Intending to be ethical: An examination of consumer choice in sweatshop avoidance

Abstract

While much research in ethical consumption has focused on contexts such as food, this research explores ethical consumer decision-making in the context of intention to avoid sweatshop apparel. This research seeks to deepen the Theory of Planned Behavior with respect to the motivation and volitional stages underlying behavior. The findings of the research, based on 794 consumers, are novel and support an enriched framework which reveals that the role of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control are mediated by desire, intention and plan. The findings have implications for research seeking to address the ‘intention-behavior’ gap.