The Influence Of Ethics And Social Responsibility On Grocery Shopping Behaviour In The UK

Abstract

Consumption as an aspect of most people's lives in affluent societies is widelyacknowledged as having become increasingly important (Newholm, 2005). Weconsume more, and consume more often, than previous generations (Durning, 1992)meaning the actions we make and the decisions we take have greater impact than everbefore on the world we inhabit. For many their involvement with consumption goesbeyond the act of purchase (Oilman, 1998) to include complex ethical dimensions.The relationship between ethics and social responsibility (E&SR) and consumptionchoices has received growing attention over recent years, resulting in the topic of'sustainable consumption' becoming a central focus for national and internationalpolicy (Jackson, 2005). Yet a review of the pertinent literature in the fields of E&SR,consumer behaviour and shopping motives uncovers the limitations of existing E&SRresearch in relation to grocery shopping activities.What E&SR factors influence consumers' grocery shopping choice decisions andbehaviour? How important are they when compared to traditional store image andproduct attribute criteria? How do attitudes influence E&SR grocery consumption?Who are the E&SR buyer types and how may they be differentiated and segmented?This thesis sets out to address these questions and comprises the results of, andreflections on, an investigation into grocery shopping behaviour in the South West ofEngland. It consists of three stages: a literature review; a series of exploratory focusgroup interviews; and a confirmatory quantitative study.Content, factor, multiple regression and cluster analysis find: shopping motivations varyaccording to two facts I) the shopping consideration (store to patronise, product topurchase), and 2) the shopping occasion (main shop, top-up shop); differences occur inthe importance of E&SR issues and traditional elements of store image/product attributedepending on the shopping activity; attitudes, perceived behavioural control and ethicalobligation are linked to E&SR behaviour with differences in the importance of E&SRconcerns meaning that E&SR shoppers are not a homogenous group. Results enable apreliminary typology of E&SR grocery shopping concerns to be derived and a range ofE&SR consumer types to be proposed.This insight offers a far more complex market that has hitherto been recognised.Motivating E&SR behaviour is far from straight forward due to dissonance occurring indecision-making as consumers try to balance traditional retail aspects with their E&SRbeliefs, so finding themselves 'locked in' to non-E&SR behaviours in spite of their bestintentions. In these circumstances strategies are required to make it easy for consumersto behave in an E&SR manner: ensuring access to information that aids and encouragespro-E&SR behaviour, highlighting non-financial E&SR behaviours, and forGovernment to exemplify the desired changes through their own policies and practices.

Date of Award	2005
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Plymouth
Supervisor	Phil Megicks (Director of Studies (First Supervisor)), J Williams (Other Supervisor) & John Kaler (Other Supervisor)