Ethical consumption refers to a purchasing activity practiced in a way that is desirable to the environment and society by considering the environmental and social impacts of consumption. Ethical consumption includes not only eco-friendly consumption ...
Ethical consumption refers to a purchasing activity practiced in a way that is desirable to the environment and society by considering the environmental and social impacts of consumption. Ethical consumption includes not only eco-friendly consumption (use of energy saving products, organic farming products and non-animal testing products), but also use of fair trade products, local food and fair travel which contribute to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to producers. No matter how a product may be of lower price or of better quality, consumers with the ethical purchasing patterns reject buying the product, if in the course of production process the environment was damaged or any unethical method, such as human rights violation, was used. These consumers are called ethical consumers.
These purchasing patterns and concern for ethical consumption are on the increase, however it is difficult to identify the degree of actual consumers' recognition of ethical consumption. As ethical consumption recognition affects to buying motive and in turn it lead to purchasing activity, the study on ethical consumption recognition is fairly crucial. Therefore, this study intends to identify the degree of ethical consumption recognition by consumers with ethical purchasing patterns and to explore their purchasing motives, purchasing behavior, and ethical purchasing satisfaction.
The findings of the study can be summarized as follows:
Firstly, the research into the consumers' ethical consumption recognition showed that the overall degree of recognition was higher than that of general consumers. The most recognized factors were in the order of decrease in consumption, fair trade and donation, and social responsibility.
Secondly, the research into the effect of consumers' ethical consumption recognition on purchasing motives and purchasing behaviors generally showed that the higher the degree of ethical consumption recognition, the higher were the purchasing motives and purchasing behaviors.
Thirdly, when investigated both buying motives and purchasing behaviors in order to identify the effect of ethical consumption recognition on ethical purchasing satisfaction, all factors demonstrated significant differences. However, among ethical consumption recognition, social responsibility (Factor III) did not show significant difference in the satisfaction regarding product market environment. And among purchasing motives, pursuit of sensibility purchasing motives (Factor III) did not show significant difference in the satisfaction of quality and recommendation.
Finally, research into the influence over ethical purchasing satisfaction showed that the satisfaction was higher among men than women and among people with more children. Besides, the satisfaction was higher when pursuit of resistance purchasing motives (Factor IV) among purchasing motives was higher.
This study has significance in analyzing the purchasing motives by ethical consumption recognition, the subsequent purchasing behavior, and influences on ethical purchasing satisfaction. For the facilitation and development of ethical consumer market, the basic roles of consumers, communities, the government and businesses should be consumers' voluntary efforts for social responsibility, communities' increased accessibility to ethical consumer markets, the government's reorganization of certification marks regarding ethical consumption, and businesses' transfer to ethical management, respectively. The findings from the study would be able to open up ways to promote ethical consumption recognition by the forementioned 4 agents and ways to develop ethical consumer markets.