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J Bus Ethics (2012) 106:415435 DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-1008-5
Research on Fair Trade ConsumptionA Review
Veronika A. Andorfer Ulf Liebe
Received: 26 January 2011 / Accepted: 11 August 2011 / Published online: 28 August 2011 The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract An overview and assessment of the current state of research on individual consumption of Fair Trade (FT) products is given on the basis of 51 journal publications. Arranging this eld of ethical consumption research according to key research objectives, theoretical approaches, methods, and study population, the review suggests that most studies apply social psychological approaches focusing mainly on consumer attitudes. Fewer studies draw on economic approaches focusing on consumers willingness to pay ethical premia for FT products or sociological approaches relying on the concept of consumer identity. Experimental, qualitative and conventional survey methods are used approximately equally often. Almost all studies draw on convenience or purposive samples and most studies are conducted in the USA or the United Kingdom. Several problems in current research are identied: amongst others, studies rather narrow theoretical focus, potential hypothetical and social desirability bias of conventional survey data, and a lack of generalizability of empirical ndings. In turn, we suggest that research would benet from both a multiple-motives and a multiple-methods perspective. Considering competing theories can help to single out key behavioral determinants of individual FT consumption. The combination of different methods such as conventional
surveys and eld experiments contributes to uncovering respondents truthful answers and improves generalizability of results. Scholars in the eld of ethical consumption research should use experiments to detect causal relations proposed by theories and conduct cross-country surveys to gather insights as to how differences in market structures, cultural traits, and other path dependencies affect patterns of individual FT consumption.
Keywords Choice experiment Ethical consumption
Field experiment Fair Trade consumption
Theory of planned behavior
AbbreviationsAUS AustraliaBDM BeckerDeGrootMarschak mechanism BE BelgiumCA Conjoint analysisCDN CanadaCE Choice experimentsCH SwitzerlandCV Continent valuationD GermanyESP SpainF FranceFIN FinlandFT Fair TradeHK Hong KongIT ItalyNL NetherlandsPBC Perceived behavioral controlROK South KoreaSVT Schwartz value theorySWE SwedenTPB Theory of planned behavior
V. A. Andorfer (&) U. Liebe
Universitat Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germanye-mail: [email protected]
U. LiebeGeorg-August-Universitat Gttingen, Platz der Gttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Gttingen, Germanye-mail: [email protected]
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