Couple Ethical Purchase Behavior and Joint Decision Making: Understanding the Interaction Process and the Dynamics of Influence

We present in this paper a qualitative study of couple ethical purchasing behavior, based on interviews with French consumers. The analysis of joint decision making allows us to distinguish between ethical couples who favor the choice of ethical products when making purchase decisions together and unethical couples who do not. Our results show that ethical couples are characterized by a positive exchange of information, use of verbal and tactical persuasion strategies, and trust in the knowledge of the partner, while unethical couples are characterized by a negative exchange of information, difficulties with joint decision making, and conflict-minimizing strategy. Time, money, and pleasure appear as the most critical factors restricting couples' purchase of ethical products. Our research provides the first empirical evidence about the dynamics of influence of one partner over the other within couples regarding ethical purchasing behavior.

Automated summary

Based on interviews with French consumers, this qualitative study examines couple ethical purchasing behavior. The findings reveal that ethical couples engage in positive information exchange, trust their partner's knowledge, and use persuasion strategies, while unethical couples experience negative information exchange, difficulties in joint decision making, and minimize conflicts. Time, money, and pleasure are identified as critical factors restricting couples' purchase of ethical products.