Emotions and dissonance in ‘ethical’ consumption choices

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of emotions and the prevalence of dissonant/incongruent choice behaviour within the context of ethical consumption. Based on 31 in-depth interviews with British consumers, the findings demonstrate that consumers consciously indulge in ‘ethical’ and ‘unethical’ behaviour (as defined by respondents themselves), often within short time frames, and that they often compensate for unethical choices by making ethical choices later on (and vice versa). The study provides evidence that positive and negative emotions are a key driver of this dissonant behaviour. Guilt is the most salient emotion, and a taxonomy of guilt in this context is derived from the data. Consumers are found to employ guilt-management strategies in order to sustain contradictory behaviour and manage cognitive dissonance. A conceptual framework is derived in order to summarise the observed role of emotions in ethical consumer choice. The paper also provides additional explanations of the manifestation of the attitude–behaviour gap.

Keywords:

• ethical consumption
• dissonant behaviour
• cognitive dissonance
• emotions
• attitude–behaviour gap

Notes

1. Beginner voluntary simplifiers are consumers who embrace some types of ethical behaviour, e.g. various Fairtrade products and recycling, but they do not base their lifestyle on the assumptions of sustainability and ethics as voluntary simplifiers do. Alternatively, non-voluntary simplifiers disregard the ethical dimension of the products and services that they purchase and consume (MacDonald et al., 2006).

2. Throughout the paper, the verbatim extracts have been coded using F (i.e. female) and M (i.e. male) followed by a number, which was used for the researchers’ own records.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diana Gregory-Smith

Diana Gregory-Smith is a lecturer in marketing at Durham Business School, UK. Her research interests lie in the area of consumer behaviour and psychology, particularly in relation to emotions and consumers’ decision making. Current research projects are related to decision making in ethical consumption and pro-social marketing communications. She is also interested in decision making for tourism products.

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is an associate professor in marketing at Nottingham University Business School, UK. His principal areas of interest are consumer psychology and consumer time series data analysis. He has worked on a number of funded research projects for the ESRC, Scottish Office, European Union, The Office of Fair Trading, and various commercial organisations.

T 44 (0) 115 8467650

E [email protected]

Heidi Winklhofer

Heidi Winklhofer is a professor in marketing at Nottingham University Business School, UK, with research interests in customer perceived value, customer participation, and contemporary marketing practice. She has worked with members of the Contemporary Marketing Practice group and various commercial organisations. Her current research deals with customers as effective resource integrators and measurements of customer value.

T [phone]

E [email protected]