Structure of attitude-behavior gap in ethical consumption: negative effect of ethical factors on loyalty in the coffee market

Purpose The literature on ethical consumption focuses only on ethical factors and respondents are affected by social desirability bias. Thus, consumers affirm that they will avoid purchasing unethical products, yet few actually do. This study aims to address this gap by comprehensively evaluating brand, product quality, sales channels and ethical factors in the Japanese coffee market and elucidates the attitude-behavior gap structure in ethical consumption. Design/methodology/approach The authors administered an online survey to 1,094 Japanese coffee consumers aged 20–60. Eligibility criteria included age and a habit of drinking at least four cups of coffee per week. Findings Structural equation modeling results indicate that ethical factors negatively impact loyalty, independent of social desirability bias, even in a survey environment. Additionally, the more frequent the consumption, the greater the negative effect of ethical factors. This is consistent with construal level theory’s claim that the closer the psychological distance, the more specific objects are emphasized compared to ideal objects. Practical implications Practitioners should not accept consumers’ survey responses regarding ethical consumption, which is susceptible to social desirability bias. Instead, practitioners should understand the mechanism of the apparent attitude-behavior gap and develop products accordingly. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that social desirability bias does not affect the research environment by comprehensively assessing coffee consumption factors beyond ethical factors.