Mask wearing as a prosocial consumption behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: an application of the theory of reasoned action

ABSTRACT

This study adopts a theory of reasoned action approach to understand consumers’ mask wearing when shopping in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated mask wearing while shopping as a prosocial consumption behaviour whereby self-oriented benefits and others-oriented benefits are added as proposed drivers of attitudes and perceived social norms. Empirical evidence from a survey in France and Germany confirms a strong effect of social norms on mask-wearing intentions. Moreover, altruistic benefits predict mask-wearing intentions, with attitude and subjective norms as mediators. In contrast, self-expression benefits of mask wearing only influence perceived social norms and not attitudes; this effect differs between the countries. Our findings guide scholars, policy makers and practitioners to steer consumers’ mask wearing as a prosocial behaviour.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• theory of reasoned action
• altruistic benefits
• self-expression benefits
• prosocial behaviour
• face masks

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/france,germany/, retrieved November 8^th, 2021.

Additional information

Funding

Received support from central internationalization funds of Universität Hamburg.

Notes on contributors

Claire-Lise Ackermann

Claire-Lise Ackermann is Associate Professor of Marketing at Rennes School of Business, France. Her current research interests focus on attitude formation and change, particularly in relation to services and new products. She has published her research in journals, such as the International Journal of Market Research, the Journal of Marketing Management, the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, and the Journal of Business Research.

Haoye Sun

Haoye Sun is a postdoc research associate of the Chair of Marketing and Innovation at the University of Hamburg. Her research interests are consumer decision making and implicit cognition.

Thorsten Teichert

Thorsten Teichert holds the Chair of Marketing and Innovation at the University of Hamburg, Germany. His international research and consulting projects address issues of consumer decision making and new product development. Earlier in his career, Teichert advised innovation projects in the automotive industry and directed mergers and acquisitions projects.

Christiana Tercia

Christiana Tercia is the vice dean at the School of Business and Economics, Universitas Prasetiya Mulya. Her research and teaching focus on marketing including consumer behaviour, marketing strategy, experiential marketing, marketing management, selling in business, brand management and trade marketing. She has been awarded research grants by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdients (DAAD).

Rohit Trivedi

Rohit Trivedi is Associate Professor of Strategic Marketing at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. His research focuses on green marketing, integrated marketing communication, big data in social science, entrepreneurship, firm innovation, consumer decision making, implicit cognition and artificial intelligence. Trivedi has published in such journals as the Journal of Business Research, the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Advertising Research, the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Information Sciences, the Journal of Cleaner Production, and the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, amongst others.