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Journal ArticleDOI

The myth of the ethical consumer – do ethics matter in purchase behaviour?

Marylyn Carrigan, +1 more
- 01 Dec 2001 - 
- Vol. 18, Iss: 7, pp 560-578
TLDR
The authors examined whether or not consumers care about ethical behavior, and investigated the effect of good and bad ethical conduct on consumer purchase behavior, concluding that although we are more sophisticated as consumers today, this does not necessarily translate into behaviour which favours ethical companies and punishes unethical firms.
Abstract
Marketing ethics and social responsibility are inherently controversial, and years of research continue to present conflicts and challenges for marketers on the value of a socially responsible approach to marketing activities. This article examines whether or not consumers care about ethical behaviour, and investigates the effect of good and bad ethical conduct on consumer purchase behaviour. Through focus group discussions it becomes clear that although we are more sophisticated as consumers today, this does not necessarily translate into behaviour which favours ethical companies and punishes unethical firms. The article concludes by some thoughts on how marketers might encourage consumers to engage in positive purchase behaviour in favour of ethical marketing.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring the Consumer “Attitude – Behavioral Intention” Gap

TL;DR: In this article, the impact of involvement, perceived availability, certainty, perceived consumer effectiveness, values, and social norms on consumers' attitudes and intentions towards sustainable food products is analyzed. But, behavioral patterns are not univocally consistent with attitudes.
Journal ArticleDOI

Do Consumers Care about Ethics? Willingness to Pay for Fair-Trade Coffee

TL;DR: In a survey of 808 Belgian respondents, the actual willingness to pay for fair-trade coffee was measured and it was found that the average price premium that the consumers were willing to paid for a fair- trade label was 10%.
Journal ArticleDOI

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

TL;DR: In this paper, the intention-behaviour gap of ethically-minded consumers is investigated, and a holistic conceptual model is proposed to bridge the intention gap of the consumer behavior gap.
Journal ArticleDOI

How can corporate social responsibility activities create value for stakeholders? A systematic review

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the existing literature to outline which CSR activities and outcomes have been included in previous research, and synthesize the means by which these activities can add value for consumers and how these have been represented in CSR literature.
Journal ArticleDOI

An Exploratory Study into the Factors Impeding Ethical Consumption

TL;DR: In this article, a review of existing literature, and the inductive analysis of focus group discussions is presented to understand consumers' intentions to consume ethically, and their actual purchase behaviour.
References
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Book

Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a survey of the focus group research, focusing on the following topics: planning the group study, developing a questioning route, participants in a focus group, moderating skills, and conducting interviews with young people.
Journal ArticleDOI

Innovativeness, Novelty Seeking, and Consumer Creativity

TL;DR: A conceptual framework that incorporates three constructs highly relevant to consumer behavior (innovativeness, novelty seeking, and consumer creativity) is presented in this paper, together with a model of the relational linkages among these constructs, together with their definitions and a methodology to develop operational measures.
Book

Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art

TL;DR: This chapter discusses the design and analysis of Focus Group Studies, and the use of Dialogical Methods in Group Interviews, as well as future Directions for Focus Groups and Community Mobilization.
Journal ArticleDOI

The Price Knowledge and Search of Supermarket Shoppers

TL;DR: In this article, a model of grocery shopper response to price and other point-of-purchase information was developed and hypotheses were tested by using observations and interviews, and the findings suggest that shopper...
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Trending Questions (3)
What marketing factors influence ethically minded consumer behavior?

Price, quality, value, brand image, and fashion trends are the main factors that influence consumer behavior, while ethical criteria have less impact.

What marketing factors boost ethically minded consumer behavior?

Price, quality, value, brand image, and fashion trends are the main factors that influence consumer purchase behavior, outweighing ethical criteria.

What marketing factors are most effective in boosting ethically minded consumer behavior?

Price, quality, and value outweigh ethical criteria in consumer purchase behavior.