Psychological factors and ethical consumption: The case of Vietnamese youths

Abstract

The problems of global warming and sustainability, which are now causes for concern, will, in some way, have an impact on our lives. As a consequence of an increased focus on ethical consumerism, rapidly developing countries such as Vietnam are seeing a change in consumer behaviors as well as the marketing strategies used by corporations. This means that marketers must learn more about what makes people want to shop ethically. In particular, the goal of this research is to explore the psychological factors that impact the ethical consumption habits of young people. The data was compiled through surveys with 361 Vietnamese young people ranging in age from 12 to 33 years old and taken from various parts of the country. Both the independent and the dependent variables have branched off into distinct obstructs in a manner that is inconsistent with the initial scale. This study showed that there are three different types of ethical consumer behavior in Vietnam: ETHICBUY, ECOBOYCOTT, and CSRBOYCOTT. According to the results, alienation, altruism, and perceived employee welfare effectiveness all have an effect on the likelihood of engaging in ethical buying (ETHICBUY). However, alienation and perceived ecological consumer effectiveness have been shown to have an effect on the 3-item ECOBOYCOTT. Last but not least, predictors of CSRBOYCOTT include alienation, environmental concern, and the perceived effectiveness of employee welfare programs. In other words, alienation is perhaps the prospective component that has the most influence on unethical spending based on the findings of this research. These findings could be helpful for marketers that want to increase their capacity to target customers who adhere to ethical norms when they promote their products or services.