Socially responsible consumption: an application in Colombia

• Author: Sebastián Dueñas Ocampo,William Fernando Durán León,Jesús Perdomo‐Ortiz,Lida Esperanza Villa Castaño
• Date: 01 October 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12128
• Published date: 01 October 2016

Socially responsible

consumption: an application

in Colombia

Lida Esperanza Villa Casta~

no,

Jes

us Perdomo-Ortiz,

Sebasti

an Due~

nas Ocampo and

William Fernando Dur

an Le

on

Department of Business Administration, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogot

a, Colombia

This study constructs a measurement scale for Socially Responsible Consumption in the particular context of

Colombia. It uses a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodological approach, beginning with four focus

groups and ending with a quantitative validation exercise employing Exploratory Factor Analysis. The result

is a Socially Responsible Consumption measurement scale consisting of four dimensions that reflect

paradigms found in the existing literature. These are, however, expressed differently in Colombia. In

particular, Socially Responsible Consumption involves consumer behavior that favors corporate social

responsibility practices and the rational consumption of resources and products while recognizing the

importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle through healthcare.

Introduction

Our planet is facing a global state of emergency in

which environmental capacity and the recovery

thresholds of ecosystems, societies and weak institu-

tions are being pushed to their limits. We are entering

the sixth mass extinction (Ceballos et al. 2015), and

this is only one of many problems humanity is facing,

such as climate change, overpopulation, deforesta-

tion, and the lack of political commitment and collab-

oration (Ehrlich & Ehrlich 2013). The consumption

of goods and services lies at the heart of these prob-

lems, and in some regions of the planet, average con-

sumption is simply beyond the earth’s capacity to

sustain it (Behrens et al. 2007; Manciniet al.2016).

The rise of Socially Responsible Consumption

includes a complex reappraisal of consumer demands,

characterized by a heightened awareness of the impacts

our behavior has on society and on the equilibria of

ecosystems ( €

Ozc¸a

glar-Toulouse 2005; Francois-

Lecompte 2010; Perdomo-Ortiz & Escobar 2011;

Due~

nas Ocampo et al. 2014). Socially Responsible

Consumption introduces social and environmental

responsibility into the criteria used when making pur-

chasing and consumption decisions, extending to the

evaluation of every step of the value chain.

1

Responsi-

ble consumption means ‘doing more and better with

less, increasing net welfare gains from economic activ-

ities by reducing resource use, degradation and pollu-

tion along the whole lifecycle, while increasing quality

of life’ (United Nations 2015). Understanding specific

features of Socially Responsible Consumption world-

wideandinrelationtoparticularcontextsisarelevant

research stream in need of further exploration.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attri-

bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any

medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

V

C2016 The Authors. Business Ethics: A European Review Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road,

Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA

doi: 10.1111/beer.12128

460

Business Ethics: A European Review

Volume 25 Number 4 October 2016

This study examines a construct for measuring

Socially Responsible Consumption in a specific

country (Colombia), contributing to the under-

standing of how this type of consumption is con-

tingent upon the specific context in which it is

being measured. Our research question derives

from a gradual change in consumer values, cur-

rently guided by environmental concerns and social

awareness (Inglehart 2015). This has led to the

emergence of evolving Socially Responsible Con-

sumption behavior among consumers that is con-

tingent on their cultural, socioeconomic and

political environment (Maignan 2001; Francois-

Lecompte & Roberts 2006). From a scholarly

perspective, this behavior has been studied using

different types of metrics. Hence, the validation of

Socially Responsible Consumption must be tested

in multiple contexts, as noted in numerous studies

(Francois-Lecompte & Roberts 2006; Singh 2009;

Lee & Shin 2010; Yan & She 2011; Wesley et al.

2012; P

erez-Barea et al. 2015). Joining this line of

research, this paper will contribute to the construc-

tion of a Socially Responsible Consumption mea-

surement tool for use within one such specific

context. This study aims to answer the following

question: What is the measurement scale of the

construct known as Socially Responsible Consumption

for measuring Socially Responsible Consumption in

Colombia?

This study develops an appropriate metric using a

mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches.

The authors assembled four focus groups for the

qualitative inquiry. Next, a set of items was drafted

using focus group data and information provided

through background research. This data set was sub-

sequently analyzed using quantitative methods.

Thus, we sought evidence of content validity by con-

sulting expert judges, of construct validity through

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and of criterion

validity through regression models using Socially

Responsible Consumption tool scores as a depend-

ent variable.

This article is divided into six sections. The first is

this introduction, followed by a review of the con-

ceptual framework of Socially Responsible Con-

sumption. The third part details our methodology.

The fourth and fifth sections present our results in

detail before discussing them. The article ends with

the study’s conclusions, its limitations, and sugges-

tions for further research.

Conceptual framework

The Socially Responsible Consumption

concept

Our research on Socially Responsible Consumption

investigates the methods by which consumers make

use of their rationality in making purchasing and

consumption decisions (Moosmayer 2012). Addi-

tionally, this study analyzes the socially responsible

consumer considering different disciplines and

assuming a multidisciplinary perspective (Peattie

2010).

Building on the work of Berkowitz & Lutterman

(1968) and Anderson & Cunningham (1972), the first

definition of Socially Responsible Consumption that

appears in the literature comes from Webster (1975:

188), who states that Socially Responsible Consump-

tion describes ‘a consumer who takes into account

the public consequences of his or her private con-

sumption or who attempts to use his or her purchas-

ing power to bring about social change’. In this

definition, the emphasis is not merely upon the sim-

ple act of purchasing goods and services. The new

consumer understands that their purchasing deci-

sions exercise power to the extent that these actions

can transform the consumer’s environment. Thus,

we can affirm that this new rationality, in addition to

being moral, is also political: thoughtful purchasing

can drive social change.

Webster’s definition informed subsequent research

on Socially Responsible Consumption (Brooker

1976), and following a review of the literature, we

can see that the concept evolved through Roberts’

work (1995). Roberts states that Socially Responsi-

ble Consumption is practiced by the consumer who

‘purchases products and services which he or she per-

ceives to have a positive (or less negative) impact on

the environment or uses his/her purchasing power to

express current social concerns’. Roberts (1995)

elaborates on previous research by Antil (1984). This

emerging conception of Socially Responsible Con-

sumption includes a new element of environmental

responsibility through consumerism. As Francois-

Lecompte and Roberts (2006: 52) suggest,

Business Ethics: A European Review

Volume 25 Number 4 October 2016

V

C2016 The Authors. Business Ethics: A European Review Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 461