IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v10y2023i1d10.1057_s41599-023-02229-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental vs. labor issues: evidence of influence on intention to purchase ethical coffee in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Takumi Kato

    (Meiji University)

  • Katsuya Hayami

    (NEC Corporation)

  • Kenta Kasahara

    (NEC Corporation)

  • Minami Morino

    (NEC Corporation)

  • Yui Ikuma

    (NEC Corporation)

  • Ryosuke Ikeda

    (NEC Corporation)

  • Masaki Koizumi

    (NEC Corporation)

Abstract

Two main issues in ethical consumption attract attention: environmental and labor issues. However, few studies have compared the conditions and effects that contribute to ethical purchasing behavior. To fill this gap, we conducted two studies targeting the Japanese food industry. In Study 1, we examined consumers who are accustomed to ethical consumption and clarified the product characteristics valued by consumers with high awareness of ethical issues. In Study 2, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of product concepts of environmental and labor issues on coffee purchase intentions. Study 1 confirmed that environmental and labor issues are emphasized for coffee, whereas recycling is emphasized for tea. This difference is due to the difference in production countries (coffee: developing countries, tea: Japan) and packaging materials (coffee: paper cups, tea: PET bottles). Study 2 showed that labor issues had a greater impact on purchase intention and willingness to pay than that of environmental issues owing to the adoption of producers’ photographs. This study complemented existing literature by comparing the conditions and effects of environmental and labor issues on ethical purchasing behavior. Considering the limited resources of companies and limited ability of consumers to process information, understanding predictive factors is extremely crucial.

Suggested Citation

  • Takumi Kato & Katsuya Hayami & Kenta Kasahara & Minami Morino & Yui Ikuma & Ryosuke Ikeda & Masaki Koizumi, 2023. "Environmental vs. labor issues: evidence of influence on intention to purchase ethical coffee in Japan," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02229-1
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02229-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-023-02229-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-023-02229-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah Cotterill & Peter John & Liz Richardson, 2013. "The Impact of a Pledge Request and the Promise of Publicity: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Charitable Donations," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 94(1), pages 200-216, March.
    2. Zohra Zinoubi Ghali, 2021. "Motives of ethical consumption: a study of ethical products’ consumption in Tunisia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(9), pages 12883-12903, September.
    3. Wenchun Ran & Ling Zhang, 2023. "Bridging the intention-behavior gap in mobile phone recycling in China: the effect of consumers’ price sensitivity and proactive personality," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 938-959, January.
    4. Cheung, Millissa F.Y. & To, W.M., 2019. "An extended model of value-attitude-behavior to explain Chinese consumers’ green purchase behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 145-153.
    5. Hyemi Lee & Yanhong Jin & Hyun Shin, 2018. "Cosmopolitanism and ethical consumption: An extended theory of planned behavior and modeling for fair trade coffee consumers in South Korea," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(6), pages 822-834, November.
    6. 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.
    7. Alsaad, Abdallah Khalaf, 2021. "Ethical judgment, subjective norms, and ethical consumption: The moderating role of moral certainty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    8. Elena Kossmann & Mónica Gómez-Suárez, 2018. "Decision-making processes for purchases of ethical products: gaps between academic research and needs of marketing practitioners," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 15(3), pages 353-370, September.
    9. Farjam, Mike & Nikolaychuk, Olexandr & Bravo, Giangiacomo, 2019. "Experimental evidence of an environmental attitude-behavior gap in high-cost situations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Alvina Gillani & Smirti Kutaula & Leonidas C. Leonidou & Paul Christodoulides, 2021. "The Impact of Proximity on Consumer Fair Trade Engagement and Purchasing Behavior: The Moderating Role of Empathic Concern and Hypocrisy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 557-577, March.
    11. Newton, Joshua D. & Tsarenko, Yelena & Ferraro, Carla & Sands, Sean, 2015. "Environmental concern and environmental purchase intentions: The mediating role of learning strategy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1974-1981.
    12. Fuchs, Christoph & Kaiser, Ulrike & Schreier, Martin & van Osselaer, Stijn M.J., 2022. "The value of making producers personal," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 486-495.
    13. Nishant Kumar & Pratibha Garg & Shailender Singh, 2022. "Pro-environmental purchase intention towards eco-friendly apparel: Augmenting the theory of planned behavior with perceived consumer effectiveness and environmental concern," Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 134-150, April.
    14. Swetarupa Chatterjee & Naman Sreen & Pradip Sadarangani, 2021. "An exploratory study identifying motives and barriers to ethical consumption for young Indian consumers," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 22(2/3), pages 127-148.
    15. Shi Ruo-Fei & Jing-Yun Zeng & Chang-Hyun Jin, 2022. "The Role of Consumer’ Social Capital on Ethical Consumption and Consumer Happiness," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, April.
    16. Lee, Min-Young & Jackson, Vanessa & Miller-Spillman, Kimberly A. & Ferrell, Erika, 2015. "Female consumers׳ intention to be involved in fair-trade product consumption in the U.S.: The role of previous experience, product features, and perceived benefits," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 91-98.
    17. Takumi Kato, 2021. "Brand loyalty explained by concept recall: recognizing the significance of the brand concept compared to features," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(3), pages 185-198, September.
    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. Taneja, Shilpa & Ali, Liaqat, 2021. "Determinants of customers’ intentions towards environmentally sustainable banking: Testing the structural model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Kyriakos Riskos & Paraskevi (Evi) Dekoulou & Naoum Mylonas & George Tsourvakas, 2021. "Ecolabels and the Attitude–Behavior Relationship towards Green Product Purchase: A Multiple Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-22, June.
    3. Alsaad, Abdallah & Alam, Md. Moddassir & Lutfi, Abdalwali, 2023. "A sensemaking perspective on the association between social media engagement and pro-environment behavioural intention," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Bhardwaj, Seema & Sreen, Naman & Das, Manish & Chitnis, Asmita & Kumar, Sushant, 2023. "Product specific values and personal values together better explains green purchase," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Jun Fan & Lijuan Peng & Tinggui Chen & Guodong Cong, 2024. "Mining the impact of social media information on public green consumption attitudes: a framework based on ELM and text data mining," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Wang, Liping & Chen, Longjun & Li, Chuang, 2024. "Research on strategies for improving green product consumption sentiment from the perspective of big data," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Khan, Sarah & Abbas, Muhammad, 2023. "Interactive effects of consumers’ ethical beliefs and authenticity on ethical consumption and pro-environmental behaviors," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Luigina Canova & Andrea Bobbio & Anna Maria Manganelli, 2023. "Sustainable purchase intentions: The role of moral norm and social dominance orientation in the theory of planned behavior applied to the case of fair trade products," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 1069-1083, April.
    9. Nicholas A. Wright & Puneet Arora & Jesse Wright, 2024. "I Promise to Work Hard: The Impact of a Non-Binding Commitment Pledge on Academic Performance," Working Papers 2411, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    10. Ana Salomé García-Muñiz & María Rosalía Vicente, 2021. "The Effects of Informational Feedback on the Energy Consumption of Online Services: Some Evidence for the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    11. Henry Schwartz & Tomi Solakivi & Magnus Gustafsson, 2022. "Is There Business Potential for Sustainable Shipping? Price Premiums Needed to Cover Decarbonized Transportation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.
    12. Joerß, Tom & Hoffmann, Stefan & Mai, Robert & Akbar, Payam, 2021. "Digitalization as solution to environmental problems? When users rely on augmented reality-recommendation agents," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 510-523.
    13. Philip R. Walsh & Rachel Dodds & Julianna Priskin & Jonathon Day & Oxana Belozerova, 2021. "The Corporate Responsibility Paradox: A Multi-National Investigation of Business Traveller Attitudes and Their Sustainable Travel Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    14. Joachim P. Hasebrook & Leonie Michalak & Anna Wessels & Sabine Koenig & Stefan Spierling & Stefan Kirmsse, 2022. "Green Behavior: Factors Influencing Behavioral Intention and Actual Environmental Behavior of Employees in the Financial Service Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-35, August.
    15. Eva M. Murgado-Armenteros & María Gutierrez-Salcedo & Francisco José Torres-Ruiz, 2020. "The Concern about Biodiversity as a Criterion for the Classification of the Sustainable Consumer: A Cross-Cultural Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-14, April.
    16. Tan, Fuqiang & Li, Xi & Agarwal, Reeti & Joshi, Yatish & Yaqub, Muhammad Zafar, 2024. "Does multilingual packaging influence purchasing in retail segment? Evidence from multiple experiments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Shahid, Shadma & Adil, Mohd & Sadiq, Mohd & Dash, Ganesh, 2024. "Why do consumers consume masstige products? A cross-cultural investigation through the lens of self-determination theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    18. Kim, Myung Ja & Hall, C. Michael & Kwon, Ohbyung & Sohn, Kwonsang, 2024. "Space tourism: Value-attitude-behavior theory, artificial intelligence, and sustainability," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    19. Liobikienė, Genovaitė & Mandravickaitė, Justina & Bernatonienė, Jurga, 2016. "Theory of planned behavior approach to understand the green purchasing behavior in the EU: A cross-cultural study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 38-46.
    20. Mirjam Visser & Ab Stevels & Jan Schoormans, 2021. "Comparing the Recommendations of Buyers of Energy-Efficient and Inefficient Vacuum Cleaners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02229-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.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.