Influence of COVID-19 on Environmental Awareness, Sustainable Consumption, and Social Responsibility in Latin American Countries

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the effect that COVID-19 has on environmental awareness, sustainable consumption, and consumer social responsibility. Although some recent research focused on this phenomenon, there are still no studies applied to Latin American consumers. In this study, the data comes from 1624 responses from Latin American consumers who also represent different generations, equitably distributed in 400 from Chile (24.6%), 421 from Colombia (25.9%), 401 from Mexico (24.7%), and 402 from Peru (24.8%). Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires using an online survey via Google Forms through email and social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and WhatsApp) from July 2021 to September 2021. This study uses a quantitative methodology using a structural equations model (SEM) to examine the cause–effect relationships of the explanatory model of this study. The main findings indicate that consumers from these countries declare that their behaviors have become ecologically and socially responsible. In addition, these respondents indicated that they had increased their interest in sustainable consumption and in acquiring environmentally friendly products to reduce waste and negative impacts on the environment derived from consumption. Based on the results, this research provides useful information to change or re-direct the communication and strategies of governments, brands, organizations, and society to promote actions and behaviors that help reduce the negative impact on the environment derived from consumption in a Latin American market. Managerial implications are provided.

Environmentally Responsible Purchase Intention in Pacific Alliance Countries: Geographic and Gender Evidence in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Along the same lines, the hypothesis was confirmed that, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer social responsibility (SR) has positively impacted on their environmentally responsible purchasing intention (ERPI). This supports previous research evidence on social responsibility and consumer intent to protect the environment during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 1 , 108 ]. Furthermore, there are studies [ 123 ] that point to the commitment of consumers toward the activities of corporate social responsibility of companies (CSR) and how this contributes to their purchase intention.…”

“…Second, SEM is a perfect method to test the hypothesis of dependency relationships, correlations and the effects of moderator variables [ 107 ]. Finally, recent studies applied SEM to analyze and demonstrate robustness in measurements and structural evaluation [ 4 , 10 , 108 , 109 ].…”

COVID-19 Effects on Environmentally Responsible Behavior: A Social Impact Perspective from Latin American Countries

“…With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, several studies have explored its influence on consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior [ 3 , 18 , 25 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. For instance, Severo et al [ 4 ] found that the COVID-19 pandemic is essential in changing people’s behavior, affecting environmental sustainability and social responsibility.…”

“…Notably, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had a more significant impact on sustainable consumption fluency, followed by environmental awareness and, to a lesser extent, social responsibility. Valenzuela et al [ 3 ] analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior in four Latin American countries and found that consumers reported that their behavior had become more ecologically and socially responsible. In addition, these respondents indicated that they had increased their interest in sustainable consumption and purchasing environmentally friendly products to reduce waste and negative environmental impacts.…”

“…Currently, society has shown a massive interest in Environmental Consciousness (CE), where industries are concerned with mitigating environmental damage resulting from their economic activities [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Since December 2019, the international health crisis related to COVID-19 allowed the evaluation of environmental impacts in different contexts.…”