Jingle bells or ‘green’ bells? The impact of socially responsible consumption principles upon consumer behaviour at Christmas time

Abstract

Socially responsible consumption (SRC) behaviours have progressed over the last few years and appear to show signs of a lasting trend. Situations of atypical consumption such as Christmas time, however, raise an important and as of yet unexplored question: What are the influences of unusual situations upon the relationship between people's socially responsible profile and their socially responsible purchase intentions (SRPI)? The objective of this article is thus to use the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) and environment-based variables, called 'atmospherics', to answer to this question. A Web survey on a total sample of 301 Canadian consumers, shows that people's past SRC behaviours are positively related to their SRPI in unusual situations. Moreover, the atmosphere of the place consumers are situated in has a negative moderating influence upon this relationship. This result is explained by a change in people's attitude toward SRC. However, this negative moderating effect of atmosphere is contained and constrained by social desirability in the form of subjective norms on SRC and the level of behavioural control consumers perceive. K E Y W O R D S consumer behaviour, socially responsible consumption, theory of planned behaviour

Conceptualization and measurement of millennial's social signaling and self‐signaling for socially responsible consumption

“…In contrast, our scales do not seek to explain millennials' motivation to engage in SRCB but to identify millennials' SR behaviors and classify them as social signaling and self‐signals. Noted in previous literature (Robinot et al, ), SR consumption is categorized across three domains: purchasing, nonpurchasing, and disposition. The dimensions of the self‐signaling for SR consumption scale (consumption reduction and environmental concern) and the social signaling for SR scale are consistent with past literature.…”

“…Noted in previous literature (Robinot et al, 2017), SR consumption is categorized across three domains: purchasing, nonpurchasing, and disposition. The dimensions of the self-signaling for SR consumption scale (consumption reduction and environmental concern) and the social signaling for SR scale are consistent with past literature.…”

“…According to Devinney, Auger, Eckhardt, and Birtchnell (), one way to express SRCB is through purchasing and nonpurchasing behavior. SRCB comprises of purchase behavior (e.g., buying green or local products), nonpurchasing behavior (e.g., boycotting or reduction of consumption), and postpurchase behavior (Robinot, Ertz, & Durif, ). In postpurchase behavior, “consumers attempt to optimize the use of the products they have purchased: exchanging, sharing, giving, reusing, recycling, composting” (Robinot et al, , p. 607).…”

“…SRCB comprises of purchase behavior (e.g., buying green or local products), nonpurchasing behavior (e.g., boycotting or reduction of consumption), and postpurchase behavior (Robinot, Ertz, & Durif, ). In postpurchase behavior, “consumers attempt to optimize the use of the products they have purchased: exchanging, sharing, giving, reusing, recycling, composting” (Robinot et al, , p. 607). Although SRCB has not been measured explicitly in reference to millennial consumers, we argue that consistent with past literature, both environmental concern and social responsibility will play an essential role in millennials' SRCB across purchasing, nonpurchasing, and postpurchasing domains.…”

Leave some for me! The role of marketing in influencing responsible consumption during times of crisis

“…The former study found that consumers perceive supporting local musicians, through means such aspurchasing music or attending concerts, as a form of socially responsible consumption, while the latter suggests consumers may avoid buying products from socially responsible organizations to manage the gift-receiver's impressions of the gift-giver. Robinot et al (2017) investigated the impact atmospherics have on the relationship between people's socially responsible consumer (SRC) profile and their socially responsible purchase intentions (SRPI) in unusual situations such as holidays. They provide evidence suggesting that situation-specific atmospherics (in this case, Christmas) dampen the SRC-SRPI relationship and decrease consumers' otherwise consistent behavior by changing their attitudes.…”