University students involved in a sustainable world: assessing sustainable consumption in Spain

Abstract

Purpose

To achieve sustainable development to protect the environment and society, an increasing number of scholars have conducted in-depth research on sustainable and responsible consumption behaviors. The outputs demonstrate that consumers are increasingly concerned and aware of the issues associated with the excessive use of resources. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the validity and reliability of the Sustainable Consumption Scale (SC-S) in the Spanish context.

Design/methodology/approach

The adaptation of SC-S to Spanish was carried out in accordance with international methodological standards. The Spanish version of this scale was applied empirically to the research sample was composed of 962 university students (49.1% male and 50.9% female) from 54 Universities in 15 regions of Spain that participated in the study.

Findings

The analyses carried out to verify the psychometric properties retained 16 items from the original proposal, grouped equally in three factors: Cognitive – six items; Affective – seven items; and Conative – four items. The scale presented adequate adjustment indexes, as well as optimal values of the different measures of reliability, recommended by the literature.

Originality/value

This instrument can be used by the Spanish academic community, which will contribute to the assessment and prediction regarding a sustainable consumption attitude. From these screenings, it will be also possible to understand the impact and development of the objectives outlined by Agenda 2030.

Citation

Margaça, C., Hernández Sánchez, B. and Sánchez-García, J.C. (2022), "University students involved in a sustainable world: assessing sustainable consumption in Spain", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 981-1000. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-04-2021-0148