Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.15722/jds.18.7.202007.37

Ethical Consumption in Vietnam: An Analysis of Generational Cohorts and Gender  

LE, Tri D. (School of Business, International University)
NGUYEN, Phuong Ngoc Duy (School of Business, International University)
KIEU, Tai Anh (Faculty of Business Administration, Van Lang University)
Publication Information
Journal of Distribution Science / v.18, no.7, 2020 , pp. 37-48 More about this Journal
Abstract
Purpose: There has been an increasing focus on consumer ethics by researchers and practitioners alike with the former seeking to examine the general discrepancy between ethical attitude, intention and actual behaviour by proposing behavioural measures to understand ethical consumption. Research into the effects of generational cohorts and gender, two fundamental demographic factors that shape the consumer habituated repertoire, on consumer ethics has reported mixed findings. The present study investigates if there are differences in ethical consumer behavior by generational cohorts and by gender in the context of an emerging market - Vietnam. Research design, data and methodology: Data was collected using a quantitative survey (a link to the questionnaire was posted on relevant social media platforms). A total of 539 usable responses was used for ANOVAs and independent t-tests to test the hypotheses. Results: a) There are significant differences in terms of ethical consumer behavior between Gen Z and Gens Y/X, but no difference between Gen X and Gen Y; b) There is no gender difference in ethically minded consumer behavior. Conclusion: For consumer ethics, generational effects may be moderated by macroeconomic conditions, while gender alone as a biological variable may not be a reliable predictor.
Keywords
Consumer ethics; Ethically minded consumer behavior; Generational cohorts; Gender; Emerging markets;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 2  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Sheeran, P., & Abraham, C. (2003). Mediator of Moderators: Temporal Stability of Intention and the Intention-Behavior Relation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(2), 205-215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202239046   DOI
2 Shultz II, C. J. (2012). Vietnam:Political Economy, Marketing System. Journal of Macromarketing, 32(1), 7-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146711428323   DOI
3 Park, H., Kwon, T. A., Zaman, M. M., & Song, S. Y. (2020). Thrift shopping for clothes: To treat self or others? Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 11(1), 56-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/20932685.2019.1684831   DOI
4 Cox, D., Cox, A. D., & Moschis, G. P. (1990). When Consumer Behavior Goes Bad: An Investigation of Adolescent Shoplifting. Journal of Consumer Research, 17(2), 149-159. www.jstor.org/stable/2626807   DOI
5 Dalton, D., & Ortegren, M. (2011). Gender Differences in Ethics Research: The Importance of Controlling for the Social Desirability Response Bias. Journal of Business Ethics, 103(1), 73-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0843-8   DOI
6 Davies, I. A., & Gutsche, S. (2016). Consumer motivations for mainstream "ethical" consumption. European Journal of Marketing, 50(7/8), 1326-1347. https://doi.org/doi:10.1108/EJM-11-2015-0795   DOI
7 Devinney, T. M., Auger, P., & Eckhardt, G. M. (2010). The myth of the ethical consumer. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
8 Elder, G. H. (1975). Age Differentiation and the Life Course. Annual Review of Sociology, 1, 165-190. www.jstor.org/stable/2946043   DOI
9 Flurry, L. A., & Swimberghe, K. (2016). Consumer Ethics of Adolescents. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 24(1), 91-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2016.1089766   DOI
10 Francis, T., & Hoefel, F. (2018). True Gen: Generation Z and its implications for companies. M. Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packagedgoods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implicationsfor-companies#
11 Martin, J., & Gentry, W. A. (2011). Derailment Signs across Generations: More in Common than Expected. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 14(3), 177-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/10887156.2011.595973   DOI
12 Lee, H. (2019). Understanding Ethical Consumers Through Person/Thing Orientation Approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 158(3), 637-658. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3661-9   DOI
13 Littrell, M. A., Ma, Y. J., & Halepete, J. (2005). Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Swing: marketing fair trade apparel. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 9(4), 407-419. https://doi.org/10.1108/13612020510620786   DOI
14 Lu, L.-C., Chang, H.-H., & Chang, A. (2015). Consumer Personality and Green Buying Intention: The Mediate Role of Consumer Ethical Beliefs. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(1), 205-219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-2024-4   DOI
15 Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
16 Franke, G. R., Crown, D. F., & Spake, D. F. (1997). Gender differences in ethical perceptions of business practices: A social role theory perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(6), 920. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.82.6.920   DOI
17 Freestone, O., & Mitchell, V. (2004). Generation Y Attitudes Towards E-ethics and Internet-related Misbehaviours. Journal of Business Ethics, 54(2), 121-128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-1571-0   DOI
18 Fukuda, K. (2010). A cohort analysis of household vehicle expenditure in the U.S. and Japan: A possibility of generational marketing. Marketing Letters, 21(1), 53-64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-009-9077-2   DOI
19 Herbig, P., Koehler, W., & Day, K. (1993). Marketing to the baby bust generation. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 10(1), 4-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363769310026520   DOI
20 Higgins, K. T. (1998). Generational marketing. Marketing Management, 7(3), 6.
21 Hosta, M., & Zabkar, V. (2020). Antecedents of Environmentally and Socially Responsible Sustainable Consumer Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04416-0
22 Jackson, V., Stoel, L., & Brantley, A. (2011). Mall attributes and shopping value: Differences by gender and generational cohort. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 18(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2010.08.002   DOI
23 O'Fallon, M. J., & Butterfield, K. D. (2005). A Review of The Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: 1996-2003. Journal of Business Ethics, 59(4), 375-413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-2929-7   DOI
24 McCabe, A. C., Ingram, R., & Dato-on, M. C. (2006). 'The Business of Ethics and Gender'. Journal of Business Ethics, 64(2), 101-116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-3327-x   DOI
25 Meyers-Levy, J., & Loken, B. (2015). Revisiting gender differences: What we know and what lies ahead. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25(1), 129-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2014.06.003   DOI
26 Muncy, J. A., & Vitell, S. J. (1992). Consumer ethics: An investigation of the ethical beliefs of the final consumer. Journal of Business Research, 24(4), 297-311. https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-2963(92)90036-B   DOI
27 Norum, P. S. (2003). Examination of Generational Differences in Household Apparel Expenditures. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 32(1), 52-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077727x03255901   DOI
28 Rodrigues, P., & Borges Ana, P. (2015). Corporate social responsibility and its impact in consumer decision-making. Social Responsibility Journal, 11(4), 690-701. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-02-2014-0026   DOI
29 O berseder, M., Schlegelmilch, B. B., Murphy, P. E., & Gruber, V. (2014). Consumers' Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Scale Development and Validation. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 101-115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1787-y   DOI
30 Auger, P., & Devinney, T. M. (2007). Do What Consumers Say Matter? The Misalignment of Preferences with Unconstrained Ethical Intentions. Journal of Business Ethics, 76(4), 361-383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9287-y   DOI
31 Bakewell, C., & Mitchell, V. W. (2003). Generation Y female consumer decision- making styles. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 31(2), 95-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550310461994   DOI
32 Bateman, C. R., & Valentine, S. R. (2010). Investigating the Effects of Gender on Consumers' Moral Philosophies and Ethical Intentions. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(3), 393-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0386-4   DOI
33 Belk, R., Devinney, T., & Eckhardt, G. (2005). Consumer Ethics Across Cultures. Consumption Markets & Culture, 8(3), 275-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860500160411   DOI
34 Betz, M., O'Connell, L., & Shepard, J. M. (1989). Gender differences in proclivity for unethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 8(5), 321-324. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381722   DOI
35 Beu, D. S., Buckley, M. R., & Harvey, M. G. (2003). Ethical decision-making: a multidimensional construct. Business Ethics: A European Review, 12(1), 88-107. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8608.00308   DOI
36 Bossuyt, S., & Van Kenhove, P. (2018). Assertiveness Bias in Gender Ethics Research: Why Women Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(3), 727-739. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3026-9   DOI
37 Boyd, D. (2010). Ethical Determinants for Generations X and Y. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(3), 465-469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0233-7   DOI
38 Carrington, M. J., Neville, B. A., & Whitwell, G. J. (2014). Lost in translation: Exploring the ethical consumer intention-behavior gap. Journal of Business Research, 67(1), 2759-2767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.09.022   DOI
39 Kang, M.-J., Wan, Y.-S., & Hwang, H.-J. (2019). The Study on the Effect of Experience Values of Chinese Coffee Shop on the Intent of Revisiting of Consumers Consumers: Focusing on the Mediation Effect of Emotional Responses. Journal of Disribution Science, 17(11), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.15722/jds.17.11.201911.47
40 Kieu, T. A., & Le, T. D. (2020). Mindfulness approach to ethical consumption. In B. R. Hernandez-Sanchez, J. C. Sanchez-Garcia, & A. C. Moreira (Eds.), Building an Entrepreneurial and Sustainable Society (pp. 289-304). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2704-7.ch015
41 Ameen, E. C., Guffey, D. M., & McMillan, J. J. (1996). Gender differences in determining the ethical sensitivity of future accounting professionals. Journal of Business Ethics, 15(5), 591-597. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381934   DOI
42 Carrington, M. J., Zwick, D., & Neville, B. (2016). The ideology of the ethical consumption gap. Marketing Theory, 16(1), 21-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593115595674   DOI
43 Ladhari, R., & Tchetgna, N. M. (2017). Values, socially conscious behaviour and consumption emotions as predictors of Canadians' intent to buy fair trade products. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 41(6), 696-705. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12382   DOI
44 Le, T. D., & Kieu, T. A. (2019). Ethically minded consumer behaviour in Vietnam: An analysis of cultural values, personal values, attitudinal factors and demographics. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 31(3), 609-626. https://doi.org/doi:10.1108/APJML-12-2017-0344   DOI
45 Lee, H.-S. (2016). Do Ethical Consumers Really Love Green Brand? A Comparison of Chinese and Korean Consumers. Journal of Distribution Science, 14(12), 23-30. https://doi.org/10.15722/jds.14.12.201612.23   DOI
46 Pekerti, A. A., & Arli, D. (2017). Do Cultural and Generational Cohorts Matter to Ideologies and Consumer Ethics? A Comparative Study of Australians, Indonesians, and Indonesian Migrants in Australia. Journal of Business Ethics, 143(2), 387-404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2777-z   DOI
47 Cayla, J., & Eckhardt Giana, M. (2007). Asian brands without borders: regional opportunities and challenges. International Marketing Review, 24(4), 444-456. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330710761017   DOI
48 Chowdhury, R. M. M. I., & Fernando, M. (2014). The Relationships of Empathy, Moral Identity and Cynicism with Consumers' Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(4), 677-694. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1896-7   DOI
49 Atkinson, L., & Kim, Y. (2015). "I Drink It Anyway and I Know I Shouldn't": Understanding Green Consumers' Positive Evaluations of Norm-violating Non-green Products and Misleading Green Advertising. Environmental Communication, 9(1), 37-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2014.932817   DOI
50 Sudbury-Riley, L., & Kohlbacher, F. (2016). Ethically minded consumer behavior: Scale review, development, and validation. Journal of Business Research, 69(8), 2697-2710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.11.005   DOI
51 Swaidan, Z., Vitell, S. J., & Rawwas, M. Y. A. (2003). Consumer Ethics: Determinants of Ethical Beliefs of African Americans. Journal of Business Ethics, 46(2), 175-186. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025068902771   DOI
52 Tjiptono, F., Arli, D., & Winit, W. (2017). Gender and young consumer ethics: an examination in two Southeast Asian countries. Young Consumers, 18(1), 94-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-10-2016-00641   DOI
53 van der Walt, F. (2016). Work ethics of different generational cohorts in South Africa. African Journal of Business Ethics, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.15249/10-1-101
54 Quoquab, F., Mohammad, J., & Sukari Nurain, N. (2019). A multiple-item scale for measuring "sustainable consumption behaviour" construct: Development and psychometric evaluation. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 31(4), 791-816. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-02-2018-0047   DOI
55 Penz, E., & Kirchler, E. (2012). Sex-Role Specialization in a Transforming Market: Empirical Evidence from Vietnamese Middle-Class Households. Journal of Macromarketing, 32(1), 61-73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146711421787   DOI
56 Perryer, C., & Jordan, C. (2002). The influence of gender, age, culture and other factors on ethical beliefs: A comparative study in Australia and Singapore. Public Administration and Management: An Interactive Journal, 7(4), 367-382.
57 Phau, I., & Kea, G. (2007). Attitudes of University Students toward Business Ethics: A Cross-National Investigation of Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(1), 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9156-8   DOI
58 Vitell, S. J. (2003). Consumer Ethics Research: Review, Synthesis and Suggestions for the Future. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(1/2), 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022907014295   DOI
59 Vermeir, I., & Van Kenhove, P. (2008). Gender Differences in Double Standards. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(2), 281-295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9494-1   DOI
60 Vieregge, M., & Quick, S. (2011). Cross- cultural negotiations revisited: Are Asian generations X and Y members negotiating like their elders? Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 18(3), 313-326. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527601111152842   DOI
61 Vitell, S. J. (2015). A Case for Consumer Social Responsibility (CnSR): Including a Selected Review of Consumer Ethics/Social Responsibility Research. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 767-774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2110-2   DOI
62 Vitell, S. J., & Muncy, J. (2005). The Muncy-Vitell Consumer Ethics Scale: A Modification and Application. Journal of Business Ethics, 62(3), 267-275. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25123665   DOI
63 Vitell, S. J., Paolillo, J., & Singh, J. (2006). The Role of Money and Religiosity in Determining Consumers' Ethical Beliefs. Journal of Business Ethics, 64(2), 117-124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-1901-x   DOI
64 Williams, K. C., Page, R. A., Petrosky, A. R., & Hernandez, E. H. (2010). Multi-generational marketing: Descriptions, characteristics, lifestyles, and attitudes. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 11(2), 21-36.
65 Ryoo, Y., Sung, Y., & Chechelnytska, I. (2020). What makes materialistic consumers more ethical? Self-benefit vs. otherbenefit appeals. Journal of Business Research, 110, 173-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.01.019   DOI
66 Ramasamy, B., Yeung, M. C. H., & Au, A. K. M. (2010). Consumer Support for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): The Role of Religion and Values. Journal of Business Ethics, 91(1), 61-72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0568-0   DOI
67 Roberts, J. A. (1995). Profiling Levels of Socially Responsible Consumer Behavior: A Cluster Analytic Approach and Its Implications for Marketing. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 3(4), 97-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.1995.11501709   DOI
68 Robin, D., & Babin, L. (1997). Making Sense of the Research on Gender and Ethics in Business: A Critical Analysis and Extension. Business Ethics Quarterly, 7(4), 61-90. https://doi.org/10.2307/3857209   DOI
69 Roxas, M. L., & Stoneback, J. Y. (2004). The Importance of gender Across Cultures in Ethical Decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 50(2), 149-165. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000022127.51047.ef   DOI
70 Ryan, L. V. (2017). Sex Differences Through a Neuroscience Lens: Implications for Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(4), 771-782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3110-1   DOI
71 Schutte, N. S., & Bhullar, N. (2017). Approaching Environmental Sustainability: Perceptions of Self-Efficacy and Changeability. The Journal of Psychology, 151(3), 321-333. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2017.1289144   DOI
72 Seo, Y., & Fam, K.-S. (2015). Researching Asian consumer culture in the global marketplace. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 18(4), 386-390. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-05-2015-0048   DOI
73 Shaw, D., Grehan, E., Shiu, E., Hassan, L., & Thomson, J. (2005). An exploration of values in ethical consumer decision making. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 4(3), 185-200. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.3   DOI