When doing good feels heavy
The double-edged role of moral obligation in organic food choices
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22355676 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lorenzo Bonisoli (0000-0003-3336-5658, Universidad Tecnica de Machala, corresponding author), Raquel Tinoco-Egas (0000-0001-5979-8123, Universidad Tecnica de Machala) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Pages | 100320 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cleaner and Responsible Consumption (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2666-7843 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.clrc.2025.100320 |
| OpenAlex | W4413923639 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 87 |
The increasing urgency of climate change has prompted a global shift toward sustainable consumption, with organic food emerging as a viable alternative. This study investigates the role of environmental knowledge (EK), environmental concern (EC), and moral obligation (MO) in shaping organic purchase intention among Ecuadorian Generation Z consumers. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the research explores how EK and EC influence attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control and how MO moderates these relationships. A survey was conducted with 391 Gen Zs in Guayaquil and Machala, and data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Results show that EK and EC significantly shape TPB constructs, with attitude and behavioural control positively influencing purchase intention, while subjective norms had no significant effect. Notably, MO strengthens the link between attitude and intention but unexpectedly weakens the impact of EC on attitude—suggesting that when environmental concern is framed as a moral duty, it may trigger guilt or resistance that dilutes its motivational effect. The results highlight that marketers and policymakers must combine ethical messaging with actionable knowledge and local relevance to promote organic consumption among younger audiences in developing markets
Economics · Epistemology · Law and economics · Moral obligation · Obligation · Political science · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Law · Organic Food and Agriculture · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) Using R
Evaluating the purchase behaviour of organic food by young consumers in an emerging market economy
Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior
Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in Behaviour Change Interventions
Application of the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior Model to Investigate Purchase Intention of Green Products among Thai Consumers
PLS path modeling
Unveiling ways to reach organic purchase
Moral Self‐Licensing
Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)
Cross-Validatory Choice and Assessment of Statistical Predictions
A critical look at the use of SEM in international business research
The influence of subjective and objective knowledge on attitude, motivations and consumption of organic food
Intention-behaviour gap and perceived behavioural control-behaviour gap in theory of planned behaviour
Thinking green, buying green? Drivers of pro-environmental purchasing behavior
A predictive approach to the random effect model
Descriptive norms as an additional predictor in the theory of planned behaviour
Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for Building and Testing Behavioral Causal Theory
Discriminant Validity Assessment
On the evaluation of structural equation models
From Intentions to Actions
A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling
When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM
Exploring attitude-behaviour inconsistencies in organic food consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Klang Valley, Malaysia
Understanding the entrepreneurial capacity of university students
Examining the nexus between social cognition, biospheric values, moral norms, corporate environmental responsibility and pro-environmental behaviour. Does environmental knowledge matter
Beggars can't be choosers
The influence of skepticism on the university Millennials’ organic food product purchase intention
Green food purchasing behaviour
Revealing the organic food consumption intention in Afyonkarahisar
Analyzing organic food purchase intentions
Factors influencing green purchasing inconsistency of Ecuadorian millennials
What motivates consumers to purchase organic food in an emerging market? An empirical study from Saudi Arabia
Exploring the role of consumer ethnocentrism in predicting the purchase intention for locally produced organic food in an emerging market
Do normative triggers and motivations influence the intention to purchase organic food? An application of the goal-framing theory
Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being
Integrating moral norms and stewardship identity into the theory of planned behavior to understand altruistic conservation behavior among hunters in southwestern Utah (USA)
Attitudes and the Attitude-Behavior Relation
Using an extended theory of planned behaviour to explain willingness towards voluntary carbon offsetting among Chinese consumers
Structural equation modeling in practice
Can Rights of Nature Make Development More Sustainable? Why Some Ecuadorian lawsuits Succeed and Others Fail
Predicting organic food consumption
Intention to purchase organic food among young consumers
Somewhere between Rhetoric and Reality
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |