An assessment of ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer decision-making: a structural equation modelling approach

286

International Journal of Consumer Studies,

26

, 4, December 2002, pp286–293

© 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd

Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKjcsInternational Journal of Consumer Studies0309-3891Blackwell Science, 200226Original Article

Ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical

consumer decision-making

D. Shaw and E. Shiu

Correspondence

Dr Deirdre Shaw, Division of Marketing, Glasgow Caledonian University, St Andrew House, 141 West Nile Street, Glasgow G1 2NR, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

An assessment of ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer decision-making: a structural equation modelling approach

Deirdre Shaw

1

and Edward Shiu

2

1 Division of Marketing, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK2 Division of Mathematics, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK

Abstract

Research has supported the addition of ethical obligation

and self-identity to models of consumer decision-making in

‘ethical’ contexts. The particular placement of ethical obliga-

tion and self-identity within a model of ethical consumer

decision-making remains unclear. Are these measures an

antecedent to attitude or behavioural intention? This paper

presents findings from a large scale survey of ethical con-

sumers that explores, through structural equation model-

ling, the specific placement of these measures within a

validated model of ethical consumer decision-making, which

uses the theory of planned behaviour as an initial frame-

work. This research is examined within the ‘ethical’ context

of fair trade grocery purchasing. (Fairly traded products are

those purchased under equitable trading agreements,

involving co-operative rather than competitive trading prin-

ciples, ensuring a fair price and fair working conditions for

the producers and suppliers.)

Keywords

Structure equation modelling

,

self-identity

,

fair

trade

,

ethical obligation

.

Background

The increased levels of consumption that have accom-panied our consumer-orientated culture have also givenrise to some consumers questioning their individualconsumption choices. This can be witnessed over therecent decades in which the dramatic increase in envi-ronmental awareness, which has resulted in the emer-gence of ‘green’ consumerism,

1,2

developed further into

‘ethical’ consumerism. Although also being concernedabout general environmental issues, ethical consumerscan be distinguished from green consumers by theiradditional concern for more wide-ranging issues, suchas fair trade and armament manufacture.

3–5

This distinc-tion between ‘green’ and ‘ethical’ consumerism isimportant, as concern for a broader range of issues inethical consumerism can add significantly to the com-plexity of consumer decisions.

6

Ethical concerns are, forexample, often on-going and irresolvable.

7

Arguably,substantially more effort is therefore required on thepart of the consumer in decision-making.

Understanding of the role and impact of ethical con-cerns on consumer decision-making is limited. Existingmodels of consumer decision-making are only partlysatisfactory, as they tend to emphasize hedonic, self-interested outcomes, in contrast with the more societal-centred viewpoint of ethical consumers. Importantcontributions have been made in this area.

6,8–10

Usingthe theory of planned behaviour

11

as a framework, Shawand colleagues

8

developed a modified model of deci-sion-making that included measures of ethical obliga-tion and self-identity. These measures were found to bepertinent in the explanation of behavioural intention inan ‘ethical’ decision-making context. Further research,however, questioned the precise placement of ethicalobligation and self-identity within the modified theoryof planned behaviour model.

10

Regression analysisrevealed that these measures, in addition to their con-tribution to the explanation of behavioural intention,also made an important contribution as antecedents toattitude. These findings, which are outlined in detaillater in the paper, are important as they clearly questionthe actual placement of these measures within the the-ory of planned behaviour model. Further, these findingsquestion the adequacy of conceptualizing attitude asresulting solely from the sum of behavioural beliefs and



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Ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer decision-making

outcome evaluation as the theory of planned behaviourmodel states.

A further clarification of the role of the measures ofethical obligation and self-identity in the prediction ofboth attitude and behavioural intention is essential tothe theoretical advancement of a model of decision-making concerned with behaviours that contain an eth-ical/moral dimension. Having established the casual linkbetween ethical obligation and self-identity in the pre-diction of attitude using regression analysis, the directcontribution of ethical obligation and self-identity in theprediction of behavioural intention must also be simul-taneously allowed. This second relationship is vital tothe exploration of a ‘full’ decision-making model whereall-important relationships are permitted. Structuralequation modelling can further the understandings gen-erated from the previous regression analysis by enablingthe specification of a model in which ethical obligationand self-identity directly impact both attitude andbehavioural intention. This paper will detail findingsthat use structural equation modelling to identify thecausal links contained within a modified and previouslyvalidated model of ethical consumer decision-making,specifically examining the contribution of ethical obli-gation and self-identity in the prediction of attitude andbehavioural intention.

Theory of planned behaviour

The theory of planned behaviour

11

has been extensivelyapplied and valued by many researchers. This wellknown theory of attitude–behaviour relationships linkattitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural con-trol, behavioural intentions and behaviour in a fixedcausal sequence. Behaviour (

B

) is deemed to be a directfunction of behavioural intention (

BI

), which in turn isa function of attitude (

ATT

), subjective norm (

SN

) andperceived behavioural control (

PBC

). Attitude towardsperforming the behaviour is further deemed to be asummed product (

S

b

i

e

i

) of the individuals’ beliefs (

B

i

)and their evaluation of those beliefs (

E

i

). The subjectiveperception of normative influences are considered to bea summed product (

S

nb

j

mc

j

) of individuals’ beliefs thatimportant others think they should or should not per-form the behaviour in question (

Nb

j

), and their motiva-tion to comply with these others (

Mc

j

). Similarly,

perceived behavioural control is a direct measure thatresults from antecedents in the form of control beliefs(

S

pbc

).

Modified theory of planned behaviour

Research has supported the inclusion of further predic-tor variables to the theory of planned behaviour, includ-ing, more recently, the measures of ethical or moralobligation (

EO

)

8,12,13

and self-identity (

SI

).

8,14

Ethicalobligation represents an individual’s internalized ethicalrules, which reflect personal beliefs about appropriatebehaviour.

8

Self-identity can be defined as the pertinentpart of an individual’s self that relates to a particularbehaviour.

15

In the context of ethical consumer behav-iour, these measures are important as decision-makingis driven in part by a sense of ethical obligation and self-identity with ethical issues.

8

The traditional theory ofplanned behaviour neglects such behaviours, assumingindividuals act in a rational self-interested manner. Inthe context of the present study, for example, althoughmany consumers acting in a rational self-motivatedmanner may select chocolate on the basis of factors suchas price and convenience, those concerned about ethicalissues have been found to be guided by a sense of obli-gation to others, where concerns such as providing a fairprice for fair trade producers take priority.

8

This modi-fied theory of planned behaviour is illustrated in Fig. 1.

Attitude antecedents

It has additionally been proposed that ethical obligationmay serve as a causal antecedent, not only to behav-ioural intention, but also to attitude.

10,16,17

These findingsclearly suggest that attitude can only be explained inpart by the individuals’ beliefs (

B

i

) and their evaluationof those beliefs (

E

i

), and are further determined byconsiderations independent of self-interest. The impor-tance of such a finding is significant given that, as statedabove, it questions critical theoretical underpinnings ofthe theory of planned behaviour model; that is the ade-quacy of conceptualizing attitude as resulting from

B

i

and

E

i

only. Research has also highlighted the need toassess the role of self-identity as an attitude anteced-ent.

13,14

In exploring this gap in understanding, Shaw andShiu

10

found that self-identity did indeed improve the


•

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prediction of attitude over and above that attributableto beliefs and ethical obligation. Thus, using the exam-ple of chocolate given above, Shaw and Shiu

10

suggestthat for ethically concerned consumers their overall atti-tude to fair trade products is probably not only influ-enced by self-motivated concerns, but rather is drivenby a sense of ethical obligation. Additionally, identifica-tion with ethical issues is likely to result in empathy forthese concerns, and the consequent development of amore positive attitude towards them. These findingsusing hierarchical regression analysis, detailed inTable 1, reveal the independent contribution of ethicalobligation and self-identity in the prediction of attitudewithin the theory of planned behaviour model.

The findings detailed above clearly highlight the needto clarify the role and placement of the measures ofethical obligation and self-identity in the prediction ofboth attitude and behavioural intention. The casual linkbetween ethical obligation and self-identity in the pre-diction of attitude has been established using regressionanalysis. Research now needs to address the direct con-tribution of ethical obligation and self-identity in theprediction of behavioural intention also. The applica-tion of this additional relationship is essential to enablethe exploration of all the important relationshipswithin the model. Additionally, in the context of ethicalconsumer choice where difficulties are apparent in deci-sion-making

8

it is expected that ethical obligation andself-identity play a key role as drivers that compensateand motivate the consumer to overcome these per-ceived behavioural control difficulties. Thus, structuralequation modelling can significantly further the under-standings generated from the previous regression anal-ysis through enabling the specification of a model whereethical obligation and self-identity directly impact bothattitude and behavioural intention. This is achieved

using a validated model of ethical consumer decision-making

9

that is outlined below.

Model of ethical consumer decision-making

Each of the above studies utilizing the theory ofplanned behaviour framework used the regression anal-ysis technique. This technique, however, does not allowa full examination of model measures in the explanationof behavioural intention and is constrained to using thedirect measures, attitude, subjective norm, perceivedbehavioural control, ethical obligation and self-identityonly. In light of the complexity of decision-making dem-onstrated in ethical choice

6

it may be deemed moreappropriate to use the beliefs underlying each directmeasure. Indeed beliefs may not always be reflective oftheir direct measures, as the theory of planned behav-iour would assume.

8,18

It could be suggested thereforethat beliefs might aggregate to form latent factors thatare different perspectives from the direct measures.Structural equation modelling addresses these issues intwo important respects. First, structural equation mod-elling allows the specification of a chain of causal linksfrom beliefs, via constructs through to behaviouralintention, which is not possible under regression analy-

Figure 1

Modified theory of planned behaviour with ethical obligation and self-identity.

Table 1

Contribution of ethical obligation and self-identity to attitude

Variables ˆ

b

Beta weights Adjusted R

2

F change in R

2

S

b

i

e

i

0.0031*** 0.1797 0.1071EO 0.1589*** 0.2926 0.2307 111.498***SI 0.1320*** 0.1670 0.2489 17.633***

*

P

<

0.05; **

P

<

0.01; ***

P

<

0.001.



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•


sis. Second, structural equation modelling allows thespecification of latent factors, this enables the modellingof cognitive constructs underpinning the model. Theextraction of only the most pertinent beliefs shouldyield a more appropriate representation than directmeasures, arguably serving to address the often occur-rence of a low correlation between direct measures andtheir component beliefs.

Using structural equation modelling, a model of eth-ical consumer decision-making was developed and thencross-validated on a second respondent sample (seeFig. 2). Within structural equation modelling, there is noone statistical test that can best assess the model fit.Rather, an assessment of fit can be best achieved byusing a combination of goodness-of-fit measures thatcan be utilized to assess absolute fit, incremental fit andparsimonious fit. In this study, a combination of good-ness-of-fit index (GFI) (raw and adjusted (AGFI), com-parative fit index (CFI), parsimonious goodness-of-fitindex (PGFI) and Akaike information criterion (AIC)was used; analysis was conducted using CALIS withinSAS. The model detailed in Fig. 2 revealed a goodstructural fit (GFI

=

0.96; AGFI

=

0.93; CFI

=

0.96;PGFI

=

0.66; AIC

=

57.76) and an explanatory abilitysignificantly improved from the previous regressionanalysis model (

R

2

=

0.52 compared with

R

2

=

0.24 pre-viously). This model (Model 1) contains modified theoryof planned behaviour constructs and the constructs eth-

ical obligation and self-identity. The theory of plannedbehaviour constructs, through the application of reli-ability analysis, each becomes two distinct empiricallyand conceptually defensible constructs, namely,att_control (

a

=

0.57) and att_traditional (

a

=

0.74) forattitude, sn_traditional (

a

=

0.60) and sn_context(

a

=

0.76) for subjective norm, and pbc_traditional(

a

=

0.82) and pbc_context (

a

=

0.55) for perceivedbehavioural control. In particular, the newly establishedconstruct att_traditional is taken as the attitude con-struct (attitude) for this study. Full details of this modeland its development are outlined elsewhere.

9

Although moving away from the traditional theory ofplanned behaviour structure as supported by the litera-ture, the adoption of a conceptually defensible structurefor this context has resulted in a model that is betterable to explain behavioural intention. Further, thiscross-validated model now contains two meta-constructs; behavioural control (

BC

) reflective of inter-nal and external control factors, and internal reflection(

IR

) reflective of internal reasoning, specific to ethicalconsumer decision-making. Through consideration ofinternal reflection, this model takes account of the com-plexity that ethical concerns can bring to the decision-making process, while also considering the behaviouralcontrol issues that can impact an individual’s ability toact in accordance with their ‘ethical’ concerns andresponsibilities. This model will therefore be used to

Figure 2

Model of ethical consumer decision-making: model 1.


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Figure 3

Model of ethical consumer decision-making: exploration of antecedents.

explore the placement of ethical obligation and self-identity. Structural equation modelling will serve toevaluate the validity of the findings on attitude anteced-ents, based on regression, while providing a depth ofunderstanding of the overall model superior to that gen-erated by regression alone.

Methodology

The analysis detailed in this paper was conducted ondata obtained from a purposive sample of 736 known‘ethical’ consumers (36.8% response rate) obtainedfrom UK subscribers to the ‘Ethical Consumer’ maga-zine. To address the precise role of ethical obligationand self-identity within the theory of planned behaviourframework, it was essential to select a sample in whichethical values are likely to feature strongly. The mainresearch instrument, a postal questionnaire, was con-structed following the recommendations of Ajzen andFishbein

19

and others.

11,14,16,17,20

The behavioural focusexplored in this instrument was the individual’s behav-ioural intention to purchase fair trade grocery products.Full details of this methodology and research instru-ment are contained in the work of Shaw and colleagues.

8

Results

As discussed previously, regression analysis does not

allow for the specification of interrelationships betweenpredictor variables. The use of structural equation mod-elling is vital, therefore, to clarify the precise roles ofethical obligation and self-identity within a validatedmodel of ethical consumer decision-making. Examina-tion of models where ethical obligation and self-identityare considered as antecedents to attitude (

ATT

), as wellas behavioural intention (through internal ethics,

IE

,and internal reflection,

IR

), will consider model fit andability to predict behavioural intention as comparedwith Model 1. The significance of the attitude, ethicalobligation and self-identity predictor paths, in light ofthe added contribution of these constructs will also beconsidered.

The validated model detailed in Fig. 2 was re-specified, to allow an additional causal link first betweenethical obligation in the prediction of attitude. Second,the contribution of self-identity in the prediction of atti-tude and behavioural intention was similarly explored.Finally, the role of both ethical obligation and self-identity in the prediction of attitude and behaviouralintention was examined. These relationships are repre-sented by broken lines in Fig. 3. Examination of modelsin which ethical obligation and self-identity are consid-ered as antecedents to attitude, as well as behaviouralintention (through internal ethics and internal reflec-tion), will consider model fit and ability to predictbehavioural intention as compared with the original



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Model 1 (Fig. 2) without these additional relationships.The significance of the attitude, ethical obligation andself-identity predictor paths, in light of the added con-tribution of these constructs, will also be considered.The resultant models are discussed below and model fitstatistics are detailed in Table 2.

Ethical obligation an antecedent to attitude and behavioural intention

In the specification of ethical obligation as an anteced-ent to attitude and internal ethics, findings reveal that,when compared with the original Model 1, the ability topredict behavioural intention and almost all the modelfit statistics are similar. The Chi-square value though,compared with Model 1, has increased significantly(c2

diff = 23.31 with 5 d.f and P < 0.001). Furthermore, inthis new specification the ‘new’ latent factor of attitudehas no significant impact on internal reflection. Thus,although the path between ethical obligation and atti-tude is significant within the model, the new latentfactor created through the addition of ethical obliga-tion to attitude is of negligible value (standardizedcoefficient = -0.0002). This newly defined attitudetherefore has no role within the model. The non-significance of this new attitude reveals that ethical obli-gation, as an antecedent of attitude, has served to makeattitude irrelevant within a previously validated model.The hypothesis that ethical obligation serves as an ante-cedent to attitude is therefore rejected.

Self-identity an antecedent to attitude and behavioural intention

The specification of an additional causal link betweenself-identity and attitude produced a model, with a

greatly increased Akaike’s Information Criterion(AIC = 104.4952), compared with Model 1 in whichAIC = 57.76. The Chi-square value has significantlyincreased also (c2

diff = 56.73 with 5 d.f and P < 0.001).Further, although all predictor paths to behaviouralintention were significant, suggesting that self-identitymay impact a latent factor of ‘attitude’, the low R2 value(0.1048) for ‘attitude’ questions such a suggestion. TheR2 value for this newly defined attitude captured onlyaround 10% of the variance in this new latent factor.This value cannot serve to confirm the role of self-identity as an antecedent to attitude. Thus, althoughfindings suggest a significant impact of self-identity on‘attitude’ the resultant attitude is clearly inappropriate,as approximately 90% of its variation remain unex-plained. The addition of self-identity as an antecedentto attitude serves to greatly diminish a previously welldefined attitude and, as such, cannot be supported as anantecedent to attitude.

Ethical obligation and self-identity an antecedent to attitude and behavioural intention

The specification of both ethical obligation and self-identity as antecedents to attitude and behaviouralintention, when compared with Model 1, reveals aslightly increased ability to predict behavioural inten-tion (R2 = 0.5737) as against R2 = 0.5219 for Model 1.However, model fit is reduced with AIC = 72.9483 andc2

diff = 23.19 with 4 d.f and P < 0.001. Further, the pre-dictor paths to behavioural intention for self-identityand for ‘attitude’ become non-significant, as does thepath between self-identity and the newly defined atti-tude. This new model is therefore rejected on the basisthat previously validated latent factors, attitude andself-identity, have lost their roles, with consequent

Table 2 Model fit statistics: antecedents of attitude models

Model Chi2 GFI AGFI CFI PGFI AIC

Model 1 345.7606 d.f. = 144 0.9556 0.9287 0.9598 0.6553 57.7606EO 369.0666 d.f. = 149 0.9526 0.9265 0.9561 0.6759 71.0666SI 402.4952 d.f. = 149 0.9477 0.9189 0.9495 0.6724 104.4952EO & SI 368.9483 d.f. = 148 0.9526 0.9260 0.9560 0.6714 72.9483

Ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer decision-making • D. Shaw and E. Shiu

292 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 26, 4, December 2002, pp286–293 © 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd

confusion on the role of the meta-construct internalreflection.

Discussion

Results from this stage of the study, which explored theplacement of ethical obligation and self-identity usingan improved and validated model structure (Fig. 2),have contradicted the findings from previous regressionanalysis in terms of the previously suggested contribu-tion of ethical obligation and self-identity in the pre-diction of attitude. Rather, the above findings usingstructural equation modelling clearly reveal structuralproblems within a model in which these relationshipsare specified.

The previous discussion10 concerning the role of eth-ical obligation and self-identity and their contributionto attitude and behavioural intention must be reconsid-ered in light of these findings. In view of regressionanalysis that suggested that both ethical obligation andself-identity were pertinent to the prediction of attitude,it was considered that attitude was not driven by self-motivated concerns, but rather by a sense of ethicalobligation and self-identity with the issue. Subsequentfindings using structural equation modelling suggestthat ethical obligation and self-identity are pertinent tothe prediction of behavioural intention only, and do notadditionally operate through attitude. This would sug-gest that, for this behavioural context, if other influenc-ing factors were indeed not accounted for within thesebeliefs, they are not ethical obligation and self-identity.

Conclusions and implications

To conclude, the use of structural equation modelling inthis part of the study has allowed a more rigorous exam-ination of the interrelationships between the direct mea-sures of the beliefs and the hypothesized cognitiveconstructs of attitude, ethical obligation and self-identity. structural equation modelling has furtherenabled the specification of the simultaneous impact ofa construct, for example, ethical obligation towardsbehavioural intention and also towards behaviouralintention via attitude. It has further afforded the exam-ination of these relationships in the context of predictingbehavioural intention, which provides an additional

evaluation of the ‘worth’ of the model in terms of itspredictive ability. The use of structural equation model-ling has therefore served to further the earlier regressionanalysis findings.10,16,17 Findings now reveal that the roleof ethical obligation and self-identity is better repre-sented through the prediction of behavioural intentiononly, and not through attitude as previously suggested.These findings clearly suggest that any examination ofethical obligation and self-identity (and any other mea-sure), as potential antecedents of attitude (or other con-structs) must not be conducted in isolation (i.e.excluding behavioural intention). Furthermore, suchexamination should take into account the structure thatmight be present within the possible complex interrela-tionships amongst the constructs. Hence, regressionanalysis is not an appropriate technique to be appliedin this respect.

The current findings are important in furtheringunderstanding of the role and importance of specificdeterminants in ethical consumer decision-making.Vital in this area is the full model of decision-making.Although the current model presented in this paper hasa reasonable explanatory ability (R2 = 0.52), it must benoted that some information remains unexplained(approximately 48%). It is therefore necessary to con-sider how future research can achieve improvements inunderstanding. Past research has highlighted the impor-tance of measures of information and emotional reac-tion in ethical consumer decision-making.6 Furtherunderstandings in this context may be achieved by con-sidering the development of model measures that rep-resent these areas. With the growing impact of ethicalissues across consumers, business and politics, theunderstandings generated from the present study willserve to advance research applications in this context.The fundamental insights provided into model factorsand constructs serve as an important developmentalplatform for future research.

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An assessment of ethical obligation and self-identity in ethical consumer decision-making: a structural equation modelling approach