Psychological foundations of ethical consumerism: influential role of quality and stigma

Ethical consumer behaviour has been receiving much attention in recent times, due to heightened social issue on sustainability, corporate social responsibility and ethical consumption from the community. Integrated with the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) Theory, this study investigates the influences of altruistic, biospheric, and hedonic values on ethical buying behaviour under the mediating mechanism of behavioural beliefs, personal norms, and subjective norms. Moreover, the present research also explores the moderating effects of perceived product quality and social stigma in the relationship between subjective norms, personal norms and ethical buying behaviour. A cross-sectional survey design approach was employed where data were gathered from students studying in India. The findings indicate that altruistic, biospheric, and hedonic values have an indirect impact on ethical buying behaviour via related behavioural beliefs, personal norms, and subjective norms. The moderating roles of quality and stigma show some interesting counteracting influences. Product quality was found to enhance the subjective norms and ethical buying behaviour relationship while undermining the relationship between personal norms and ethical buying behaviour. By contrast, stigma reduced the influence of subjective norms but enhanced the effect of personal norms on ethical buying behaviour. The work adds to the ethical consumption literature by combining theoretical perspectives and emphasising the complexity of how these moderating variables function in ethical decision-making. The findings provide both theoretical implications from the perspective of the psychological mechanism of ethical behaviour and managerial implications for firms looking to motivate ethical consumption.