Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055

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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, Viet Nam

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The consumption of eco-friendly plastic products is interestingly investigated by scholars and governments
Ethical consumption behavior because of its contributions to environmental protection. However, examining the impacts of factors driving
Intention ethical consumption behaviors towards eco-friendly plastic products is unclear. Therefore, this study examined
Eco-friendly plastic products
the impact of different individual concerns (political concern, environmental concern, and social concern) on
Social network
ethical consumption behavior 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 plas-
tic 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 per-
sonal concerns or beliefs (e.g. 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/).
N.T.K. 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
(L
az

aroiu et al., 2020). Against this background, the 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 con-
sumption 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 resis-
tant to microbial attack (i.e packaging, plasticulture, polyhouses, etc.)
(Stoica et al., 2020). Eco-friendly plastics are products made from recy-
cled 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 (i.e corn flour, rice flour, potato,
Fig. 1. The proposed framework.
2
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 Ver-
esiu, 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 Hol-
brook, 1993, p. 113). One of the primary attributes of ethical consump-
tion behavior is that it is only effective in the aggregate if large numbers
of consumers engage in similar behaviors for long periods of time
(L
opez-Fernandez, 2020). It was concluded that those respondents who
believe their contributions to the future are important 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 in-
dividual concerns and social networks that can predict consumers’ be-
haviors. 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 re-
sponsibility (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 dominant social para-
digm) to recognizing the limits of nature's growth and the negative
N.T.K. Chi Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055

impacts of human's activities on nature (Dunlap and Van Liere, 1978; The findings of Bennett (1998) and Inglehart (1997) firstly suggested
Dunlap et al., 2000). Second, AC beliefs refer to a belief that the envi- the link between political concern and other factors which reflect “po-
ronmental well-being will enhance or threaten other people, other spe- litical participation” including government trust or religiosity. In-
cies, and the biosphere (Stern, 2000). Third, AR beliefs indicate that dividuals' purchasing choices reflect an understanding of services or
humans should take the responsibility to mitigate the environmental products as embedded in a complex social and normative context which
impacts because human actions can prevent or exacerbate the potential is called the politics behind products or services (Micheletti, 2003). The
negative consequences of the environment (Stern et al., 1999). PN can be consumers’ purchasing choices are at least impacted by political mode
considered a social rule that determines members' behavior and is acti- (Stolle et al., 2005; Bostr€
om and Klintman, 2006). As cleaner production
vated by their beliefs (Schwartz and Howard, 1984). Schwartz (1977) focuses on eco-friendly materials for natural conservation (Sanjay et al.,
defined PN as a feeling of moral obligation to perform or refrain from a 2018), consumers are required to obey the rules and avoid harmfulness to
specific action. Based on the VBN theory, this study examines the rela- the environment through their ethical environment behavior. Especially
tionship between different individual concern (namely political concern, companies should target politically active people or should convince
social concern, and environmental concern) on ethical consumption politically-minded people to buy eco-friendly products (Brenton, 2013).
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
People take consider the quality of the environment when they are
ethical consumption intention
concerned about the effect of environment on their health (Fransson and
Garling, 1999). Some previous studies also suggested that environmental H2b. Political concern of individual will positively influence their
concern directly push ethical purchase intention (i.e. Paladino and Ng, ethical consumption behavior
2013; Hedlund, 2011). Thus, there is a notion that environmental
From the literature review of Sheth et al. (1991, p.161), social
concern plays a key role in decision-making processes surrounding
concern is defined as “the perceived utility acquired from an alternative's
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,
high pressure from individuals of importance (Ajzen, 1991) while social
in turn, influences consumer perceptions about the product and choice
status represents “the value of power within the self-enhancement cate-
behavior (Kim et al., 2010). Coddington (1993) suggested that con-
gory” (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-
social appreciation. Vitell (2015) further suggested that the increase in
wards eco-friendly plastic products. Past research highlighted the posi-
individual social concern leads to the expansion of social norms pushing
tive influence of EC on purchase behaviors (Hansen et al., 2018). Starr
individual behavior. There is increasing in individual concern about so-
(2009) considered environmental concern as a reason motivating in-
cial value as the environment is damaged by marketed products (Conrad,
dividuals in their purchasing decision. He argued that individuals are
2005). In that case, social concern increases consumer intention towards
more likely to buy ethically as there are socially mediated effects in the
eco-friendly plastic products. There are a few recent studies examining
spread of ethical consumption. Therefore, environmental concern is a
eco-food. For example, Shin et al. (2018), Schrank and Running (2018),
consequence of customer behavior (Li et al., 2016; Chi, 2021b). When it
and Kushwah et al. (2019) revealed the positive significant effect of so-
comes to plastics, it can be suggested that individual with positive
cial concern on green consumption intention and WTP on organic food.
environmental awareness is more likely to consume eco-friendly plastic
Drawing from the aforementioned literature, it can be suggested there
products than individual who is not environmentally concerned. There-
are relationships among social concern, and ethical consumption inten-
fore, this study proposes the hypotheses:
tion, and ethical consumption behavior. Therefore, this study proposes
H1a. Environmental concern of individual will positively influence the hypotheses.
their ethical consumption intention
H3a. Social concern of individual will positively influence their ethical
H1b. Environmental concern of individual will positively influence consumption intention
their 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”
H4. Ethical consumption intention will positively influence ethical
in addressing political and moral concerns. He expressed political
consumption behavior
meaning in a wide range of activities such as entertainment choices and
buying decisions. There is a notation that people base their political and
2.3. The moderating role of social networks
ethical 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 consider-
ganizations (Contractor et al., 2006). The main purpose of social network
ations of justice or fairness or on a valuation of business and government
theorising is to explain network consequences. Two types of conse-
practices (Stolle et al., 2005). So far, Starr (2009) argued that individuals
quences are considered. One type of consequence can be labeled as
would buy services for political or ethical reasons. He found that indi-
‘contagion’ whereby the interest is to understand how networks may
vidual with concern about politics is more likely to engage in ethical
create or spread homogeneity (e.g. in attitudes or organizational prac-
activities in political participation. Consumption is no longer solely an
tices). The other type of consequence, and of more relevance to under-
economic activity, but also a political one as mentioning ethical con-
standing ‘insidership’, is ‘evaluative’ and is interested in performance
sumption behavior toward eco-friendly plastic products.
outcomes for network members. Social networks offer different chances

3
N.T.K. Chi Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055

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 theorising 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 (e.g. 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 (e.g. firms) with by four items from the research of Biswas and Roy (2015). Environmental
similar attributes may perform differently as a result of the influence of concern is captured using five items adapted from Hultman et al. (2015)
the characteristics of the network(s) to which they belong or their and Pham and Nguyen (2020). Meanwhile, political concern was
different positions in the same network. employed by four items which are in conformity with the studies of Starr
In the area of the social web, individuals use different online channels (2009) and Shah et al. (2007). The social network was measured by four
to express their concerns (somewhat relating to politics, environment, items and adapted from Bedard and Tolmie (2018). Ethical consumption
society) (Kim and Tussyadiah, 2013). On the other hand, Kang and Hur intention was measured by five items from the research of Kushwah et al.
(2012) argued that individuals tend to purchase green products or ser- (2019) and Zhang et al. (2018). Finally, ethical consumption behavior
vices through social media channels and their concern for the environ- was employed by five items and adopted from Kushwah et al. (2019) and
ment. 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 environ- 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 neces-
sarily translate into behavioral shifts in consumer purchasing decisions
3.2. Data collection
(Osterhus, 1997). Therefore, it is needed to be a key factor transforming
consumer's concerns into their intention and behavior to buy eco-friendly
The target sample of this study is Vietnamese consumers. Data is
plastic products. Transforming social interactions in social networks into
collected from two large cities in Vietnam (Hanoi and Hochiminh) where
benefits for firms requires a comprehensive understanding of the eco-
environmental issues are more pressing and a lot of consumers have
nomic and social motivations of the participants (Sridhar Balasu-
aware of concerns on the environment, social value, and ethical con-
bramanian, 2001). Keeping in view the limited research available on
sumption. Thanks to the strict approach and regulations, Vietnam had
behavioral intentions and outcomes, Krasnova et al. (2015) have called to
successfully controlled the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic from
investigate behavioral consequences of social comparison on social
April to November 2020. Therefore, supermarkets, shops, and traditional
network users. Investigating social network users' behavioral intentions
markets in Vietnam were reopened and welcomed consumers.
and responses is essential because this may turn into social, psychologi-
The participants were introduced to the objective of this research and
cal, and work-related outcomes (Meier and Sch€afer, 2018), and closely
also assured that their information would be kept confidential. After
related to the long-term success of technologies (Cao and Sun, 2018).
three 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
social networks on the relationships between individual concerns and
47.2% and females accounted for 52.8% representing an almost equal
ethical consumption behavior and on the link between ethical con-
distribution of gender. The majority of visitors in the sample were from
sumption intention and behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products.
Social network platforms provide more virtual interaction, with smart-
Table 1
phone users checking Facebook multiple times a day in order to see the
Sample of participants.
updates of their SNS friends could engage themselves more in behavioral
response (Festl et al., 2017). Therefore, individual concerns about the Characteristic Percent
environment, politics, or social values are not enough strong for con- Gender
sumer intention and behavior without the impact of the social networks. Female 52.8
It can be suggested that the impact of social networks will transform Male 47.2
Age
individual concerns into their behaviors towards eco-friendly plastic Below 20 8.6%
products 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 41-50 19.6%
the relationship between environmental concern and ethical consump- Above 50 10.8%
tion behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products. Job
Student 7.6%
H5b. The use of social networks of individuals positively strengthens Staff 31.4%
the relationship between political concern and ethical consumption Business 31.8%
behavior towards eco-friendly plastic products. Other 29.2%
Income per month (USD)
H5c. The use of social networks of individuals positively strengthens Below 250 24.8%
250-500 20.1%
the relationship between social concern and ethical consumption
500-1000 22.2%
behavior 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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N.T.K. Chi Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055

31 to 40 years old (36.3%) and business (31.8%). The vast majority of Table 2
consumers who completed the questionnaire had an income per month of The reliability and convergent validity.
500–1000 USD/month (22.2%). Constructs/variables Standard Cronbach's Composite AVE
loadings Alpha Reliability
3.3. Analytical method Environmental concern 0.784 0.850 0.53
Consider oneself to be part 0.721
To test the proposed model, three-stage approach was employed. of environment
Firstly, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) recommended by Hair et al. Humans are severely 0.787
abusing the environment
(2010) was used to validate the measurement scale. Secondly, “Structural Reducing the waste of plastic 0.728
equation modeling-SEM” adapted by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) was Caring about the future of 0.755
assessed for the relationships among environmental concern, political planet
concern, social concern, ethical consumption intention, and behavior by Buying eco-friendly plastic 0.653
products is good for
the support of AMOS 21.0. The model fit indices such as χ2/df, GFI
environment
(Goodness of fit index), TLI, NFI (Normed fit index), CFI (Comparative fit Social concern 0.794 0.820 0.53
index) and RMSEA (Root mean square error of approximation) were Purchase of eco-friendly 0.684
examined with the criteria: 1 to 5 for χ2/; above 0.90 for GFI, TLI and CFI plastic products will help
(Kline, 2005); below 0.08 for RMSEA (Bollen, 1989). Thirdly, PROCESS me gain social approval
Purchase of eco-friendly 0.653
macro in SPSS 21.0 was employed for analyzing the moderating impact plastic products will make
of social networks on the relationships among environmental concern, a positive impression on
political concern and social concern, ethical consumption intention with peer groups
ethical consumption 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 I often try to change others' 0.717
indicated a satisfactory fit (χ2/df ¼ 3.198 and RMSEA ¼ 0.049) (Hair political views about
et al., 2010). The model fit indices (CFI ¼ 0.918, GFI ¼ 0.924, TLI ¼ consuming eco-friendly
0.906 and IFI ¼ 0.919) were above the cut off requirement of 0.90 (Kline, plastic products
I am informed about politics 0.692
2015). All the indices were significant at p < 0.001.
than others
The composite reliability estimate of each construct was also satis- I trust in government in 0.769
factory as it was above 0.700 (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994) which also protecting environment
indicated all constructs were reliable (Table 2). All the standard factor for consuming eco-
loadings were more than the required cutoff limit of 0.50 (Tabachnick friendly plastic products
I trust in government in 0.698
and Fidell, 2013). The average variance extracted (AVE) of each developing sustainablity
construct was also above 0.50 which established convergent validity have moral obligation to
(Fornell and Larcker, 1981) (Table 2). Furthermore, Table 3 showed that protect environment
the squared AVE (square root of average variance extracted of each The use of social networks 0.761 0.839 0.57
I use social media to find and 0.717
construct) was larger than the correlation coefficient. Table 3 confirmed
spread information
the existence of discriminant validity and showed the uniqueness and Social media posts of eco- 0.776
distinctness of research constructs (Hair et al., 2010; Chi, 2021a). friendly plastic products
make the poster stand out
4.2. Hypotheses testing Social media posts of eco- 0.858
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
(χ 2/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
Therefore, the hypotheses H1a, H1b, H2a, H2b, H3a, H3b, and H4 are my peers seek out
accepted. information electronically
Environment, political and social concerns all positively affect ethical Ethical consumption 0.780 0.833 0.50
consumption intention while environmental concern has the highest intention
I intend to consume eco- 0.619
impact (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 I prefer eco-friendly plastic 0.798
products to other plastic
the lowest influence.
products
In order to assess the total impact of all factors in the model, the I will consider buying eco- 0.696
direct-indirect-total effect analysis was employed. Table 5 shows that friendly plastic products
three constructs (environment, political and social concerns) have because they are less
directly linked with ethical consumption intention while they have both polluting
I intend to choose products 0.718
direct and indirect effects on ethical consumption behavior towards eco- having less
friendly plastic products. The total effect of environmental concern on
(continued on next page)
ethical consumption behavior is largest at 0.690 (sum of direct and in-
direct impact through ethical consumption intention). Similarly, the total

5
N.T.K. Chi Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 5 (2022) 100055

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

Constructs/variables
environmentally
hazardous in future
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
Standard Cronbach's Composite AVE Meanwhile, the total effect of social concern on ethical consumption
loadings Alpha Reliability behavior is 0.162 which is the lowest among the three predictors.
0.704 0.847 0.53 4.3. The moderating role of social networks
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
0.754
behavior (0.212) while the lowest moderating impact is on the linkage
between social concern and ethical consumption behavior (0.049).
5. Discussion

Table 3 This study proposed and empirically tested the impact of four inde-
Discriminant validity. pendent constructs (environmental concern, political concern, and social
Constructs ENC POL SAC NET EIN EIB concern) on ethical consumption intention and behavior. More specif-
ically, the moderating effect of social networks is also investigated on the
Environmental concern 0.728
Political concern 0.711 0.721
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, (ß ¼ 0.049, p < 0.01) and ethical consumption intention and behavior (ß
NET-social networks, EIN-Ethical consumption intention, EIB- Ethical con- ¼ 0.212, p < 0.01). The moderating role in the link of intention and
sumption 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, how-
Path analysis results of the baseline model.
ever, does not support hypothesis H5a which suggests the impact of so-
Relationships Path P Test result
cial 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 → Ethical 0.379 *** Supported works do not relate the people's concern on the environment with their
consumption intention
ethical behavior in consuming eco-friendly plastic products. However,
H2a: Political concern → Ethical 0.308 *** Supported
consumption intention there is no research examining the moderating influence of social net-
H3a: Social concern → Ethical consumption 0.145 0.013 Supported works on the association of social concern, political concern, environ-
intention mental concern, ethical consumption intention, and behavior towards
H4: Ethical consumption intention → 0.215 ** Supported
eco-friendly plastic products.
Ethical consumption behavior
H1b: Environmental concern → Ethical 0.289 ** Supported
The study also shows the significant positive impact of social concern,
consumption behavior
H2b: Political concern → Ethical 0.609 *** Supported Table 6
consumption behavior The results of the moderating effect of social networks.
H3b: Social concern → Ethical consumption 0.131 0.021 Supported
behavior Path ß t p LLCI ULCI Moderation

Note: ***<0.001, **<0.01. H5a: NETxENC → 0.027 0.88 0.37 0.085 0.032 No
EIB
H5b: NETxPOL → 0.124 0.270 0.00 0.021 0.229 Yes
EIB
Table 5 H5c: NETxSAC → 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 → 0.212 0.420 0.01 0.048 0.372 Yes
EIB
Environmental concern → Intention 0.379 0.000 0.379
Political concern → Intention 0.308 0.000 0.308 ‘Note: ß ¼ standardized regression weight, t ¼ t value, LLCI ¼ Lower limit of
Social concern → Intention 0.145 0.000 0.145 confidence interval, ULCI¼ Upper limit of confidence interval. NETxENC ¼
Ecotourism intention → Behavior 0.215 0.000 0.215 interaction between the use of social networks and environmental concern,
Environmental concern → Behavior 0.609 0.081 0.690 NETxPOL ¼ interaction between the use of social networks and political concern,
Political concern → Behavior 0.289 0.066 0.355 NETxSAC ¼ interaction between the use of social networks and social concern,
Social concern → Behavior 0.131 0.031 0.162
NETxEIN ¼ interaction between the use of social networks and ethical con-
sumption intention.

6
N.T.K. 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; Bostr€om, 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 environ-
mental 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 in-
dividuals 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-
dividuals having social-political and environmental concerns tend to
purchase green products. Similarly, this study does go beyond the inde-
pendent 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 in-
dividuals helps them better perceive their ethical behavior in environ-
ment protection.
6. Conclusion
This study contributes several significant contributions to 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 un-
derstanding how different individual concerns impact consumers'
behavior on consuming eco-friendly plastic products which is a unique
contribution to 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 prod-
ucts (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 prac-
tice. 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 (i.e. park, 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 (i.e. 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 di-
rectives 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 asso-
ciation 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 (i.e. Face-
book, 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 (i.e 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 that associate 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 re-
lationships 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 sug-
gests 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.
N.T.K. Chi
Declaration of competing interest
The author declare 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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