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Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Cleaner and Responsible Consumption

journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/cleaner-and-responsible-consumption

Ethical consumption behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products:

Implication for cleaner production
Nguyen Thi Khanh Chi
Foreign Trade University, 91 Chua Lang, Hanoi, Vietnam

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: The consumption of eco-friendly plastic products is interestingly investigated by scholars and governments because
Ethical consumption behavior
of its contributions to environmental protection. However, examining the impacts of factors driving ethical
Intention
consumption behaviors towards eco-friendly plastic products is unclear. Therefore, this study examined the impact
eco-friendly plastic products
social network of different individual concerns (political concern, environmental concern, and social concern) on ethical behavior
consumption towards eco-friendly plastic products. Specifically, the moderating role of social networks on all the
proposed relationships was also investigated. Data were collected using a structured ques tionnaire survey at
different supermarkets. A total of 927 buyers participated in this study. A structural equation modeling approach
was employed for data analysis. The results indicated the significant positive impact of different individual concerns
on ethical consumption behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products. More importantly, the study discovers that
social networks strengthen the effects of political and social concerns on ethical consumption behavior and reduce
the gap between consumption intention and ethical consumption behavior. The new insight is a contribution to the
theory about cleaner and responsible consumption and practice in environmental protection and sustainable
development in the future.

1.Introduction
Every year there are 140 million tonnes of synthetic polymers making
plastics worldwide which in turn create waste products (Rahim and
Raman, 2017). Although plastic products tackle challenges in society, the
negative impacts of plastic waste are harmful to human beings and raise
environment pollution (Filho et al., 2019). Nations around the world have
to focus on cleaner production to manufacture eco-friendly plastic products
in an effort to reduce the negative effects on the environment and human
health. However, as the price of eco-friendly plastic products is higher
than traditional plastics, customer consumption is unexpected (Pahlevi
and Suhartanto, 2020). Consequently, understanding con sumers'
consumption behaviors towards eco-friendly plastic products is important
for sustainable development and cleaner production in the future.
In decades, as there has been an increase in public awareness of the
environmental problems, the Stockholm Convention was established to
“promote cleaner production and prevent POPs accumulation in the global
environment” (UNEP, 2015). While studies into green purchasing behavior
(Chi, 2021b), the impacts of microplastics in marine and freshwater
environments (Lv et al., 2019; Hamidian et al., 2021; Xu et al.,
2021; Zhang et al., 2021) and customer loyalty on eco-friendly plastics
(Pahlevi and Suhartanto, 2020) have accelerated in recent years, research
about ethical consumption behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products
is still scant.
In the behavioral literature of Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), individual
awareness, concern, and attitudes will lead to responsible action.
Otherwise, Ramdas and Mohamed (2014) further confirmed that personal
concerns or beliefs (eg socio-political, cultural, and environmental issues)
play a key role in examining their behavior. Political, social, and
environmental concerns have been investigated for ethical consumers
(Barnett et al., 2019), and different approaches to ethical consumption are
influenced by different social, environmental and political concerns
(Rodrigues and Lowan-Trudeau, 2021). Furthermore, drawing from the
work of Shaw et al. (2016), consumer behavior in ethical consumption is
a free consumer choice pushed by political, social or environmental
concerns which can inform into two main sides such as boycotting or buy
cotting. Therefore, individual concerns about environment, political, and
social issues will impact their behaviors (Ramdas and Mohamed, 2014).
However, there is little attention in examining the impacts of political,
environment, and social concerns on ethical consumption behaviors to
wards eco-friendly plastic products. Therefore, understanding how to

E-mail address: chintk@ftu.edu.vn.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2022.100055
Received 28 July 2021; Received in revised form 19 February 2022; Accepted 5 March 2022
2666-7843/© 2022 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc
nd/4.0/).
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NTK Chi
promote demand for eco-friendly plastics requires critical knowledge about
which individual concern motivates their consumption behavior.
Awareness of how social networks might correlate with ethical con
sumption behaviors is also not clear. As the internet and especially social
networks have changed the communication between consumers and firms
(Wang et al., 2012), social networks attract a lot of users to enter the sites
daily (Nasir et al., 2021). Thus, the untraditional channel of consumer
communication through the internet is changing their behavior (Penni, 2017).
There is some research in marketing found the positive impact of social
networks on consumer decision-making (Lazaroiu et al., 2020). Against this
background, this study de velops a new framework investigating the individual
concern on ethical consumption behaviors, and also the moderating effect of
the social network.
Plastic waste is seen as a global problem and Vietnam has been listed as
one of the heaviest nations suffering from plastic waste. According to the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam has been discharged
more than 1.8 million tonnes of plastic waste which can be found in city, at
sea, rivers, or rice fields. Plastic consumption per capita has increased from
3.8 kg/person in 1990 to 41.3 kg per person in 2018 (Le, 2019). Plastic wastes
pose threats to the Vietnamese environment and human being which lead to
having an effort to focus on eco-friendly plastic products. As some regulations
have been implemented to protect the environment, changing awareness and
behavior remain the biggest challenges. Therefore, the study examining
ethical consumption behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products has
become important in the context of Vietnam. By proposing a behavioral model
(Fig. 1), this study offers two contributions. First, this study is among the first
to shed light on how socio-political and environmental concerns are associated
with ethical consumption behaviors. The study highlights the critical moderating
role of social networks when predicting the ethical consumption of eco-friendly
plastic products. Second, it offers meaningful implications for practice and
contributes new insights to cleaner pro duction in rising agricultural resource
efficiency.
2. Literature review and hypotheses
2.1. Ethical consumption intention and behavior
Plastic products are made from polymeric molecules and have become
popular in production because they are strong, light, and resistant to microbial
attack (ie packaging, plasticulture, polyhouses, etc.)
(Stoica et al., 2020). Eco-friendly plastics are products made from recycled
plastic or natural materials (Govil et al., 2020). However, recycled plastics are
still risky to the environment while natural materials are more beneficial
(Maheshwari et al., 2013). Eco-friendly plastic products made from agricultural
materials (ie corn flour, rice flour, potato,
Fig. 1. The proposed framework.
two
Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055
cassava, etc) are mostly priority.
Ethical consumption is referred to a deliberate decision for making a
consuming choices based on individual moral beliefs (Crane and Matten,
2004). When buying products from socially responsible companies, consumers
show their actions as ethical consumption (Giesler and Veresiu, 2014).
Increasing concerns for ethical consumption is leading to growing attention to
eco-friendly products' consumption (Chowdhury, 2019). Drawing on this
research, ethical consumption intention (ECI) is seen as people's intended or
expected future behavior which presents the expectations of a kind of behavior
and is operated as the ability to pur chase eco-friendly products. Ethical
consumption behavior (ECB) is “decision making, purchase, or other
consumption experiences that are affected by the consumer's ethical
concerns” (Cooper-Martin and Holbrook, 1993, p. 113). One of the primary
attributes of ethical consumption behavior is that it is only effective in the
aggregate if large numbers of consumers engage in similar behaviors for long
periods of time (Lopez-Fernandez, 2020). It was concluded that those
respondents who believe their contributions to the future are reported greater
intention to engage in more ethical consumption behaviors including such
things as buying organic, reducing household waste, and buying eco-friendly
products.
This study discussed ethical consumption intention and behavior to wards
eco-friendly plastic products using individual concerns (environ mental
concern, political concern, and social concern) as antecedent variables. The
study is expected to explain the relationship between individual concerns and
social networks that can predict consumers' behavior. The following sections
further discuss the literature review and proposed hypotheses.
2.2. The impact of environmental concern, social concern and political
concern
Stern (2000) proposed the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory of envi
ronmentalism to explore the influence of a causal chain of factors on people's
actions. These variables include values, new environmental paradigm (NEP),
awareness of consequences (AC), the ascription of responsibility (AR) to self-
beliefs, and personal norm (PN). The VBN model can provide more
explanations as it is based on an individual's scheme from the higher hierarchy
of values to the proximal antecedent of behavioral intention. Three constructs
of belief exist in the VBN model:
The NEP was developed by Dunlap and Van Liere (1978) in the mid-1970s.
Dunlap et al. (2000) defined NEP as “beliefs about humanity's ability to upset
the balance of nature, the existence of limits to growth for human societies,
and humanity's right to rule over the rest of nature”. The NEP beliefs can
capture a shift in human perceptions of nature, from anthropocentrism and
dominance (known as the social dominant to digm) to recognizing the limits
of nature's growth and the negative
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impacts of human's activities on nature (Dunlap and Van Liere, 1978;
Dunlap et al., 2000). Second, AC beliefs refer to a belief that the
environmental well-being will enhance or threaten other people, other
species, and the biosphere (Stern, 2000). Third, AR beliefs indicate that
humans should take the responsibility to mitigate the environmental
impacts because human actions can prevent or exacerbate the potential
negative consequences of the environment (Stern et al., 1999). PN can
be considered a social rule that determines members' behavior and is
The findings of Bennett (1998) and Inglehart (1997) firstly suggested
the link between political concern and other factors which reflect “political
participation” including government trust or religiosity. In dividuals'
purchasing choices reflect an understanding of services or products as
embedded in a complex social and normative context which is called the
politics behind products or services (Micheletti, 2003). The consumers'
purchasing choices are at least impacted by political mode (Stolle et al.,
2005; Bostrom and Klintman, 2006 ). As cleaner production focuses on
€

activated by their beliefs (Schwartz and Howard, 1984). Schwartz (1977) eco-friendly materials for natural conservation (Sanjay et al., 2018),
defined PN as a feeling of moral obligation to perform or refrain from a consumers are required to obey the rules and avoid harmfulness to the
specific action. Based on the VBN theory, this study examines the environment through their ethical environment behavior. Especially
relationship between different individual concerns (namely political companies should target politically active people or should convince
concerns, social concerns, and environmental concerns) on ethical politically-minded people to buy eco-friendly products (Brenton, 2013).
consumption intention and behavior. Therefore, this paper also supposes that individual with political concern
From the literature review, environmental concern is considered as is likely to buy eco-friendly plastic products rather than other types of
“the whole range of environmentally related perceptions, emotions, plastics. The hypotheses are following:
knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviors” (Bamberg, 2003, p.21).
H2a. Political concern of individual will positively influence their ethical
People take into account the quality of the environment when they are
consumption intention
concerned about the effect of the environment on their health (Fransson
and Garling, 1999). Some previous studies also suggested that H2b. Political concern of individual will positively influence their ethical
environmental concern directly push ethical purchase intention (ie consumption behavior
Paladino and Ng, 2013; Hedlund, 2011). Thus, there is a notion that
From the literature review of Sheth et al. (1991, p.161), social concern
environmental concern plays a key role in decision-making processes
is defined as “the perceived utility acquired from an alternative's
surrounding ethical purchasing behavior (Akehurst et al., 2012; Wearing et al., 2002).
association with one or more specific social groups” and contains social
The choice of product attribute is influenced by individual EC or
norms and social status. The social norms describe a person receiving
support to protect the environment (Papista and Krystallis, 2013). This, in
high pressure from individuals of importance (Ajzen, 1991) while social
turn, influences consumer perceptions about the product and choice
status represents “the value of power within the self-enhancement
behavior (Kim et al., 2010). Coddington (1993) suggested that con
category” (Costa et al., 2014).
sumers were conscious of the degrading environmental condition and its
This study focuses on how people perform a certain behavior in
subsequent impact on human health. This tension affects their purchase
choosing eco-friendly plastic products which make them improve their
decision-making, which further leads to the increased inclination to wards
social appreciation. Vitell (2015) further suggested that the increase in
eco-friendly plastic products. Past research highlighted the positive
individual social concern leads to the expansion of social norms pushing
influence of EC on purchase behaviors (Hansen et al., 2018). Starr (2009)
individual behavior. There is increasing in individual concern about social
considered environmental concern as a reason motivating in dividuals in
value as the environment is damaged by marketed products (Conrad,
their purchasing decision. He argued that individuals are more likely to
2005). In that case, social concern increases consumer intention towards
buy ethically as there are socially mediated effects in the spread of ethical
eco-friendly plastic products. There are a few recent studies examining
consumption. Therefore, environmental concern is a consequence of
eco-food. For example, Shin et al. (2018), Schrank and Running (2018),
customer behavior (Li et al., 2016; Chi, 2021b). When it comes to plastics,
and Kushwah et al. (2019) revealed the positive significant effect of social
it can be suggested that individual with positive environmental awareness
concern on green consumption intention and WTP on organic food.
is more likely to consume eco-friendly plastic products than individual who
Drawing from the aforementioned literature, it can be suggested there are
is not environmentally concerned. There fore, this study proposes the
relationships among social concern, and ethical consumption intention,
hypotheses:
and ethical consumption behavior. Therefore, this study proposes the
H1a. Environmental concern of individual will positively influence their hypotheses.
ethical consumption intention
H3a. Social concern of individual will positively influence their ethical
H1b. Environmental concern of individual will positively influence their consumption intention
ethical consumption behavior
H3b. Social concern of individual will positively influence their ethical
The political concern is viewed as political consumerism, according to consumption behavior
Bennett (1998), which has been defined with the term “lifestyle politics” in
H4. Ethical consumption intention will positively influence ethical
addressing political and moral concerns. He expressed political meaning
consumption behavior
in a wide range of activities such as entertainment choices and buying
decisions. There is a notation that people base their political and ethical
2.3. The moderating role of social networks
concerns on making a choice in buying decisions.
Individuals' purchasing choices reflect an understanding of services
In literature, a social network is defined as “a finite set or sets of actors
or products as embedded in a complex social and normative context
and the relation or relations defined on them” (Wasserman and Faust,
which is called the politics with environmental issues behind products or
1994, p. 20). The actors (nodes) in social network analysis can represent
services (Micheletti, 2003). Otherwise, an individual makes purchasing
different levels of any kind of social unit such as individuals, firms, or
decisions towards eco-friendly plastic products based on their
ganizations (Contractor et al., 2006). The main purpose of social network
considerations of justice or fairness or on a valuation of business and
theorizing is to explain network consequences. Two types of
government practices (Stolle et al., 2005). So far, Starr (2009) argued
consequences are considered. One type of consequence can be labeled
that individuals would buy services for political or ethical reasons. He
as 'contagion' whereby the interest is to understand how networks may
found that individual with concern about politics is more likely to engage
create or spread homogeneity (eg in attitudes or organizational practices).
in ethical activities in political participation. Consumption is no longer
The other type of consequence, and of more relevance to under standing
solely an economic activity, but also a political one as mentioning ethical
'insidership', is 'evaluative' and is interested in performance outcomes for
con sumption behavior toward eco-friendly plastic products.
network members. Social networks offer different chances

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for firms in marketing their services and knowing customer demand. the relationship between ethical consumption intention and behavior
According to Kane (2009), online interaction strengthens the linkages towards eco-friendly plastic products
between companies and consumers, consumers' intention, and their
behavior. From the performance perspective, the distinctiveness of social 3. Methodology
network theorizing is that it focuses on network relationships as the key
influence on performance outcomes for network members, rather than on 3.1. Measurement scale
the attributes of the individual network nodes or members. Thus, for
example, firm attributes (eg size, absorptive capacity or managerial This study measures the theoretical constructs in the proposed model
capability) are not the main data for network analyses. On the contrary, which were validated by previous research. Social concern was measured
what is of interest to network theorising is how actors (eg firms) with similar by four items from the research of Biswas and Roy (2015). Environmental
attributes may perform differently as a result of the influence of the concern is captured using five items adapted from Hultman et al. (2015)
characteristics of the network(s) to which they belong or their different and Pham and Nguyen (2020). Meanwhile, political concern was employed
positions in the same network. by four items which are in conformity with the studies of Starr (2009) and
In the area of the social web, individuals use different online channels Shah et al. (2007). The social network was measured by four items and
to express their concerns (somewhat relating to politics, environment, adapted from Bedard and Tolmie (2018). Ethical consumption intention
society) (Kim and Tussyadiah, 2013). On the other hand, Kang and Hur was measured by five items from the research of Kushwah et al. (2019)
(2012) argued that individuals tend to purchase green products or services and Zhang et al. (2018). Finally, ethical consumption behavior was
through social media channels and their concern for the environment. employed by five items and adopted from Kushwah et al. (2019) and
There is a need for a notation between the ups and downs of media ElHaffar et al. (2020). Early studies used a 5-point scale in measuring
coverage of the environment and comparable trends in public environment constructs, this present study consequently employed a five-point Likert
mental concern (Hansen, 2011). scale for measuring study questions which range from (strongly disagree)
Unfortunately, even consumers claim to be concerned about social, to 5 (strongly agree) for all items in this study.
environment, and political issues, these stated concerns do not necessarily
translate into behavioral shifts in consumer purchasing decisions (Osterhus, 3.2. data collection
1997). Therefore, it is needed to be a key factor transforming consumer's
concerns into their intention and behavior to buy eco-friendly plastic
The target sample of this study is Vietnamese consumers. Data is
products. Transforming social interactions in social networks into benefits
collected from two large cities in Vietnam (Hanoi and Hochiminh) where
for firms requires a comprehensive understanding of the economic and
environmental issues are more pressing and a lot of consumers are aware
social motivations of the participants (Sridhar Balasu bramanian, 2001).
of concerns about the environment, social value, and ethical consumption.
Keeping in view the limited research available on behavioral intentions and
Thanks to the strict approach and regulations, Vietnam had successfully
outcomes, Krasnova et al. (2015) have called to investigate behavioral
controlled the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic from April to
consequences of social comparison on social network users. Investigating
November 2020. Therefore, supermarkets, shops, and traditional markets
social network users' behavioral intentions and responses is essential
in Vietnam were reopened and welcomed consumers.
because this may turn into social, psychological, and work-related
The participants were introduced to the objective of this research and
outcomes (Meier and Schäafer, 2018), and closely related to the long-term
also assured that their information would be kept confidential. After three
success of technologies (Cao and Sun, 2018).
months, more than 1000 respondents were interviewed with the
Recent investigations have found that social comparison on social
questionnaires. Four assistants were recruited to launch questionnaires.
network may lead to behavioral intentions and consequences such as
The process was strictly controlled and supervised by the author. The
ethical consumption intention and behavior towards eco-friendly plastic
survey was undertaken from May to July 2020 using structured ques
products (Lim & Yang, 2015). Extending this limited but growing body of
tionnaires. The valid surveys were returned and completed at 927 which
research on behavioral intentions and consequences of social comparison
represents a retrieval rate of 92.7%.
for social network users, this paper investigates the moderating role of
Within the sample of participants (Table 1), males accounted for 47.2%
social networks on the relationships between individual concerns and
and females accounted for 52.8% representing an almost equal distribution
ethical consumption behavior and on the link between ethical con sumption
of gender. The majority of visitors in the sample were from
intention and behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products.
Social network platforms provide more virtual interaction, with smart phone
Table 1
users checking Facebook multiple times a day in order to see the updates
Sample of participants.
of their SNS friends could engage themselves more in behavioral response
Characteristic Percent
(Festl et al., 2017). Therefore, individual concerns about the environment,
politics, or social values are not strong enough for consumer intention and gender

behavior without the impact of the social networks. Female 52.8

male 47.2
It can be suggested that the impact of social networks will transform
age
individual concerns into their behaviors towards eco-friendly plastic products Below 20 8.6%
and enhance these relationships. Hence, the hypotheses are. 21-30 24.7%
31-40 36.3%
H5a. The use of social networks of individuals positively strengthens the 41-50 19.6%
relationship between environmental concern and ethical consumption Above 50 10.8%

behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products. job

Student 7.6%
H5b. The use of social networks of individuals positively strengthens the Staff 31.4%

relationship between political concern and ethical consumption behavior Business 31.8%
Other 29.2%
towards eco-friendly plastic products.
Income per month (USD)
Below 250 24.8%
H5c. The use of social networks of individuals positively strengthens the
250-500 20.1%
relationship between social concern and ethical consumption behavior
500-1000 22.2%
towards eco-friendly plastic products. 1000-1500 19.7%
Above 1500 13.2%
h5d. The use of social networks of individuals positively strengthens

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31 to 40 years old (36.3%) and business (31.8%). The vast majority of Table
consumers who completed the questionnaire had an income per month of 2 The reliability and convergent validity.
500–1000 USD/month (22.2%). Constructs/variables standard Cronbach's BIRD
Composite
loadings alpha reliability
3.3. analytical method environmental concern 0.784 0.850 0.53
Consider oneself to be part of 0.721
To test the proposed model, three-stage approach was employed. the environment
Humans are severely 0.787
Firstly, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) recommended by Hair et al.
abusing the environment
(2010) was used to validate the measurement scale. Secondly, “Structural
Reducing the waste of plastic 0.728 Caring
equation modeling-SEM” adapted by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) was about the future of 0.755 planet Buying eco-
assessed for the relationships among environmental concern, political friendly
concern, social concern, ethical consumption intention, and behavior by the plastic products is good for 0.653
environment
support of AMOS 21.0. The model fit indices such as ÿ2/df, GFI (Goodness
of fit index), TLI, NFI (Normed fit index), CFI (Comparative fit index) and social concern 0.794 0.820 0.53
RMSEA (Root mean square error of approximation) were examined with Purchase of eco-friendly 0.684
the criteria: 1 to 5 for ÿ2/; above 0.90 for GFI, TLI and CFI (Kline, 2005); plastic products will help me
below 0.08 for RMSEA (Bollen, 1989). Thirdly, PROCESS macro in SPSS gain social approval
Purchase of eco-friendly 0.653
21.0 was employed for analyzing the moderating impact of social networks
plastic products will make a
on the relationships among environmental concern, political concern and positive impression on peer
social concern, ethical consumption intention with ethical consumption groups
behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products. Consumption of eco-friendly 0.765
plastic products will
improve the way I am
4. Results
perceived
Consumption of eco-friendly 0.812
4.1. measurement model plastic product will help me
feel socially acceptable
Political concern 0.781 0.810 0.52
The measurement model exhibited a good fit as the test indices 0.717
I often try to change others'
indicated a satisfactory fit (ÿ2/df ¼ 3.198 and RMSEA ¼ 0.049) (Hair et al., political views about
2010). The model fit indices (CFI ¼ 0.918, GFI ¼ 0.924, TLI ¼ 0.906 and consuming eco-friendly
IFI ¼ 0.919) were above the cut off requirement of 0.90 (Kline, 2015). All plastic products
I am informed about politics than 0.692
the indices were significant at p < 0.001.
others
The composite reliability estimate of each construct was also satis 0.769
I trust in government in
factory as it was above 0.700 (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994) which also protecting environment for
indicated all constructs were reliable (Table 2). All the standard factor consuming eco
loadings were more than the required cutoff limit of 0.50 (Tabachnick and friendly plastic products
I trust in government in 0.698
Fidell, 2013). The average variance extracted (AVE) of each construct was
developing sustainability
also above 0.50 which established convergent validity (Fornell and Larcker, have moral obligation to
1981) (Table 2). Furthermore, Table 3 showed that the squared AVE protect environment
(square root of average variance extracted from each construct) was larger The use of social networks 0.761 0.839 0.57
I use social media to find and 0.717
than the correlation coefficient. Table 3 confirmed the existence of
spread information
discriminant validity and showed the uniqueness and distinctness of 0.776
Social media posts of eco
research constructs (Hair et al., 2010; Chi, 2021a). friendly plastic products make
the poster stand out
Social media posts of eco 0.858
4.2. Hypotheses testing
friendly plastic products make
me more
Table 4 shows the path analysis results using SEM on the whole understanding
sample. As can be seen from Table 4, the baseline model has a good fit I seek information about 0.649

(ÿ2/df ¼ 3.502; CFI¼ 0.926; TLI¼ 0.900; IFI ¼ 0.914; RMSEA¼ 0.054). eco-friendly plastic
products from other
The hypothesized relationships are all statically significant and positive.
consumers online because my
Therefore, the hypotheses H1a, H1b, H2a, H2b, H3a, H3b, and H4 are
peers seek out
accepted. information electronically
Environment, political and social concerns all positively affect ethical ethical consumption 0.780 0.833 0.50
intention
consumption intention while environmental concern has the highest impact
I intend to consume eco 0.619
(0.379) and social concern has the lowest effect (0.145).
friendly plastic products
Regarding ethical consumption behavior towards eco-friendly plastic I plan to consume eco 0.698
products, the impact of environmental concern has the largest (0.609), friendly plastic products
followed by political concern (0.289) while social concern (0.131) has the I prefer eco-friendly plastic 0.798

lowest influence. products to other plastic

products
In order to assess the total impact of all factors in the model, the direct- 0.696
I will consider buying eco
indirect-total effect analysis was employed. Table 5 shows that three friendly plastic products
constructs (environment, political and social concerns) have directly linked because they are less
with ethical consumption intention while they have both direct and indirect polluting
I intend to choose products 0.718
effects on ethical consumption behavior towards eco friendly plastic
having less
products. The total effect of environmental concern on ethical consumption
(continued on next page)
behavior is largest at 0.690 (sum of direct and in direct impact through
ethical consumption intention). Similarly, the total

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Table 2 (continued) effect of political concern on ethical consumption intention is 0.355.

Constructs/variables standard Cronbach's BIRD
Meanwhile, the total effect of social concern on ethical consumption
Composite
loadings alpha reliability behavior is 0.162 which is the lowest among the three predictors.

environmentally
hazardous in future
0.704 0.847 0.53
4.3. The moderating role of social networks
Ethical consumption behavior

I make a special effort to buy eco-
friendly plastic products
that are made from natural
materials
I am willing to buy eco
friendly plastic products at a
higher price for their
environmental benefits
I am willing to pay more for eco-
friendly plastic products
I introduce eco-friendly
plastic products I use to my
friends and relatives
I have switched eco-friendly plastic
products for protecting
environment
0.663 The process macro in SPSS 21.0 was employed to test the moderating
role of social networks on the relationship between each individual concern
and ethical consumption behavior, and the link between ethical
0.662 consumption intention and behavior. The results show that the use of
social networks of individuals enhances the relationship among political
and social concerns with ethical consumption intention towards eco
friendly plastic products. Furthermore, social networks also reduce the
0.796
gap between ethical consumption intention and behavior. Therefore, H5b,
H5c, and H5d are supported.
0.744 As can be seen from Table 6, social networks have the highest
moderation on the linkage between ethical consumption intention and
behavior (0.212) while the lowest moderating impact is on the linkage
0.754
between social concern and ethical consumption behavior (0.049).
5. Discussion

Table 3 This study proposed and empirically tested the impact of four
Discriminant validity. independent constructs (environmental concern, political concern, and
Constructs ENC POL SAC NET EIN EIB
social concern) on ethical consumption intention and behavior. More
specif ically, the moderating effect of social networks is also investigated
environmental concern 0.728
Political concern 0.711 0.721
on the association of individual concerns, intention, and ethical consumption
social concern 0.689 0.505 0.728
behavior.
social networks 0.672 0.623 0.568 0.754 The proposed model explains the impact of social networks on
Intention 0.577 0.437 0.437 0.392 0.707 strengthening the relationship between political concern and ethical
Behavior 0.640 0.581 0.581 0.528 0.640 0.728
consumption behavior (ß ¼ 0.124, p < 0.01), social concern and behavior
Note: ENC-Environmental concern, POL-Political concern, SAC-Social concern, NET- (ß ¼ 0.049, p < 0.01) and ethical consumption intention and behavior ( ß
social networks, EIN-Ethical consumption intention, EIB- Ethical con sumption ¼ 0.212, p < 0.01). The moderating role in the link of intention and
behavior. behavior is the highest. These findings are consistent with the results of
previous studies (Hansen, 2011; Gustavo et al., 2021) which represented
the impact of marketing on social networks in enhancing the ethical
Table 4
consumption behavior towards green products. The study's result,
Path analysis results of the baseline model.
however, does not support hypothesis H5a which suggests the impact of
Relationships path P test result social networks on the link between environmental concern and ethical
Coefficient
consumption intention (p > 0.05). It can be concluded that social net
H1a: Environmental concern ÿ Ethical 0.379 ***
Supported works do not report the people's concern on the environment with their
consumption intention
*** ethical behavior in consuming eco-friendly plastic products. However,
H2a: Political concern ÿ Ethical 0.308 Supported
consumption intention
there is no research examining the moderating influence of social net
H3a: Social concern ÿ Ethical consumption intention 0.145 0.013 Supported works on the association of social concern, political concern, environmental
mental concern, ethical consumption intention, and behavior towards eco-
0.215 **
H4: Ethical consumption intention ÿ Supported friendly plastic products.
Ethical consumption behavior
H1b: Environmental concern ÿ Ethical consumption 0.289 ** The study also shows the significant positive impact of social concern,
Supported
behavior
***
H2b: Political concern ÿ Ethical 0.609 Supported Table 6
consumption behavior The results of the moderating effect of social networks.
H3b: Social concern ÿ Ethical consumption behavior 0.131 0.021 Supported
path ß t P LLCI ULCI Moderation

Note: ***<0.001, **<0.01. H5a: NETxENC ÿ 0.027 0.88 0.37 0.085 0.032 No
EIB
H5b: NETxPOL ÿ 0.124 0.270 0.00 0.021 0.229 Yes
EIB
Table 5
H5c: NETxSAC ÿ 0.049 0.207 0.02 0.015 0.083 Yes
Direct, indirect and total effect coefficients. EIB

path Direct effect Indirect effect Total effect H5d: NETxEIN ÿ 0.212 0.420 0.01 0.048 0.372 Yes
EIB
Environmental concern ÿ Intention 0.379 0,000 0.379
Political concern ÿ Intention 0.308 0,000 0.308 'Note: ß ¼ standardized regression weight, t ¼ t value, LLCI ¼ Lower limit of
Social concern ÿ Intention 0.145 0,000 0.145 confidence interval, ULCI¼ Upper limit of confidence interval. NETxENC ¼ interaction
Ecotourism intention ÿ Behavior 0.215 0,000 0.215 between the use of social networks and environmental concern, NETxPOL ¼
Environmental concern ÿ Behavior 0.609 Political concern 0.081 0.690 interaction between the use of social networks and political concern, NETxSAC ¼
ÿ Behavior 0.289 Social concern ÿ Behavior 0.066 0.355 interaction between the use of social networks and social concern, NETxEIN ¼
0.131 0.031 0.162 interaction between the use of social networks and ethical con sumption intention.

6
Machine Translated by Google
NTK Chi
political concern and environmental concern on ethical consumption intention
in which environmental concern has the highest influence (ß ¼ 0.379),
followed by political concern (ß ¼ 0.308) and social concern has the lowest
effect (ß ¼ 0.145). This is in accordance with the findings of the existing
studies about green products (Akehurst et al., 2012; Wearing et al., 2002;
€
Stolle et al., 2005; Klintman; Bostrom, 2006; Ubilava et al., 2010). However,
the lowest effect of social concern on ethical con sumption intention is far
different from the findings of Kushwah et al. (2019) work which suggested
the negative effect of social value on ethical consumption intention on
organic foods. These findings are in accordance with the proposal of
Ramdas and Mohamed (2014) which suggests individual concerns socio-
political and environmental issues will lead to their responsible action. A
possible explanation could be that people taking concerned on environment
and politics will intent to buy eco-friendly plastic products rather than other
types of plastic products.
The results reveal the significant positive influence of individual concerns
on environment, political and social values in which mental environment
concern has the biggest total impact (ß ¼ 0.690, p < 0.001, fol lowed by
political (ß ¼ 0.355, p < 0.001) and social concern has a low moderate
impact (ß ¼ 0.162, p ¼ 0.012). These findings are in line with previous
literature, which suggested a positive relationship between in dividual
concern with ethical consumption behavior (Thapa, 2010; Sanjay et al.,
2018 ; Li et al., 2016). The lowest impact of social concern is different from
the findings of Biswas and Roy's (2015) research which found a significant
association between conditional social value and choice behavior on organic
foods. It can be concluded that ethical con sumption is mainly driven by
individual concern about the environment and politics while individual
concern about social value needs to be pushed by strongly social network
impact for consuming eco-friendly plastic products .
Finally, in contrast to most research in this area, this study addresses
not only the dependent construct but also the moderating role of social
networks in the relationship from ethical consumption intention to actual
behavior. This is possible because the use of social networks of individuals
can help to evoke people having awareness of environment protection by
consuming eco-friendly plastic products. These results are somewhat similar
to other studies like Sridhar Balasubramanian (2001), Kang and Hur (2012).
They confirmed that through social networks in individuals having social-
political and environmental concerns tend to purchase green products.
Similarly, this study does go beyond the independent effect of social
networks on ethical consumption behavior by emphasizing its moderating
role on the association of intention and behavior. This is possible because
the use of social networks of individuals helps them better understand their
ethical behavior in environmental protection.
6. Conclusion
This study contributes several significant contributions to the literature.
Firstly, this study is among little empirical research examining the as
sociation of individual concerns on environment, politics, and social value
with ethical consumption intention-behavior towards eco-friendly plastic
products. Secondly, this study extends the behavioral theory of Fishbein and
Ajzen (1975) by investigating the interrelationships be tween different
individual concerns (environmental concern, political concern, or social
concern) and ethical consumption behavior on eco-friendly plastic products.
The new insight of this study lies in understanding how different individual
concerns impact consumers' behavior on consuming eco-friendly plastic
products which is a unique contribution to the literature. Thirdly, another
contribution addresses the important utilization of social networks as a
channel of marketing and sending a message for the benefits of consuming
eco-friendly plastic products to protect the environment and human health.
The sharing of people's concerns about the environment or politics through
social net works has the opportunity to spread the social concern about
ethical consumption behavior toward eco-friendly plastic products. Fourthly,
7
Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055
this paper also mentions the “intention-behavior gap” which translates
individual concerns on the environment, social value, and political issues
into their actual behavior. As the “intention-behavior gap” has been
suggested based on evidence from different nations and different products
(Durif et al., 2012), the current paper makes an effort to respond to the call
from previous scholars to investigate the gap on eco -friendly plastic
products. The use of social networks as a moderator in closing the intention-
behavior gap is also a new contribution in this study.
The study's findings contribute four significant implications to practice.
Firstly, environmental concern is suggested as an important element of
consumers' behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products. From this finding,
manufacturers should address the benefits and deliver the pos itive
messages of consuming eco-friendly plastic products by launching a
branding campaign in crowded places (ie parks, supermarkets, cities).
Moreover, providers also need to address the quality of their eco-friendly
products than traditional plastics for protecting human health and the
environment. Secondly, the political concern is considered as the following
determinant of ethical consumption behavior on eco-friendly plastic products.
It is suggested that the government and policy-makers help the manufacturers
have good opportunities to produce eco-friendly plastic products (ie reduce
the tax of finished products, reduce tax for agricultural ingredients for making
eco-friendly plastic products). More specifically, policy-makers need to
promote propaganda on the prevention and fight against plastic waste. They
should issue directives or plans to reduce plastic waste and raise public
awareness about minimizing plastic waste, classifying solid waste and
plastic waste; to mobilizing people and residential communities to trade
centers, super markets, shops, local markets, hotels, restaurants.
Government should restrict the use of disposable plastic products or replace
them with environmentally friendly products as well as strengthen inspection
and supervision of the collection of domestic waste. Thirdly, the social
network is revealed as a critical factor in reducing the gap between ethical
consumption intention and behavior, in strengthening the association of
political concern, social concern, and ethical consumption behavior. Thus,
managers should focus on marketing on social networks to enhance the
image of eco-friendly plastic products and to launch the benefits of using
eco-friendly plastics. Managers should sponsor projects of environmental
protection, reducing plastic waste as well as take part in forums on social
networks. Also, managers may use experts as endorsers to launch marketing
campaign strategies on social networks (ie Facebook, YouTube) by setting
highlighting the benefits of their eco-friendly plastic products. Finally, for
producing eco-plastic products, companies need to combine materials from
agriculture and industry (ie corn flour, rice flour, potato, cassava, etc) which
not only protect the environment and human health, also promote the
development of agricultural prod ucts for making eco-friendly plastics.
7. Limitation and future work
The study has some limitations associated with a single country context
and cross-sectional survey data. Future research should use a country
context different from Vietnam to revalidate this paper's find ings. A different
research design is also suggested, such as using two phases of data
collection or experimental research, to examine the relationships proposed
in this study. Another limitation associated with this study is that the actual
behavior was not measured, but rather intended to consume eco-friendly
plastic products. While research suggests that intention is the most
proximate indicator of actual behavior (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980), other
research has revealed a gap between intention and actual behavior for a
variety of different behaviors (Fife Schaw et al., 2007; Sheeran, 2002).
Thus, it is unclear how many of these respondents will follow through and
buy eco-friendly plastic products, especially considering the current global
COVID-19 Pandemic. Finally, this research is restricted in examining the
moderating role of control variables such as gender, income, purchase
frequency.
Machine Translated by Google
NTK Chi
Declaration of competing interest
The author declares that I have no known competing financial interests
or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work
reported in this paper.
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