The Role of Moral Disengagement in Green Buying Behavior

Abstract

Individual consumption has always been characterized by moral responsibility, a certain socially based form of desirable behavioral, although such a form of behavior has been present in society in different forms and intensities over time. Nowadays, socially desirable shopping behavior is associated with the growing problem of environmental pollution, which has given birth to a new form of shopping behavior, known as ‘green shopping’. Nevertheless, this new form of behavior is not widely distributed even though the issue of environmental protection is one of the burning social issues. Consumers, although aware of the need for green shopping, still do not accept it with the intensity that would be desirable. In order to gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, the Theory of Moral Exclusion (TME) is used as the basis for this paper, which indicated the process through which individual consumers morally justify themselves for purchases that harm the environment. Moral exclusion is the process by which an individual convinces himself or herself that ethical standards do not apply to him or her in a particular situation or context. Therefore, the different ways in which consumers engage or disengage from green shopping, as well as their perceived and actual motivations, are the subject of this paper. Qualitative research based on semi-structured in-depth interviews was conducted, which aimed to identify and explain the reasons for consumers’ moral disengagement in green shopping. Moral, emotional and behavioral barriers to green shopping have been identified.