Ethical consumption has now become a trending topic, (and as a product manager I have to follow the trend), but my question here is, why is attitude-behavior gap so prevalent in every topic of ethical consumption?
To me this is a crucial topic and I thought to share my views, hope you find it helpful.
Consumer attitude and behavior offer both an
advantage and a disadvantage to marketers, for one it presents a constant
change in consumer preference and marketing strategies and on the other it
defines actions businesses take in order to succeed. Understanding the
dimensions of consumer behavior requires an in depth knowledge and the
application of psychology in marketing.
Consumer behavior forms an integral part of
marketing, in that the understanding of consumers play a vital role in
marketing strategies. Consumer behavior defines the needs of consumers and as
such determines the products and services to fulfill those needs and in turn
provides directions for marketers.
Ethical consumption on the other hand is a
function of consumer behavior, as it embodies the purchasing behavior of
individuals which can be understood through the relationship between attitude
and behavior.
A consumers overall evaluation of a product
accounts for the most of his attitude (Solomon, 2004), in other words a
consumers negative or positive feelings towards a product is on account of
his/her attitude, which may or may not translate into actual behavior.
Attitude influences the way we as consumers
think and behave, and thus forms a very important factor in ethical
consumption. Furthermore ethical consumption literature illustrates the
complexities of consumers from the decision making process to their actual
behavior and in doing so the relationship between their attitude and behavior
cannot be overlooked.
The increasing growth and popularity of
ethical consumption practices is suggestive of new forms of practices through
which business and marketing processes will change.
Although ethical consumption has gained
popularity in many parts of the world, the market share of ethical products is
still measly compared to non-ethical products and numerous reports have stated
this is due to the disparity between what consumers say they will do and what
they actually do, and has thus given rise to investigations and research into
the factors impeding ethical consumption.
In investigating this disparity, researchers
have discovered that the attitude-behavior gap is a constant reason for the
inconsistency in consumer behavior especially in ethical consumption. Through
the attitude-behavior gap researchers are able to explain the variability of
issues that exist in the area of ethical consumption.
Researchers argue that the attitude-behavior
gap in ethical consumption exist because it presents a social dilemma to
consumers (Gupta and Ogden, 2009), the attitude-behavior gap as it pertains to
ethical consumption thus creates an understanding and prediction of the
behavioral patterns of ethical consumers.
REFERENCE
- Solomon, M.R. (2004). “Consumer Behavior, Buying, Having and Being”. Pearson, Prentice Hall. 6th Edition.
- Gupta, Shruti; Ogden, Denise. (2009). “To Buy or Not To Buy? A Social Dilemma Perspective on Green Buying”. The Pennsylvania State University – Abington, Abington, Pennsylvania, USA.
