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Socially Responsible Consumption Behavior

SRCBSocially responsible consumption behaviour (SRCB) refers to the extent to which a consumer's purchasing, usage, and disposal decisions take into account the broader social and environmental consequences for the public and society at large. Antil (1984) operationalises SRCB as an individual difference variable that aggregates across multiple domains of consumer responsibility including: concern for the natural environment (pollution, energy depletion, habitat loss), active conservation and recycling efforts, preference for products from socially and environmentally responsible companies, avoidance of products whose production or use causes social harm, and consumer advocacy or political action on behalf of social or environmental causes. The construct reflects a consumer's disposition to extend personal consumption decisions beyond self-interest to encompass societal welfare.

40 items 1984 α 0.82–0.91 Free Antil, J.H.

What it measures

A pioneering and widely cited instrument in macromarketing and consumer behaviour research, operationalising socially responsible consumption as a broad individual-difference variable. Antil (1984) extended the conceptual work of Anderson & Cunningham (1972) and Webster (1975) on the 'socially conscious consumer,' offering a comprehensive psychometric operationalisation. The 40-item SRCB scale spans environmental conservation, product safety advocacy, support for minority-owned businesses, avoidance of companies with poor social records, and consumer political activism. Although predominantly used as a unidimensional composite (high internal consistency, alphaapprox.0.85), factor analyses have revealed a weak multidimensional structure reflecting environmental, product safety, and social advocacy dimensions. The SRCB has been used extensively to profile socially responsible consumer segments, predict environmentally conscious product choices, and evaluate the effectiveness of social marketing campaigns. It is the most comprehensive early operationalisation of the socially conscious consumer and remains a reference standard in macromarketing research. Compared with more focused instruments (ECOSCALE, GREEN), the SRCB's breadth enables multi-domain responsibility profiling but reduces sensitivity to specific green marketing interventions.

Representative items

I have switched products for ecological reasons.
I make a special effort to buy products in recyclable containers.
I try to buy from companies that show concern for the environment.
When I must choose between them, I buy the product least harmful to other people and society.
I have written letters to companies or government officials about environmental problems.

Citation

Antil, J.H. (1984). Socially responsible consumers: Profile and implications for public policy. Journal of Macromarketing, 4(2), 18–39.

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