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Consumers of the 1990s are claimed to be caring, environmentally and socially aware and are demanding a say in the production, processing and resourcing of the products they regularly purchase. Hypothesizes that the environmentally‐aware consumer has become ethically aware and is joined by many other consumers who believe in the principles of fair trade. The increasingly well‐informed consumer is not only demanding fairly traded products, but is challenging manufacturers and retailers to guarantee the ethical claims they are making about their products. Reports on a survey to investigate the factors contributing to the development of ethical consumerism in the UK, and provides details of the integrating features which it finds. Discusses the implications of these for management.

Purpose: This paper aims to present the case study of the SHE (Šibenik Hub for Ecology) hub project, ecofeminist business practice in Croatia. The SHE hub is a sustainable tourism project based around issues of ‘ethical consumerism’ and sustainable development and shows that is possible to implement ecofeminist ideas in business.

Method: Paper is divided into two parts. The first part is theoretical and presents an overview of relevant literature regarding ecofeminism, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and green consumerism. The second part is a case study of the SHE hub project, based on analysis of the project website, content analysis of the media coverage regarding the project and an in-depth interview with project initiator.

Findings: The results show that strengthening of the ethical consumerism movement has given a new impetus to the realisation of ecofeminist projects in real life and that SHE hub is a good example of this. Although the SHE hub has insufficient transformative social potential, it is important to notice that sustainable change always begins with small steps.

Originality/value: The topic of the relationship between social corporate responsibility and ecofeminism has not been researched, so this case study represents a valuable contribution to the research of this relationship.

Notes that there has been a significant increase in the market for fair trade products in the UK over the past five years. Provides a definition of fair trade and goes on to set a context for the expansion of this market by examining the key drivers behind it, particularly noting the growth of ethical consumerism as a contributory factor. Develops the ethical strategy matrix, outlining the strategic options open to retailers for addressing this increase in ethical consumerism. It is argued that addressing the fair trade market in the UK offers retailers not only the opportunity to develop their profile in terms of corporate social responsibility, but also a chance to develop a competitive advantage in a new niche market. Recasts Strong’s marketing analysis of the difficulties of translating fair trade principles into actual purchase behaviour into an operational context and proposes solutions to the issues raised.

This study aims to explore the factors that encourage Generation Z consumers to turn an ethical purchase intention into purchase behaviour. Theory of planned behaviour model is applied to understand the Generation Z ethical consumerism.

Qualitative method in the form of 18 semi-structured interviews was conducted on participants aged within the Generation Z cohort in the UK.

Research findings show that Generation Z has strong awareness and desire towards ethical and environmental issues. Driven in the main by the cohorts unlimited exposure to social media platforms and online resources where information is shared. Generation Z’s frugality limits them to purchase truly ethically in their current life stage. Financial aspirations from this target market suggest a future desire to purchase high value ethical items. Further trends discovered highlighted sustainable lifestyle choices within the generation. Recycling, diet choices and reduced consumption on clothing were expressed. The paper highlights that Generation Z are aware of ethical issues prevalent in society and are doing what they can at this life stage to make a positive impact.

This research has valuable implications for both academics and marketers. It provides new insights for scholars into understanding Generation Z decision-making in ethical consumption. It successfully applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour to understand generational consumer behaviour. The findings can assist practitioners to determine effective marketing strategies to persuade Generation Z to act ethically. The research can also be considered when dealing with government legislation when tackling social change in younger population as this appeared important factor for the researched consumers. Marketers should also consider digital influencers as part of their communication campaigns targeting Generation Z users.

This search offers a valuable contribution to current academic findings towards Generation Z research as ethical consumers incorporating TPB framework.

This research applied Homer and Kahle's (1988) theoretical framework, which describes the hierarchical relations of personal values, attitude and behavior to test the moderated mediation model. The major focus of this study was to evaluate how individual characteristics such as fashion involvement and materialism influenced the formation of socially responsible attitudes and ethical fashion purchasing intentions. By focusing on fashion aficionados and materialists, this research examines each step of the hierarchical model by exploring the relation between values and attitude and evaluating the attitude–behavior gap. The main finding highlights the critical role that attitude plays in ethical fashion consumption.

Different sets of latent models with each ethical quality such as ethical concern and ethical obligation were tested to explore if those consumer characteristics had any moderating effects on both front-end (IV-M) and back-end (M-DV) relations of Homer and Kahle's (1988) hierarchical model.

Both ethical values failed to instill a socially responsible mindset in individuals who were heavily immersed in fashion or materialism. Once such attitudes were formed, however, those who were fashion-conscious or materialistic were more likely to purchase ethical apparel than those who were less interested in fashion or materialism.

Previous research has mainly identified external or situational factors that create the attitude or intention and behavior gap in ethical consumption. Given the lack of understanding about psychological factors in understanding the gap, this study added to the literature by identifying fashion involvement and materialism as critical factors positively influencing attitude and behavioral intention associations.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the issues currently involved in social and environmental sustainability in the clothing industry.

The paper adopts a case study approach to investigate a business that operates successfully in this challenging market.

As a consequence of increasing demand for ethical clothing, it has become standard practice for UK clothing retailers to develop CSR policies which impact upon their methods of garment sourcing and partnerships with suppliers. There is also a significant trend for retailers to offer ethical clothing ranges made from organic cotton or produced by Fair Trade manufacturers. The paper includes a case study on People Tree, which sells Fair Trade clothing sourced from developing countries. People Tree is rare amongst clothing companies in that it provides customers with a transparent view of its production sources via the internet. The company provides an example of how socially responsible and environmentally sustainable global sourcing can be applied in practice.

The study focuses on aspects of sustainability in an individual retailer. This could be extended to other ethical retailers in different countries, and a longitudinal study of such companies could be conducted.

Literature on ethical fashion companies and their use of socially responsible strategies is sparse, and there is a lack of research that covers both social and environmental sustainability in this market. This paper fills some of the gaps.

Research has consistently revealed an increasing demand for “ethical” choices in the global marketplace. However, very little has been published about the decision‐making processes of these “ethical” consumers and the implications for marketing. Given the shortfall in research that addresses ethical consumer choice, this paper outlines results from a large scale national UK survey of known “ethical” consumers. To examine this important and neglected area, reliability analysis and structural equation modelling techniques were used to explore the relationships between important factors influencing ethical consumer choice. Using two data sets, a model of decision‐making was developed and cross‐validated. Results of the study reveal the improved ability of this new model of ethical consumer decision‐making in the explanation of intention to purchase fair trade grocery products. Implications of these findings for marketing practitioners are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of religious values (RGV) on green purchase intention (GPI) among middle-class Muslims in Malaysia. The demand for environmentally green products is growing to facilitate the changing consumption pattern due to the substantial interest in ethical consumerism. Despite the potential impact of RGV on ethical consumption, it is difficult to find studies that embark on linking RGV towards this type of consumption, especially in a developing Muslim country such as Malaysia.

Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey that was distributed using the purposive sampling method. The final useful sample consists of 140 middle-class Muslim participants. The partial least squares (PLS) structural equation was used to develop the model showing the relationship between RGV and intention to purchase green products for middle-class Muslims in Malaysia.

The results suggest that there is an indirect association between RGV towards attitude and GPI. RGV directly influence natural environmental orientation and environmental concern. In turn, consumer attitude towards green purchase directly affects the respondents’ GPI via the mediator role of nature orientation, green concern and knowledge. The results, besides indicating the suitability of the PLS in statistical analysis, also contribute to a better understanding of how RGV influence GPI among the Muslim middle class.

The model developed is specific to the Muslim population in Malaysia. Therefore, the model might only be able to be generalized to nations that have a similar culture to the Muslims in Malaysia or Muslim middle class in other developing countries.

RGV are important in influencing green consumption behaviour. The environmental problem cannot just be solved with knowledge and technology but must be backed with moral and ethical imperatives. The ethical awareness and consciousness, backed up by legislation and prohibition, can encourage green behaviour not only from the individuals but also at the social group level. The enforcement of the law and the government play an important role in the implementation of green policies for the protection and conservation of mother Earth.

This paper confirmed that behaviour is influenced by individual-level attributes, as well as by the conditions under which people live.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of functional, hedonistic and ethical attributes of denim jeans attributes and the trade‐offs young adult Australian consumers made within these attributes when making a purchase decision.

A two‐stage mixed‐method approach was used to explore the importance of denim jeans attributes and the trade‐offs made within these attributes. First, focus groups were used to identify attributes that were important to young Australian adult consumers. In the second stage, conjoint analysis was used to estimate the relative importance of the product and ethical attributes that were identified in the focus groups and the trade‐offs made within this attribute set.

Focus group participants identified style, price, brand, country of origin and ethics as attributes that they used to evaluate denim jeans. In the conjoint analysis respondents identified price as having the highest relative importance, followed by brand, country of origin, style and ethical attributes. It was clear multiple attributes were valued and, although the ethical attributes that were included were not as important as garment attributes, respondents appeared to make trade‐offs between garment and ethical attributes when purchasing denim jeans.

The paper identifies attributes of denim jeans that are valued by young Australian adult consumers. That product attributes were more important than ethical attributes suggests a focus on ethical credentials may not be effective. Denim jeans are more likely to be purchased by young Australian adults if they are reasonably priced, made in Italy and have a designer brand.

The purpose of this paper is to identify important factors that affect Hong Kong adolescent consumers' green purchasing behaviour.

A total of 6,010 (2,975 males and 3,035 females) adolescents in Hong Kong were recruited through multi‐staged random sampling. They were surveyed on their green purchasing behaviour, environmental attitude, environmental concern, perceived seriousness of environmental problems, perceived environmental responsibility, perceived effectiveness of environmental behaviour, social influence and concern for self‐image in environmental protection.

Multiple regression analysis showed that social influence was the top predictor of Hong Kong adolescents' green purchasing behaviour, followed by environmental concern as the second, concern for self‐image in environmental protection as the third, and perceived environmental responsibility as the fourth top predictor.

A major limitation of this study lies in the self‐reported nature of the survey used. Future study should include some objective assessments (such as observations or other‐reported survey) of the subjects' green purchasing behaviour.

This paper is a useful source of information for international green marketers about what works and what does not in appealing to the young consumers in Hong Kong.

This paper serves as a pioneer study to identify important factors in affecting young consumers' green purchasing behaviour in the Hong Kong context. It offers practical guidelines to international green marketers planning to target the Asian markets.