Determinants of ethically minded consumer behavior in relation to climate change: a cognitive hierarchal model perspective

Both governments and the general public are now aware of the threat that climate change poses to human life and the environment. There is also a global acknowledgment that climate change is essentially directly and indirectly driven by human activities that threaten societies and ecosystems, so encouraging ethically minded consumer behavior in relation to climate change is paramount to achieving sustainable goals. The current study is therefore rooted in this direction, with it aiming to examine the drivers of ethically minded consumer behavior in relation to climate change by adopting the cognitive hierarchal model. An empirical quantitative study was conducted in Saudi Arabia, which according to 2019 statistics, is considered a main country emitter of greenhouse gases. A web survey through a convenience sampling technique was used to gather data. The structural equation modeling method was used to test data and assess research hypotheses. According to the findings of this study, self-transcendence values (altruistic and biospheric) are significant drivers of positive attitudes toward climate change, while self-enhancement value (egoistic value) is a very weak driver of customers’ attitudes. None of these values have a significant direct impact on ethically minded consumer behavior, which is strongly driven by positive attitudes toward climate change. Taking into consideration the threat that climate change poses to human life and the planet, governments are recommended to implement strategies aiming to enhance the public’s awareness of climate change and adopt ethically minded behavior. A set of interesting theoretical and practical implications are discussed in this paper. The limitations of the study and the future research pathways are also presented.