Abstract
Sustainable and energy efficient (SEE) attributes in the housing market have become a focus in Canada. Similarly, understanding the consumer’s decision-making process of this high-involvement ethical product has become a burgeoning area for researchers. This study describes the development of the subject, highlighting the nature of the ethical decision-making process and how it relates to this known intention–behaviour gap. An observation, followed by two studies consisting of in-depth interviews with real estate agents and sales representatives (n = 15) and home purchasers/consumers (n = 15), were conducted. Transcriptions were analysed qualitatively with NVivo Pro 12 software (NVivo Pro 12, QSR International Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia). Inductive thematic analysis revealed two main driving themes: information and trust in seller/realtor. Attribute investment return uncertainty was identified as a theme that affects the strength of the relationship between purchase intention and behaviour, whereas the trust in seller/realtor speaks to how and why this effect occurs. The findings present relationships among the driving factors that were identified by realtors and consumers in the SEE housing market, as well as barriers (investment return uncertainty) that prevent consumers from purchasing high-involvement ethical products.
Highlights
As more ethical choices enter consumer consciousness, understanding how those choices are made has become an important focus within consumer research
We address this topic through a qualitative study of the consumption of sustainable and energy efficient housing
This study examines the nature of the attitude–behaviour gap within the Sustainable and energy efficient (SEE) home purchase process
Summary
As more ethical choices enter consumer consciousness, understanding how those choices are made has become an important focus within consumer research. A considerable amount of research into understanding ethical shopping behaviour has focused on products with low financial and social risk, such as running shoes [6], fair-trade coffee [7,8], and locally sourced produce [9,10]. Common throughout this literature is the notion of an attitude–behaviour gap [11,12,13]. Few studies have examined high-involvement ethical products which inherently carry greater financial and social risk
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