IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i23p15512-d980313.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Personal Values and Political Ideology Affect Sustainable Consumption?

Author

Listed:
  • Anil Mathur

    (Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA)

  • George P. Moschis

    (College of Management, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand)

Abstract

Previous research reports inconsistency in the relationship between political identity and orientations toward green consumption, and there is little information on the change mechanism(s) that link(s) political orientations and sustainable consumption behavior. In this study, we examine the mediating role of green values and beliefs about sustainability with respect to the relationship between a person’s political identity and personal values and his or her sustainable consumption behavior. Using structural equation modeling, the model was tested using data from an online survey of 179 adults. Results suggest that the effects of political identity and personal values on sustainable consumption behavior are mediated by green values and specific beliefs about sustainability, with conservatives being the least likely to adopt sustainable consumption habits. The findings also suggest that public policy makers attempting to persuade conservatives to adopt sustainable consumer behaviors may face an uphill task because deep-rooted values of conservatives might prevent them from accepting such messages in the belief formation stage. Implications of these findings for theory development and social scientists are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Anil Mathur & George P. Moschis, 2022. "Do Personal Values and Political Ideology Affect Sustainable Consumption?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:15512-:d:980313
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/15512/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/15512/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chan, Eugene Y. & Ilicic, Jasmina, 2019. "Political ideology and brand attachment," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 630-646.
    2. Long-Chuan Lu & Hsiu-Hua Chang & Alan Chang, 2015. "Consumer Personality and Green Buying Intention: The Mediate Role of Consumer Ethical Beliefs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 205-219, March.
    3. Hanimann, Raphael & Vinterbäck, Johan & Mark-Herbert, Cecilia, 2015. "Consumer behavior in renewable electricity: Can branding in accordance with identity signaling increase demand for renewable electricity and strengthen supplier brands?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 11-21.
    4. Blair Kidwell & Adam Farmer & David M. Hardesty, 2013. "Getting Liberals and Conservatives to Go Green: Political Ideology and Congruent Appeals," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(2), pages 350-367.
    5. Jeffery Bray & Nick Johns & David Kilburn, 2011. "An Exploratory Study into the Factors Impeding Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(4), pages 597-608, February.
    6. Jung, Jihye & Mittal, Vikas, 2020. "Political Identity and the Consumer Journey: A Research Review," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 55-73.
    7. Madani, Fatima & Seenivasan, Satheesh & Ma, Junzhao, 2021. "Determinants of store patronage: The roles of political ideology, consumer and market characteristics," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    8. Kiju Jung & Ellen Garbarino & Donnel A. Briley & Jesse Wynhausen, 2017. "Blue and Red Voices: Effects of Political Ideology on Consumers’ Complaining and Disputing Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 477-499.
    9. Hans Ruediger Kaufmann & Mohammad Fateh Ali Khan Panni & Yianna Orphanidou, 2012. "Factors Affecting Consumers’ Green Purchasing Behavior: An Integrated Conceptual Framework," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(31), pages 50-69, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Northey, Gavin & Chan, Eugene Y., 2020. "Political conservatism and preference for (a)symmetric brand logos," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 149-159.
    2. Madani, Fatima & Seenivasan, Satheesh & Ma, Junzhao, 2021. "Determinants of store patronage: The roles of political ideology, consumer and market characteristics," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. Francesco Testa & Gaia Pretner & Roberta Iovino & Guia Bianchi & Sara Tessitore & Fabio Iraldo, 2021. "Drivers to green consumption: a systematic review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 4826-4880, April.
    4. van Esch, Patrick & Cui, Yuanyuan (Gina) & Jain, Shailendra Pratap, 2021. "The effect of political ideology and message frame on donation intent during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 201-213.
    5. Park, JungKun & Hong, EunPyo & Ahn, Jiseon & Hyun, Hyowon, 2023. "Role of multidimensional customer brand engagement on customer behavior for online grocery shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Thomas Usslepp & Sandra Awanis & Margaret K Hogg & Ahmad Daryanto, 2022. "The Inhibitory Effect of Political Conservatism on Consumption: The Case of Fair Trade," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(3), pages 519-531, March.
    7. Gohary, Ali & Madani, Fatima & Chan, Eugene Y. & Tavallaei, Stella, 2023. "Political ideology and fair-trade consumption: A social dominance orientation perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. Jin Ho Yun & Yaeri Kim & Eun-Ju Lee, 2022. "ERP Study of Liberals’ and Conservatives’ Moral Reasoning Processes: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 723-739, April.
    9. Beth L. Fossen & Girish Mallapragada & Anwesha De, 2021. "Impact of Political Television Advertisements on Viewers’ Response to Subsequent Advertisements," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(2), pages 305-324, March.
    10. Alex Hiller & Tony Woodall, 2019. "Everything Flows: A Pragmatist Perspective of Trade-Offs and Value in Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 893-912, July.
    11. Eugene Y. Chan & Jack Lin, 2022. "Political ideology and psychological reactance: how serious should climate change be?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 1-22, May.
    12. Verena Schoenmueller & Oded Netzer & Florian Stahl, 2023. "Frontiers: Polarized America: From Political Polarization to Preference Polarization," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(1), pages 48-60, January.
    13. Jung, Jihye & Mittal, Vikas, 2020. "Political Identity and the Consumer Journey: A Research Review," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 55-73.
    14. Septianto, Felix & Northey, Gavin & Dolan, Rebecca, 2019. "The effects of political ideology and message framing on counterfeiting: The mediating role of emotions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 206-214.
    15. John T. Jost & Melanie Langer & Vishal Singh, 2017. "The Politics of Buying, Boycotting, Complaining, and Disputing: An Extension of the Research Program by Jung, Garbarino, Briley, and Wynhausen," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 503-510.
    16. Michal Carrington & Andreas Chatzidakis & Helen Goworek & Deirdre Shaw, 2021. "Consumption Ethics: A Review and Analysis of Future Directions for Interdisciplinary Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 215-238, January.
    17. Ketron, Seth & Kwaramba, Shingirai & Williams, Miranda, 2022. "The “company politics” of social stances: How conservative vs. liberal consumers respond to corporate political stance-taking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 354-362.
    18. Kiju Jung & Ellen Garbarino & Donnel A. Briley & Jesse Wynhausen, 2017. "Political Ideology and Consumer Research beyond Complaining Behavior: A Response to the Commentaries," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 511-518.
    19. Hsiu‐Hua Chang & Wei‐Jen Chuang, 2021. "Encourage stakeholder engagement in sustainable development: Drivers of consumers themselves benefits and society welfares," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 748-762, March.
    20. Chan, Eugene Y. & Ilicic, Jasmina, 2019. "Political ideology and brand attachment," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 630-646.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:15512-:d:980313. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.