The role of spiritual well-being in consciousness for sustainable consumption

Purpose This empirical paper aims to investigate the relationships between the three dimensions of consumers’ consciousness for sustainable consumption and the domains of spiritual well-being. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 327 youths using a structured questionnaire in a self-administered survey following a purposive convenience sampling method. The relationships were examined using structural equation modelling. Findings The findings suggest that some domains of spiritual well-being influence the dimensions of consumers’ consciousness for sustainable consumption differently. Practical implications The study’s outcome endorses the Earth Charter Principles, which uphold the significance of spiritual well-being for human well-being and sustainability. Communal spiritual well-being in employees may inspire an organisation to become customer-centric and encourage customers to buy only what is needed and avoid wastage. Business communication incorporating elements of environmental spiritual well-being may foster a spirit of responsibility for the environment among people. Originality/value Although irresponsible consumption has been identified as the leading cause of unsustainability, there continues to be a scarcity of research on empirically relating the inner self of individuals, the prime mover of human behaviour, to all the dimensions of sustainability. Moreover, to the authors’ knowledge, empirical studies with all three dimensions of sustainability have been insufficiently explored in the past.