RETHINKING CONSUMER STYLE INVENTORY IN THE ESG AND GREENWASHING SCEPTICISM ERA: A STIMULUS ORGANISM RESPONSE LENS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/AIJBES.829091Keywords:
Consumer Style Inventory, Consumer Decision Making Styles, Environmental, Social, And Governance (ESG),, Greenwashing Scepticism, Sustainable Consumption Behaviour, Stimulus Organism Response TheoryAbstract
The increasing significance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives has transformed consumer markets, where purchasing decisions increasingly incorporate perceptions of corporate responsibility and sustainability performance alongside traditional factors such as price, quality and brand. At the same time, growing concern about greenwashing has increased consumer scrutiny of corporate sustainability claims. The Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) has been widely used to explain consumer decision-making styles but was developed in a market context that predates the widespread prominence of ESG and greenwashing. Its relevance to contemporary sustainability-oriented consumption therefore remains insufficiently explored. This conceptual paper extends the Consumer Style Inventory within the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework by incorporating ESG-related market stimuli and greenwashing scepticism. ESG signals represent the Stimulus (S), while consumers' cognitive and emotional evaluation represents the Organism (O), and sustainable consumption behaviour represents the Response (R). Consumer decision-making styles are important to understand how consumers process ESG information, but greenwashing scepticism is conceptualized as a moderating psychological factor that can amplify or diminish consumers’ responses to ESG signals and sustainability claims. The framework therefore recognises that ESG information does not automatically translate into sustainable consumption behaviour; its effect depends on how consumers evaluate the information and the extent to which they question the credibility of sustainability claims. The proposed framework contributes by extending CSI to the contemporary ESG and greenwashing context and applying SOR to explain how consumer decision-making styles and greenwashing scepticism shape responses to sustainability information. The framework provides a basis for future empirical testing of sustainable consumer behaviour across retail and service contexts.
Downloads
References
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
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
Chen, Y. S., & Chang, C. H. (2013). Greenwash and green trust: The mediation effects of green consumer confusion and green perceived risk. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(3), 489–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1360-0
de Freitas Netto, S. V., Sobral, M. F. F., Ribeiro, A. R. B., & Soares, G. R. L. (2020). Concepts and forms of greenwashing: A systematic review. Environmental Sciences Europe, 32(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-020-0300-3
Delmas, M. A., & Burbano, V. C. (2011). The drivers of greenwashing. California Management Review, 54(1), 64–87. https://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2011.54.1.64
Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00276.x
Eccles, R. G., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2014). The impact of corporate sustainability on organizational processes and performance. Management Science, 60(11), 2835–2857. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1984
Eom, H. J., Sockwell, S., & Choi, Y. J. (2020). Validation of Consumer Styles Inventory for consumer decision-making styles. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 54(3), 836–853. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12305
Eroglu, S. A., Machleit, K. A., & Davis, L. M. (2001). Atmospheric qualities of online retailing: A conceptual model and implications. Journal of Business Research, 54(2), 177–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00087-9
Fatemi, A., Glaum, M., & Kaiser, S. (2018). ESG performance and firm value: The moderating role of disclosure. Global Finance Journal, 38, 45–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfj.2017.03.001
Friede, G., Busch, T., & Bassen, A. (2015). ESG and financial performance: Aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 5(4), 210–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2015.1118917
Friestad, M., & Wright, P. (1994). The persuasion knowledge model: How people cope with persuasion attempts. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1086/209380
Giese, G., Lee, L. E., Melas, D., Nagy, Z., & Nishikawa, L. (2019). Foundations of ESG investing: How ESG affects equity valuation, risk, and performance. Journal of Portfolio Management, 45(5), 69–83. https://doi.org/10.3905/jpm.2019.45.5.069
Hanzaee, K. H., & Aghasibeig, S. (2008). Generation Y female and male decision-making styles in Iran: Are they different? The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 18(5), 521–537. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593960802573443
Kumar, V., Rahman, Z., Kazmi, A. A., & Goyal, P. (2012). Evolution of sustainability as marketing strategy: Beginning of new era. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, 37, 482–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.313
Li, T., Wang, K., Sueyoshi, T., & Wang, D. D. (2021). ESG: Research progress and future prospects. Sustainability, 13(21), 11663. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111663
Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Nyilasy, G., Gangadharbatla, H., & Paladino, A. (2014). Perceived greenwashing: The interactive effects of green advertising and corporate environmental performance on consumer reactions. Journal of Business Ethics, 125(4), 693–707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1944-3
Peattie, K., & Peattie, S. (2009). Social marketing: A pathway to sustainable behaviour. Journal of Business Research, 62(2), 260–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.01.033
Sproles, G. B., & Kendall, E. L. (1986). A methodology for profiling consumers’ decision-making styles. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 20(2), 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.1986.tb00382.x
Testa, F., Sarti, S., & Frey, M. (2021). Are green consumers really green? Exploring determinants of sustainable consumption behaviour. Ecological Economics, 180, 106–115.
Vieira, V. A. (2013). Stimuli-organism-response framework: A meta-analytic review in the store environment. Journal of Business Research, 66(9), 1420–1426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.05.009
White, K., Habib, R., & Hardisty, D. J. (2019). How to SHIFT consumer behaviours to be more sustainable: A literature review and guiding framework. Journal of Marketing, 83(3), 22–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242919825649
