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Towards an understanding of consumer recycling from an ethical perspective
Author(s) -
Culiberg Barbara
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of consumer studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 1470-6423
DOI - 10.1111/ijcs.12068
Subject(s) - collectivism , moral obligation , conceptualization , social psychology , psychology , consumption (sociology) , obligation , sample (material) , perspective (graphical) , conceptual model , theory of planned behavior , ethical decision , structural equation modeling , population , sustainable consumption , sociology , epistemology , individualism , economics , social science , political science , philosophy , mathematics , artificial intelligence , chemistry , management , chromatography , statistics , demography , macroeconomics , production (economics) , law , computer science , control (management) , market economy
Abstract Recycling is a post‐purchase consumer activity where the consumer usually considers not only individual but also social goals, ideas and ideologies. Accordingly, ethics is an inherent part of recycling; however, very few studies have explored this behaviour from an ethical point of view. The purpose of this paper is to explain consumer recycling by taking a multifaceted ethical approach. The conceptual model builds on theoretical underpinnings related to ethical consumption by exploring the extensions of the theory of planned behaviour, J ones' ethical decision‐making model and H olbrook's conceptualization of ethical consumption. Thus, the attitude‐intention framework incorporates three ethics‐related concepts: (1) moral obligation, i.e. the level of guilt to perform the behaviour, (2) moral intensity, i.e. the moral issue characteristics, and (3) collectivism, i.e. an individual‐level value orientation. The data were collected from a sample of S lovenian consumers, using an online consumer panel. The sample reflected the S lovenian population in terms of gender and age. The proposed conceptual model was tested using structural equation modelling. The results suggest the proposed ethical concepts play a significant role in the attitude‐intention framework. The more collectivistic individuals have more positive attitudes towards recycling. Moreover, the more consumers perceive recycling as morally intense, the more favourable their attitudes are. In turn, attitudes positively affect intentions to recycle. In addition, higher levels of moral obligation positively influence intentions to recycle. The only hypothesis that is not supported in this study refers to the influence of moral intensity on intentions to recycle. The implications for public policymakers and social marketers stem from a complex interplay of the antecedents of recycling behaviour. Future studies could go in several directions by extending the model to other moral issues, conducting a study in a cross‐cultural setting or taking a longitudinal approach.