Theory of Virtue Ethics: Do Consumers' Good Traits Predict Their Socially Responsible Consumption?

Drawing upon the theory of virtue ethics, this study builds a decision tree predictive model to explore the anticipated impact of good traits (i.e., virtuous and personality traits) on socially responsible consumption. Using R statistical software, we generate a classification tree and cross-validat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics 2018-11, Vol.152 (4), p.1159-1175
Main Authors: Song, So Young, Kim, Youn-Kyung
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertisements
Bravery
Business and Management
Business Ethics
Classification
Conscientiousness
Consumer behavior
Consumers
Consumption
Decision trees
Education
Efficacy
Ethical consumerism
Ethics
Management
Morality
Openness
Personality
Personality traits
Philosophy
Prediction models
Psychological aspects
Quality of Life Research
Self control
Self-efficacy
Social responsibility
Software
Sustainability
Sustainable consumption
Virtue ethics
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Description
Summary:Drawing upon the theory of virtue ethics, this study builds a decision tree predictive model to explore the anticipated impact of good traits (i.e., virtuous and personality traits) on socially responsible consumption. Using R statistical software, we generate a classification tree and cross-validate the model on two independent datasets. The results indicate that the virtuous traits of self-efficacy, courage, and self-control, as well as the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness, predict socially responsible purchase and disposal behavior. Remarkably, the largest segment of socially responsible consumers in the study (41 %) scored high in self-efficacy and openness. This result suggests that marketers should focus on these good traits when creating advertisements to encourage sustainable consumption. Our study contributes to enhancing knowledge about the social and psychological aspects of the sustainability movement and provides a new analytical approach to predicting socially responsible consumption.
ISSN:0167-4544
1573-0697
DOI:10.1007/s10551-016-3331-3