Socially responsible consumption in Russia: Testing the theory of planned behavior and the moderating role of trust

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12322
• Author: Fazli Haleem,Irina Petrovskaya
• Published date: 01 January 2021
• Date: 01 January 2021

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  wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/beer Business Ethics, Env & Resp. 2021;30:38–53.© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

1 | INTRODUCTION

Socially resp onsible consumptio n (SRC) refers to the im pact that con-

sumer behavior h as on the society at large. S ocially responsible con -

sumers are aware of t he public consequences of thei r consumption

(Webster, 1975), wish to maximize the ir long-term positive impa ct on

society (Moh r et al., 2001), and so they use their pu rchasing power

to bring about so cial change (Webster, 1975) by patronizing social ly

responsible bu sinesses (Robe rts, 1993). The pre sent study foll ows

Mohr et al. (2001), Web b et al. (2008), and Öbe rseder et al. (2011) in

defining a socia lly responsible consu mer as one who takes corpo rate

social respons ibility (CSR) into accou nt when making purchasing d e-

cisions, aiming to buy from socially responsible companies.

A large number of st udies that examine the deter minants of so-

cially responsi ble consumer beh avior (SRCB) are base d on the the-

ory of planne d behavior (TBP) ( Ajzen, 1991). TPB postula tes that a

given behavior is a f unction of an ind ividual’s attit ude toward that

behavior, perceived s ocial pressure co ncerning the per formance of

that behavior, and per ceived ease of per forming the give n behav-

ior. Current researc h indicates that TPB is applic able to the study of

SRCB in a variety of c ontexts (Han & Sto el, 2017; Papaoikonomou

et al., 2011).

While TPB focuses on psychological, or micro-level, determi-

nants of behavio r, there is evidence that S RCB is also influence d

by the macro enviro nment in which the co nsumption take s place.

The primar y research stre am that address es this influence f ocuses

on national cultu re as a contextual v ariable that ca n have direct or

indirect effect on SRC. Findings from this research suggest that cul-

tural differ ences may indeed a ccount for variati ons in responsibl e

consumption (Bucic et al., 2012; Liobikienė et al., 2016) and that ex-

ploring the rol e of the national context i n sustainable consum ption is

a promising rese arch agenda (Ceglia et al., 2015).

Received: 13 Marc h 2020 

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  Revised: 5 Octob er 2020 

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  Accepted: 9 Octob er 2020

DOI: 10.1111/beer.12322

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Socially responsible consumption in Russia: Testing the theory

of planned behavior and the moderating role of trust

Irina Petrovskaya1 | Fazli Haleem2

1Department of Management, Lomonosov

Moscow State Uni versity Busine ss School,

Moscow, Russia

2Department of Management Sciences,

Shaheed Ben azir Bhutto Univer sity,

Sheringal , Dir (U) Khyber Pakh tunkhwa,

Pakistan

Correspondence

Irina Petrovs kaya, Lomonosov Mo scow State

University Business School, Leninskie Gory

1-44, Moscow, 119234, Russ ia.

Email: petrovskaya@mgubs.ru

Abstract

This paper adopt s a multilevel approach to e xplore how socially re sponsible con-

sumer behavior (SRCB) is shap ed by a combination of micro-level psychologic al driv-

ers and specific s of the institution al context in which the be havior is perform ed.

The model firs t applies the theor y of planned behavi or (TPB) to test the ef fects of

TPB-based behaviora l predictors on th e SRCB. Broad-scope tr ust in business (BST )

is then applied to the m odel as a variable that character izes quality of an informal in-

stitutional environment, hypothesizing that BST moderates the relationship between

TPB-based behavioral ante cedents and SRCB. The paper is based on a survey of 466

Russian consumers. Dat a were collected by self-adminis tered questionna ires com-

pleted by student s and alumni of a large publi c university in Moscow. Result s show

that BST moderate s the effect s of TPB-based predictor s on SRCB. This implies that

consumers who belie ve that the business is overal l trustwort hy are more likely to

take company’s corpor ate social responsibilit y (CSR) into account when making pur-

chasing decisions. Th is study contributes to the multi level research on SRCB and CSR

and adds to the literat ure on public trust in busin ess as a nasce nt area of st udy. Its

findings are espe cially relevant for compa nies operating in low-tru st environments ,

including post socialist economies.

    

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PETROVSKAYA And HALE EM

However, countries dif fer not only in the ir cultures, but a lso in

their broader socioeconomic environments, and this environmental

difference ne eds to be taken into account, given tha t purchasing is

essentially an economic transaction. Taking an institutional perspec-

tive, this paper b uilds on the assum ption that the ins titutional en-

vironment may sha pe the countr y-specific contex t in which SRCB

is performe d and hypothesizes that SRCB is affe cted by trust as an

informal insti tution (Puffe r et al., 2010), specif ically broad-s cope

trust (Grayso n et al., 2008; Hanse n, 2012), or public trust i n business

(Harris et al., 2014; Pir son et al., 2019).

Russia as a countr y recognized for its formal inst itutional weak-

ness and informa l institutional c omplexity (Mc Carthy & Puff er, 2008;

Puffer & McC arthy, 2011; Radaev, 2004) p rovides a useful se tting

for examining the interplay between the institutional environment

and individua l consumer behavior. There is a mismat ch between the

expectations of consumers and companies regarding socially re-

sponsible consumption in Russia. On the one hand, responsible con-

sumption appe ars to be gaining currenc y among the population , and

consumer expectations regarding business’s responsibility toward

society are mo unting (Cone Communic ations, 2013). However, com-

mitment to CSR on t he part of business is gener ally low (Kuznetsov

et al., 2009; Sob oleva, 2006). Moreover, the perce ption of CSR

priorities in Ru ssia differs f rom those in develo ped economies an d

even other BRIC countr ies (Preuss & Barkemeyer, 2011) and notably

deviates from es tablished con ceptual definit ions (Kuznetsov et a l.,

2009). Recent opin ion polls also indicate that Russi a has one of the

lowest levels of tr ust in business, in stri king contrast to other BR ICS

economies (Edel man, 2020). Thus, the c hoice of Russia as the sett ing

for this study p rovides valuable theoretic al insights into the specif-

ics of socially re sponsible consu mption in a complex i nstitutiona l

environment.

Adopting a multi level perspec tive, this pape r argues for the in-

tegration of the micro-level psychological approach to exploring

the determina nts of SRCB that curr ently dominates t he respon-

sible consumpti on research (Car uana & Chatzida kis, 2014) with

the institut ional approach t hat reflect s the specific s of the macro-

environmental context in which individual behavior is performed.

Toward this end, our conce ptual model fir st tests the e ffects of

TPB-based behav ioral predic tors on SRCB. Broa d-scope trust i n

business (BST ) is then applied to the model as a va riable that mod-

erates the relationships between TPB-based antecedents and SRCB.

Findings suggest that the relationship between companies and

socially resp onsible consumer s may indeed be af fected by publi c

trust in business. This holds important practical implications for

companies ope rating in low-trust e nvironments , including not onl y

postsocialist emerging economies, but, given the current decline of

trust in busin ess across the glo be (Edelman, 2020 ), even in devel-

oped markets . Low broad-scope trus t in business ultimately s ignifies

a legitimacy cr isis (Pirson et al. , 2019). CSR may be both a legit-

imacy-seeki ng effort and a w ay to tap into respon sible consumer.

However, while these cons umers may appea r to be an attrac tive

segment of buyer s, they are also largely guided by h igh moral stan-

dards (Golob et al ., 2019; Muncy & Vitell, 1992). Therefore , they are

particular ly sensitive to the motives b ehind CSR initiatives an d their

sincerity. Thus , in a low-trust environment , companies’ expecta tions

of positive respo nses to their CSR effor ts may face the challenge of

communicatin g with skeptical co nsumers and navi gating the com-

plexities of at titudes and beliefs emb edded in local institu tional and

cultural contexts.

This study make s several contributions to the c urrent literature.

First, it addresses the call for combining psychological and institu-

tional persp ectives in consu mer behavior res earch to investig ate

the effect of i nformal broad-s cope trust on pur chasing decision s

(Grayson et al., 2 008), as well as the call for in corporating additio nal

construct s into the TPB-base d research on SRCB (H an & Stoel,

2017). Second, it ad ds to the literature on the role of ins titutions in

shaping CSR-rela ted perceptions a nd outcomes and th us, contrib-

utes to the growing b ody of multilevel resear ch on SRCB (Caruana &

Chatzidakis , 2014) and CSR (Jama li et al., 2019). Finally, it also con-

tributes to the n ascent area of study that focuse s on public trust in

business (Bach mann et al., 2015; Pirson et al., 2019) by highligh ting

the effect s of broad-scope trust on the rela tionship betwe en com-

panies and consu mers in the SRC context.

The paper is divided i nto four part s. In the f irst part, we review

the literature o n SRCB, CSR, broa d-scope trust in busin ess, and busi-

ness legitimat ion, and then, introduce t he study setting by ori enting

these c oncepts in t he context of Russia. In th e second par t, we pres-

ent the theoretical framework and hypotheses. Next, the methods

section des cribes the study par ticipants, design, an d procedure, fol-

lowed by data analy sis and results . Finally, we discuss the r esearch

findings and implications, describing how this study contributes to

the scholarl y literature, presenting the l imitations of this study, and

providing directions for future research.

2 | LITERATURE RE VIEW

2.1 | Social ly responsible consumption behavior and

CSR

Mohr et al. (2001) d escribe a socially re sponsible consumer a s “a per-

son basing his or her a cquisition, usage, and disp osition of products

on a desire to minimize or eliminate any harmful effects and maximize

the long-run ben eficial impact on societ y” (Mohr et al., 2001, p. 47).

In terms of buying beh avior, the conceptualizations of SRCB e mpha-

size that it is not limite d to individual acts of p urchasing, but exten ds

to an overall way of thinking (Villa Castano et al., 2016) that is guided

by the desire to make a dif ference and en gender change (Shaw &

Clarke, 1999; Webster, 1975) and is based on a set of e spoused pro-

social values a nd moral stan dards (Golob et al ., 2019; Vitell, 2015).

Socially responsible consumers aim to minimize the negative social

and environmental consequences of their consumption (Ingenbleek

et al., 2015; Mohr et al. , 2001; Webster, 1975). When making pu r-

chasing decision s, they tend to rewar d responsible com panies by

taking their co mmitment to CSR i nto account (Öbers eder et al.,

2011). In other wor ds, they avoid buying from companies th at harm