Personality traits and sustainable consumption

Abstract

Currently, environmental sustainability is the subject of many discussions, both in biology and ecology and also in economy. The results of these discussions are shown in international forums promoted by governments, programs of social and environmental responsibility carried out by companies, and sustainable consumption initiatives adopted by consumers trying to make a difference through their consumption. This study analyzes the sustainable consumption phenomenon, from the consumer point of view, investigating which personality traits could be antecedents of sustainable consumption behavior. The theoretical framework used to analyze this relationship was the Metatheoretical Model of Motivation and Personality, proposed by Mowen (2000). The data, collected through questionnaires and analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling-SEM, revealed that the traits “frugality” and “conscientiousness” were the ones with greater relationship with the superficial trait propensity to sustainable consumption behavior, represented by the traits “ecologically-correct purchase”, “resources saving” and “recycling”.