Towards a Holistic Approach of the Attitude Behaviour Gap in Ethical Consumer Behaviours: Empirical Evidence from Spain

This paper explores alternative understandings of the attitude behavior gap, a well documented phenomenon, both in ethical consumer behavior and social research in general. A multi-method, qualitative approach is adopted, aiming at greater internal validity of data. The findings broaden current knowledge on the attitude behavior gap, showing how ethically minded consumers rationalize their inconsistent behavior. The last section of the paper integrates existing knowledge on the attitude behavior gap with the empirical findings of the present study into a conceptual model. Relevant implications for marketers are also discussed.