– 185.
Tan B. 2002. “Understanding consumer ethical decision- making with respect to purchase of pirated software.” Journal of Consumer Marketing 19(2): 96–111.
Trevino, L.K. 1986. “Ethical decision making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model.” Academy of Management Review, 11: 601–617.
Vitell, S.J. 2003. “Consumer ethics research: Review, synthesis and suggestions for the future.” Journal of Business Ethics 43: 33–47.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Academy of Marketing Science
About this paper
Cite this paper
Eleni, P., Paparoidamis, N.G., Chumpitaz, R. (2015). Understanding Ethical Consumers: A New Approach Towards Modeling Ethical Consumer Behaviours. In: Robinson, L. (eds) Marketing Dynamism & Sustainability: Things Change, Things Stay the Same…. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10912-1_72
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10912-1_72
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10911-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10912-1
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)