Ethical Consumerism: A Review, Conceptual Model and Agenda for Research.

Introduction:

Ethical consumerism is a relatively recent phenomenon that has captured the attention of society during the last two decades. The concept refers to consumer behavior based on social and environmental considerations. However, although ethical decision making has been extensively studied from the perspective of companies during the last 30 to 40 years (Hunt and Vitell, 1992; Vitell, 2003), the consumer side of the ethics equation still remains relatively unexplored (Folkes and Kamins, 1999; Carrigan and Attalla, 2001; Uusitalo and Oksanen, 2004). Ethical consumerism is often considered the consumer equivalent of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Objectives:

This manuscript examines the scientific literature on ethical consumerism and generates a conceptual model of ethical consumer behaviour, in order to form the basis of an agenda for research on this increasingly prevalent phenomenon. 

Data/methods:

The analysis and development of the conceptual model is based on the examination and comparison of secondary data. The principle sources of information are located within the disciplines of marketing and consumer research. However, publications from government agencies and non-profit organizations (such as Oxfam and Cooperative Bank in UK; and Forética and Confederación de Consumidores y Usuarios in Spain) have also been included in the review.

Results:

The explored empirical and theoretical studies are organized according to the line of investigation that they were following. Some of these are descriptive, while others attempt to delve deeper into ethical consumer decision making. Based on their results, a conceptual model of ethical consumer behaviour is proposed.