Emotions and dissonance in ‘ethical’ consumption choices

TLDR

The study investigates how emotions influence dissonant ethical consumption and explains the attitude–behaviour gap. The authors derive a conceptual framework that maps the role of emotions in ethical consumer choice. Interviews show that consumers alternate between ethical and unethical purchases, driven by positive and negative emotions—particularly guilt—using guilt‑management strategies to reconcile contradictory behavior.

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of emotions and the prevalence of dissonant/incongruent choice behaviour within the context of ethical consumption. Based on 31 in-depth interviews with British consumers, the findings demonstrate that consumers consciously indulge in 'ethical' and 'unethical' behaviour (as defined by respondents themselves), often within short time frames, and that they often compensate for unethical choices by making ethical choices later on (and vice versa). The study provides evidence that positive and negative emotions are a key driver of this dissonant behaviour. Guilt is the most salient emotion, and a taxonomy of guilt in this context is derived from the data. Consumers are found to employ guilt-management strategies in order to sustain contradictory behaviour and manage cognitive dissonance. A conceptual framework is derived in order to summarise the observed role of emotions in ethical consumer choice. The paper also provides additional explanations of the manifestation of the attitude–behaviour gap.