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Antecedents of ethical consumption activities in Germany and the United States

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  • Witkowski, Terrence H.
  • Reddy, Sabine

Abstract

This study developed an index of ethical consumption activities, applied it to samples of young consumers from Germany (n=225) and the United States (n=267), and explored the role of national culture and other factors that theoretically determine these behaviors. Contrary to expectations, the German respondents reported fewer ethical consumption activities than did those from the US and female subjects did not consume more ethically than males. Religiosity had only a weak relationship with ethical consumption activities. Consistent with the hypotheses, both respondent idealism and social engagement behaviors were significant predictors of ethical consumption. These findings add to the literature on sustainable consumption and consumer responsibility by challenging conventional understanding of cross-national and gendered differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Witkowski, Terrence H. & Reddy, Sabine, 2010. "Antecedents of ethical consumption activities in Germany and the United States," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 8-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aumajo:v:18:y:2010:i:1:p:8-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2009.10.011
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kristina Haberstroh & Ulrich R. Orth & Stefan Hoffmann & Berit Brunk, 2017. "Consumer Response to Unethical Corporate Behavior: A Re-Examination and Extension of the Moral Decoupling Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 161-173, January.
    3. Lee, Jungki & Fullerton, Sam, 2014. "Incorporation of victim size in an examination of consumer ethics in South Korea," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 125-135.
    4. Joëlle Vanhamme & Adam Lindgreen & Gülen Sarial-Abi, 2023. "Luxury Ethical Consumers: Who Are They?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 805-838, March.
    5. Daniela Šálková & Inna Čábelková & Dita Hommerová, 2024. "Ethical Consumption: What Makes People Buy "Ethical" Products," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2024(2), pages 27-52.
    6. María Luisa Ríos-Rodríguez & José María Salgado-Cacho & Pilar Moreno-Jiménez, 2021. "What Impacts Socially Responsible Consumption?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-14, April.
    7. Sudbury-Riley, Lynn & Kohlbacher, Florian, 2016. "Ethically minded consumer behavior: Scale review, development, and validation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 2697-2710.
    8. Anabel Orellano & Carmen Valor & Emilio Chuvieco, 2020. "The Influence of Religion on Sustainable Consumption: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, September.

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