Abstract
Although ethical consumerism has witnessed significant interest in recent years, most studies have focused on low-value, commoditized product categories such as food and beverage and apparel. Despite its significance, the research on ethical consumerism in luxury product segments such as diamonds is relatively scant. This formed the motivation of this study, which examined the ethical buying behavior of consumers and the moderating effects of their income levels in the diamond industry. Four hundred eightteen responses toa structured questionnaire were collected. The framework comprising of four constructs, namely ethically-minded consumer behavior, willingness to pay more, ethical concerns regarding country of origin of diamonds, and ethical buying behavior of diamonds was first validated, and then the hypothesized relationships between the constructs were assessed using structural equation modeling. Overall, ethically minded consumer behavior had a significant positive impact on willingness to pay more, ethical concerns regarding the country of origin of diamonds, and ethical buying of diamonds. Additionally, ethical concerns regarding country of origin positively influenced the ethical buying of diamonds, while the willingness to pay more had no significant impact on ethical diamond purchases. The multi-group moderation test results revealed that the income levels of buyers do affect the relationships between constructs. For instance, for the middle income group, generic ethically-minded consumer behavior did not translate into the ethical buying behavior of diamonds. The findings provide useful insights for practitioners and policy-makers regarding ethical consumerism in the diamond industry and help to highlight the issues facing the industry, such as its poor supply chain transparency, human rights abuses, child labor, money laundering, bribery and corruption, and environmental degradation from mining activities.
Highlights
Consumers are increasingly concerned with the environmental and social impacts of their purchases [1]
Structural equation modeling (SEM) using IBM AMOS 25 statistical software was used in this study to test the hypothesized relationships
The study is timely for understanding the ethical consumerism in the diamond industry; an important area for research to help ensure that the growth in the diamond industry does not contribute to a cycle of violence, poverty, and human rights violations, among others
Summary
Consumers are increasingly concerned with the environmental and social impacts of their purchases [1]. Ethical consumerism has increased considerably in the last few decades as consumption preferences and practices are increasingly shaped by the consumers’ awareness of ethical issues concerning particular products or firms [5]. This includes purchase decisions based on aspects such as a firm’s ethical trade activities, labor standards (wage rates and working conditions), and environmental friendliness of the product [6]. Available online: https://www.debeersgroup.com/views/2020/th e-gemfair-way (accessed on 23 March 2021).
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