Ethical Perceptions and Green Buying Behavior of Consumers: A Cross-National Exploratory Study

Abstract

Sustainable consumption indicates preferring products that do the least damage to the environment as well as those that support ethical behavior. Therefore, this study refers and combines ethical and green issues to get a more holistic understanding of consumers’ sustainable practices. The authors examine the green and ethical purchases of consumers in an exploratory and cross-national base. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with 48 American and Turkish consumers. Results reveal that both Turkish and American consumers believe that greenness is a part of ethical behavior and convert their knowledge of corporate ethics into ethical purchase. American consumers have been aware of green issues much longer than Turkish consumers have.