Exploring ethical consumption in different geographical places

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the three types of ethical consumption (positive, negative and discursive) simultaneously in three different geographical areas, namely, Hebron (PL), Sofia (BG) and Thessaloniki (GR). Design/methodology/approach Personal interviews were conducted in the three cities during autumn 2016 with the use of a structured questionnaire. Large enough samples were selected with the one-stage area sampling. The sampling unit was one adult person of all households in each randomly selected city block. Findings The consumers of all cities were not found frequently engaged in any ethical consumption type. Demographic analysis revealed extensive differences across each one of the behaviours in each one of the cities. Attitudinal and psychographic analyses indicated that consumers, who are less ethically disinterested and more generous, were found to be more frequently engaged in ethical purchase in all the three cities. Evidence was found that less ethically disinterested and more generous consumers are more likely to get engaged in boycotting calls, in Hebron and in Thessaloniki. Less ethically disinterested consumers were also found more active in discursive activities in Sofia and Thessaloniki. Research limitations/implications Certain amendments of the behavioural and attitudinal scales could be essential to ensure the same level of measurement accuracy in different geographical areas. Larger and more representative of the overall population samples are needed to facilitate the generalisation of the results. Examination of cultural and political perspectives might add to the understanding of consumers’ ethical consumption in different contexts. Practical implications Firms interested in adopting ethical strategies or consumer groups that would like to call a boycotting or a consumer activism campaign should address their communication strategies towards targets that are described by the results in regard to each geographical area. Originality/value This study added to the limited so far relevant knowledge about the simultaneous examination of the three types of the overall ethical consumption in three different cities; interesting differences and similarities were revealed.

Theory of planned behaviour and boycotting: the moderating role of socio-political control and demographics

“…The finding that the impact of attitudes on intentions is higher in the group of men might be viewed as somehow contrasting with the usual findings that women are more engaged in political consumption (Zhang, 2015; Tilikidou and Delistavrou, 2015). The most expected finding of all that the relationship between attitudes and intentions is stronger in better educated consumers corresponds with previous evidence found by Copeland (2014), Zhang (2015) and Delistavrou et al (2019). The findings about age are somehow in line with those of Yates (2011) and Zhang (2015).…”

“…With regards to demographics, there has been empirical evidence that women are more engaged in political consumption than men (Vinken and Diepstraten, 2010;Yates, 2011;Tilikidou and Delistavrou, 2015;Zhang, 2015) that there is a definite positive effect of education on political consumption (Copeland, 2014;Baumann et al, 2015;Zhang, 2015;Delistavrou et al, 2017Delistavrou et al, , 2019 and that there is a debatable positive effect of household income on political consumerism (Baek, 2010;Zhang, 2015;Delistavrou et al, 2019).…”

Impact of firm's intellectual capital on firm performance: a study of Indian firms and the moderating effects of age and gender

“…SC can be considered a supportive infrastructure for CC as well as for HC (Bontis, 1998). Strong SC will help to establish better fit between HC and CC (Herremans et al, 2010;Delistavrou et al, 2019).…”

Does “CHALTA HAI”culture negatively impacts sustainability of business firms in India? An empirical investigation

“…When stakeholders in business management affairs do not trust or have goodwill for either of the parties, they have a sense of uncertainty and risk (Das and Teng, 2001;Delistavrou et al, 2019;Belyaeva et al, 2020;Ghosh et al, 2020a). There are two types of risk: performance risk and relational risk.…”