Abstract
The theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour (TRA/TPB) have fundamentally changed the view that attitudes directly translate into behaviour by introducing intentions as a crucial intervening stage. Much research across numerous ethical contexts has drawn on these theories to offer a better understanding of how consumers form intentions to act in an ethical way. Persistently, researchers have suggested and discussed the existence of an intention–behaviour gap in ethical consumption. Yet, the factors that influence the extent of this gap and its magnitude have not been systematically examined. We, therefore, contribute to the debate on the intention–behaviour gap by reviewing the empirical TRA/TPB studies that have assessed both intention and behaviour in ethical contexts. The findings from our review show that few studies assessed the intention–behaviour relationship and as a result, there is limited empirical evidence to date to quantify more accurately the intention–behaviour gap in ethical consumption. Our second contribution aims to provide an empirical case study which assesses the magnitude of the intention–behaviour gap in the context of avoidance of sweatshop clothing and to assess the roles of planning and actual behavioural control in potentially reducing the intention–behaviour gap. The findings of our case study suggest that there is indeed a large gap between intention and behaviour, and we conclude by calling for more empirical longitudinal studies to assess the complex nature of the relationship between intention and behaviour.
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Notes
For a fuller discussion of the findings arising from the stage 2 data please refer to Shaw et al. (2006).
To assess if the sample of 262 obtained at stage 2 differed from those who completed the survey at stage 1, comparisons between the two groups of 632 (894–262) and 262 respondents were undertaken. Comparisons were made based on t tests of mean differences as well as differences in regression weights (in the regression model) through two-group path analysis in Amos. The t tests show no significant difference across the two groups for any of the variables (intention, planning, attitude, descriptive norm, injunctive norm and PBC). The two-group path analysis yielded a non-significant χ 2 difference Δχ 2(4) = 3.21, p = 0.52 for the TPB model with intention as the dependent variable and the four regression paths (planning not included) constrained to be equal across groups. Thus, no significant differences across the two groups are found regarding the TPB model.
Research (e.g., Rhodes et al. 2006; Rise et al. 2008; Rodgers et al. 2008) has evidenced the existence and differential impact of multiple components of attitude (affective and cognitive), SN (descriptive and injunctive) and PBC (perceived difficulty, controllability and self-efficacy) on intention. We did not capture measures of affective attitude or self-efficacy but did capture assessments of both normative components in addition to perceived difficulty and controllability. We thus conducted exploratory factor analysis to assess the extent to which our respondents discriminated across these components. Such evidence was found only regarding the normative component which could be separated into descriptive (perceptions of what most people do) and injunctive (perceptions of what others think that you should/should not do) norm.
Abbreviations
- ABC:
-
Actual behavioural control
- ATT:
-
Attitude
- AVE:
-
Average variance extracted
- B:
-
Behaviour
- CFI:
-
Comparative Fit Index
- DV:
-
Dependant variable
- EBSCO:
-
Elton B. Stephens Company
- GM:
-
Genetically modified
- INT:
-
Intention
- L:
-
Large
- M:
-
Mean
- MED:
-
Medium
- MR:
-
Multiple regression
- NA:
-
Not applicable
- NS:
-
Not significant
- OLS:
-
Ordinary least square
- PB:
-
Past behaviour
- PBC:
-
Perceived behavioural control
- PNORM:
-
Personal norm
- PT:
-
Point
- PSY:
-
Psychology
- RMSEA:
-
Root Mean Square Error of Approximation
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- SEM:
-
Structural equation modelling
- SQRT:
-
Square root
- SN:
-
Subjective norm
- TLI:
-
Tucker Lewis Index
- TRA:
-
Theory of reasoned action
- TPB:
-
Theory of planned behaviour
- UK:
-
United Kingdom
- US:
-
United States
- VIF:
-
Variance inflation factor
- Y/N:
-
Yes/No
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Hassan, L.M., Shiu, E. & Shaw, D. Who Says There is an Intention–Behaviour Gap? Assessing the Empirical Evidence of an Intention–Behaviour Gap in Ethical Consumption. J Bus Ethics 136, 219–236 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2440-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2440-0