Virtue Ethics, Traits, Socially Responsible Consumption, and Decision Tree

What is it about?

Drawing upon the theory of virtue ethics, this study builds a decision tree predictive model to explore the anticipated impact of good traits (i.e., virtuous and personality traits) on socially responsible consumption. Using R statistical software, we generate a classification tree and cross-validate the model on two independent datasets. The results indicate that the virtuous traits of self-efficacy, courage, and self-control, as well as the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness, predict socially responsible purchase and disposal behavior. Remarkably, the largest segment of socially responsible consumers in the study (41 %) scored high in self-efficacy and openness. This result suggests that marketers should focus on these good traits when creating advertisements to encourage sustainable consumption. Our study contributes to enhancing knowledge about the social and psychological aspects of the sustainability movement and provides a new analytical approach to predicting socially responsible consumption

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Why is it important?

The current study demonstrates how consumers’ virtuous traits and innate personality influence their SRPD behavior. SRCs’ sustainable behavior is likely to be driven by their virtuous traits of self-efficacy, courage, and self-control, as well as the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness, explaining the motivations behind their choices. Especially, self-efficacy and openness are strongest factors for effective media communication to encourage sustainable consumption among consumers. This study contributes to knowledge about the social and psychological aspects of the sustainability movement and provides a new analytical approach to predicting socially responsible consumption. It is hoped that our research will encourage marketers to exploit the power of good traits and moral goodness in their new sustainability marketing.