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Care and Commitment in Ethical Consumption: An Exploration of the ‘Attitude–Behaviour Gap’

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Abstract

In this paper we argue that greater attention must be given to peoples’ expression of “care” in relation to consumption. We suggest that “caring about” does not necessarily lead to “care-giving,” as conceptualising an attitude–behaviour gap might imply, but that a closer examination of the intensity, morality, and articulation of care can lead to a greater understanding of consumer narratives and, thus, behaviour. To examine this proposition, a purposive sample of self-identified ethical consumers was interviewed. Care is expressed by the study’s participants in a variety of ways and linked to behaviour through diverse patterns that includes consumption and abstention. We find significant correspondence between the academic literature on the ‘ethics of care’ and our participants’ articulation of their ethical consumption behaviours. We suggest, therefore, that a close understanding of an ethics of care among consumers is important both in providing insight into the attitude–behaviour gap challenge evident in the literature and to the continued development of an ethical consumption discourse.

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Notes

  1. We strongly resist, however, any suggestion or inference that our orientation necessarily precludes other explanations, or that our stance is somehow an advocacy of methodological individualism. For us, individuals are socially embedded, i.e. individuals are born into systems of institutions (social rules), such as language and marriage, which constrain, mould and enable those individuals. We readily recognise that individuals also have the potential to do likewise to institutions, i.e. they have the power to change institutions and, therefore, also partly enabling, constituting and constraining of institutions: institutions are embedded in the minds of individuals (Dolfsma et al. 2011; Hodgson 2003).

  2. Tronto also recognises care receiving as a distinct phase, but this is of less relevance to the analysis we present here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Gilbert Scott Building, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    Deirdre Shaw & Robert McMaster

  2. University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Terry Newholm

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  1. Deirdre Shaw
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  2. Robert McMaster
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Correspondence to Deirdre Shaw.

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Shaw, D., McMaster, R. & Newholm, T. Care and Commitment in Ethical Consumption: An Exploration of the ‘Attitude–Behaviour Gap’. J Bus Ethics 136, 251–265 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2442-y

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