A Dynamic Self-Regulation Model of Sustainable Consumer Behaviour
33 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2018
Date Written: June 30, 2017
Abstract
There is a significant literature in economics and psychology on moral behaviour exploring the contexts in which people act in ways that are consistent or inconsistent with their earlier actions, where consistency involves behaviour that is in line with a previous action (e.g. foot-in-the-door effect) and inconsistent behaviour takes the form of behaviour that is inconsistent with a previous action (e.g., moral licensing or moral cleansing) We set out a dynamic model of consumer behaviour that attempts to integrate both inter-act consistency and inconsistency within a framework based on standard economic assumptions of rational consumer behaviour. We apply this model to predicting both inter-act consistency and inter-act inconsistency within the context of sustainable consumption. The article concludes by considering directions for future research.
Keywords: Value-expression and behavioural consistency, moral self-regulation and moral licensing, consumer behaviour, sustainable consumption
JEL Classification: D11, H41, M31, Q56, Q58
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation