Tracking the Path of the Green Consumer: Surveying the Decision-Making Process from Self-Transcendent Values to Supportive CSR Intentions

Nicholas Eng, Christen Buckley and Rachel X. Peng
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Nicholas Eng: Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
Christen Buckley: Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
Rachel X. Peng: Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between individual traits and values of consumers and their decision-making process pertaining to purchasing green products from companies with a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Guided by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the main goal of this online survey ( N = 463) is to understand the relationship between self-transcendent values, environmentalism, attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, and purchase frequency to better understand how consumers make green purchasing decisions. A structural equation model shows support for our predictions that self-transcendent values significantly and positively predict environmentalism, which in turn predicted the TPB variables. Interestingly, only attitudes towards purchasing green products were significantly predictive of purchasing products from companies with strong commitments to CSR, which subsequently predicted actual purchase frequency. We hope that our research will benefit scholars and practitioners by contributing to the work in CSR and environmental communication.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; self-transcendent values; theory of planned behavior; environmentalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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