The hiatus between attitude and intention in sustainable consumption: an approach using a necessary conditions analysis

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the gap between consumers' attitudes and their intention to purchase sustainable products by analysing the necessary conditions for sustainable consumption. Method: An analysis of necessary conditions was carried out based on latent scores from structural equation modelling based on partial least squares, PLS. The sample was obtained through a survey of potential consumers of sustainable products. Main results: The study confirmed all the hypotheses, providing evidence of the level of need in relation to the variables of information, attitude and sustainable marketing strategies for sustainable consumption to occur. Relevance/originality: Despite the growing number of studies on sustainability, there is still a need to understand the gap in the consumption of sustainable products. This study is a pioneer in establishing levels of need for the predictors that should predict the relationship between attitude, intention and behaviour. Theoretical/methodological contributions: This study advances existing knowledge on the gap between attitude and intention in the consumption of sustainable products through the necessary conditions of antecedents of sustainable consumption, adding as a perspective the levels of occurrence of predictor variables.