Generation Z: Values and Motivations Fostering Ethical Consumption

Despite the general concern that young generations show about social and environmental problems and their significant role in influencing society’s purchasing decisions and encouraging ethical consumption, little attention has been devoted to this generation as a target for sustainable marketing strategies. Moreover, like other targets, young consumers suffer from the well-known attitude-behaviour gap. Therefore, investigating the decisions to purchase or refuse ethical products for young generations and specifically identifying the motivations that mostly lead to purchasing or rejecting ethical offerings in this generation could contribute to this field. To this aim, we performed an exploratory study, involving a sample of Generation Z consumers from different nationalities. A mediation analysis with multiple mediators was conducted. This provided some initial insights on the main motivations that lead to purchasing or rejecting ethical products in Generation Z. Specifically, «functional» and «social» reasons emerged as the primary motivations for ethical purchase, while «product availability» as the main reason for rejecting ethical products.