AALBORG UNIVERSITY A cross-national intention- gap analysis of vegetarians in Latvia and Denmark zooming in on ethical consumption Culture, Communication and Globalization Author: Dace Rakvica Supervisor: Peter Kvistgaard Characters: 149256 5/29/2015 Abstract The paper examine how the choice to consume ethical goods and therefore, the intention gap differs within vegetarian social group in different countries-Latvia and Denmark. Semi- structured in-depth interviews revealed that Danish and Latvian vegetarian group has some similarities, but also notable differences in their intentions to purchase certain ethical product groups. Furthermore, suggested reasons for intention-gap has differences within these two vegetarian groups. Findings suggest that caring about certain ethical aspects has importance of intention formation. Lack of caring about the issues, situation context and justification, among the other factors, however, should not be underestimated and should be considered in further studies. The research aims to provide new knowledge in the field of ethical consumption and serve as inspiration for further, larger scale cross-national researches as well as different empirical studies. Executive summary The research aim to examine how the choice to consume ethical goods and therefore, the intention gap differs within vegetarian social group in different countries-Latvia and Denmark differs. The paper explore whether ethically minded consumers within one social group but in different countries emphasize similar facets of ethical consumption and whether there are different reasons behind the intention gap. This research explore several theories about intention formation and intention gap by semi- structured in-depth interviews conducted via skype. Similar number of Danish and Latvian participants were interviewed. The analysis is theme-driven and are based on applied theories. However, due to relative freedom of interviewee to bring in new ideas, few new themes emerge from the interviews. The results from both countries are analyzed and compared in order to answer the problem formulated in the introduction. Furthermore, results are compared with available literature within the field of study. The results outline few similarities and several differences in intentions to purchase ethical goods within vegetarian social group in Denmark and Latvia. Furthermore, it highlights the role of 2 „caring‟ about certain facets of ethical consumption in order to form the intention to purchase ethical goods within certain ethical product category. The analysis indicate that main reason for not buying ethical products is the lack of caring. The lack of intentions significantly decrease possibility that consumers will purchase ethical goods. Analysis indicate that Latvian intentions to purchase ethical goods are based on mixture of self-oriented and external motivation, whereas Danes emphasize ethical consumption intentions as humanistic commitment and therefore, motivation is rather external. Latvian vegetarian interviewees emphasize caring, and thereby intentions to purchase products that are associated with animal welfare, health and social justice in local scale, whereas Danish vegetarian interviewees emphasize caring about animal welfare and environment. There are a number of possible reasons for intention-gap. These reasons differ within vegetarian social group in Denmark and Latvia. There are, among the others, context-specific issues that play some role in the intention-gap. Often Danish vegetarians emphasize price and availability as the main reasons for the intention-gap, whereas Latvian vegetarians mention availability as one of the main reasons for intention gap. Also, lack of information might lead to an intention-gap interviewees revealed that sometimes it requires a lot of information to know which products can be considered as ethical. Latvians use a lack of perceived consumer power to justify their choice not to purchase ethical goods, whereas Danish vegetarians tend to “Do their bit” with their consumption practices. Positive experience increase the likeliness to purchase ethical goods whereas negative experience does not seem to decrease intentions to buy intended ethical products, but rather leads to avoidance of a certain brand. Due to highly exploratory nature of this study, the findings reflect experiences and views of the particular sample group; moreover, it is a rather diverse consumer group. Therefore, the findings may not be generalized but rather provide new knowledge in a field of the studies of ethical consumption and intention gap. Further studies on the topics of cross-cultural ethical intention and the intention gap are highly recommend. Also, further study exploring the actual ethical consumption of these groups is a possibility for further research. 3 Contents Methodology ...............................................................................................................................7 Research design ..................................................................................................................... 10 Research structure ................................................................................................................. 10 Literature review ....................................................................................................................... 12 Ethical consumption .............................................................................................................. 12 Ethical consumer classification .......................................................................................... 16 Intention-gap ......................................................................................................................... 23 Vegetarians, classification, intentions and ideology behind it ................................................. 30 Applied theory .......................................................................................................................... 35 Empirical data ........................................................................................................................... 39 Data gathering, trustworthiness and ethics of the research ...................................................... 40 Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 44 Denmark ................................................................................................................................ 44 Motivation ......................................................................................................................... 44 Care ................................................................................................................................... 45 Understanding the concept “Ethical consumption" ............................................................. 47 Intentions ........................................................................................................................... 48 Gap between intentions and deeds ...................................................................................... 49 Justification ........................................................................................................................ 51 Responsibility to promote ethical consumption .................................................................. 52 If/than plan......................................................................................................................... 52 Belief formation ................................................................................................................. 53 Positive/ negative experience ............................................................................................. 55 Deeds ................................................................................................................................. 55 4 Latvia .................................................................................................................................... 56 Motivation ......................................................................................................................... 56 Care ................................................................................................................................... 58 Understanding the concept „Ethical consumption” ............................................................. 60 „Intentions to buy ethical products ..................................................................................... 61 Gap between intentions and deeds ...................................................................................... 64 Justification ........................................................................................................................ 66 If/ than plan, ....................................................................................................................... 66 Belief formation ................................................................................................................. 68 Family and friend's attitude ................................................................................................ 69 Deeds ................................................................................................................................. 71 Comparison ..........................................................................................................................