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Behaviour and Climate Change: Consumer Perceptions of Responsibility

Wells, V.K.; Ponting, C.; Peattie, K.

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Authors

V.K. Wells

C. Ponting

K. Peattie



Abstract

This paper explores the under-researched notion of consumer responsibility, a potentially significant influence on consumer behaviour that marketers and policymakers may be able to harness as they attempt to respond to environmental challenges such as climate change. The paper uses data derived from a commercially motivated survey (n = 1513) to explore domestic consumption behaviours most closely associated with the issue of disruptive climate change. A measure of 'General Environmental Responsiveness' (GER) is used to test: (1) the effects of consumers both taking responsibility for their actions and placing responsibility on others for the consequences of their consumption behaviour; and (2) whether sociodemographic variables can aid the targeting of consumers by the level and type of responsibility and pro-environmental behavioural intentions expressed. The study's findings demonstrate clear, if not strong, relationships between consumer conceptions of responsibilities for causing and tackling climate change and environment-related consumer behaviour. The study's implications both challenge accepted wisdom about environment-related consumer behaviour and suggest avenues for future research.

Citation

Wells, V., Ponting, C., & Peattie, K. (2011). Behaviour and Climate Change: Consumer Perceptions of Responsibility. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(7-8), 808-833. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2010.500136

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2011
Deposit Date Jan 14, 2011
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Marketing Management
Print ISSN 0267-257X
Electronic ISSN 1472-1376
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 27
Issue 7-8
Pages 808-833
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2010.500136
Keywords Consumer responsibility, Environmental responsiveness, Climate change, Sociodemographic variables.
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1511782

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Accepted Journal Article (506 Kb)
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Copyright Statement
This is an electronic version of an article published in Wells, V.K. and Ponting, C. and Peattie, K. (2011) 'Behaviour and climate change : consumer perceptions of responsibility.', Journal of marketing management. . pp. 1472-1376.
Journal of marketing management is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ with the open URL of your article.




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