The Rise of Ethical Consumerism in China

The Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business welcomes Deng Xinming for a discussion on the relationship between intentions and action in Chinese consumers.

In recent years, Chinese consumers have begun to seek to purchase ethically produced products and to favor companies that they consider to be ethical. However, the increasing number of consumers motivated by ideas of ethical consumerism does not appear to have been accompanied by a change in consumption behavior. Does a complex process of evaluating shopping lead to a gap in consumers’ intentions and behavior? Using questionnaires and interviews, we find that economic rationality, inertia, cynicism, and cognitive processes have significant moderating roles in the relationship between intentions and action. Deng Xinming (Ph.D., Huazhong University of Science and Technology) is an Associate Professor in Wuhan University's School of Economics and Management, and a Visiting Scholar in the RCCPB.