Title: Shopping for a worthy cause - the theory of planned behaviour for vegan personal care products with a special focus on animal welfare

Authors: Annika Reeh; Nadine Walter; Frauke Sander; Thomas Cleff

Addresses: University of Mannheim, 68131 Mannheim, Germany ' International Marketing, Pforzheim University, Tiefenbronner Strasse 65, 75175 Pforzheim, Germany ' Business Administration, Pforzheim University, Tiefenbronner Strasse 65, 75175 Pforzheim, Germany ' Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics, Pforzheim University, Tiefenbronner Strasse 65, 75175 Pforzheim, Germany

Abstract: Consumers are increasingly considering ethical aspects when purchasing goods. Considerations about the triple bottom line of ethical consumption, i.e., environmental, social and animal welfare are included into their shopping behaviour. However, academics have so far focused on the research areas of ecology and human rights, while animal welfare has been largely ignored. Hence, this study focuses on analysing the impact of animal welfare concern using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Our findings of an empirical study (n = 186) in Germany show that the best predictors of attitude towards vegan personal care products are moral obligation, animal welfare concern and environmental concern. Perceived behavioural control, self-identity, health consciousness and appearance consciousness are not confirmed as predictors. The method of this study has contributed significantly to research: firstly, it is the first empirical study of vegan personal care products using the TPB; secondly, it includes a newly developed scale of animal welfare concern.

Keywords: theory of planned behaviour; TPB; animal welfare concern; environmental concern; moral obligation; vegan; ethical consumption.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBE.2023.133921

International Journal of Business Environment, 2023 Vol.14 No.4, pp.488 - 526

Received: 18 Feb 2022
Accepted: 24 Nov 2022
Published online: 05 Oct 2023 *

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