Article Preview
TopIntroduction
Ethical consumer behaviour is a burgeoning social movement (Carrington, Neville & Whitwell, 2012) and a topic that has received increased attention in recent decades. Market research data in UK suggest that ethical food and drink market represents 8% of the total food and drink market (Cooperative Bank, 2009) and 89% of UK consumers report they have ethical issues of concern (Lazzarini & de Mello, 2001). Thus, consumers increasingly express concerns about the ethicality and impact of their consumption choices upon the environment, animals and the society (De Pelsmacker, Driesen & Rayp, 2005; Shaw & Shui, 2002). Based on political, religious, spiritual, environmental or social motives (Harrison, Newholm & Shaw, 2005) consumers are involved in number of ethical decisions including organic production (Clarke et al., 2008; Dombos, 2008; Guthman, 2004; Tullock & Lupton, 2002); environmentally friendly packaging (Shaw, 2007; Bech-Larsen, 1996; Thogersen & Grunert-Beckmann, 1996) and recycling (Taylor & Todd, 1995; Thogersen 1994; Diamantopoulos et al., 2003) that are predominantly focused on environmental and social concerns.
These ethical decisions may have been derived by consumers either as a result of consumer responses to various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives enforced/promoted by organisations, or due to their internal and personal moral values developed through religious or spiritual beliefs. Current literature posit the significance of religion in human behaviour including learning and development (Sherkat, 2010); promoting health and reducing risk behaviours such as smoking and drinking alcohol (Sinha, Cnaan and Gelles, 2007; De Micheli and Formigoni 2002; Wallace and Forman, 1998) and consumption of food, clothing and charity (Nam et al. 2010; Ger, 2005).
Thus, besides CSR oriented or CSR provoked ethical consumer behaviour that are well researched in the consumer research, the impact of one’s religious beliefs on ethical decision-making is significantly valid as spiritually oriented consumption behaviour may also encompass consumption choices upon the environment, animals and the society. Thus, investigation of the relationship between one’s religious beliefs and ethical decision-making is paramount to advance consumer behaviour theories and addresses continuous research calls on religion and consumption (Izberk-Bilgin, 2012; Beruchashvili & Arnould, 2005; Watts & Loy, 1998).
The study conceptualises the importance of religious motives (or beliefs) in ethical consumer behaviour and empirically explore whether and how religious beliefs influence consumer ethical-decision making by captivating the Five precepts framework in Buddhism. The study contributes towards consumer research by highlighting the importance of religious beliefs in shaping ethical behaviour that have the ability to precede CSR provoked ethical behaviours put forward by organisation in the current marketing environment.