Future Orientation Predicts BYOB (Bring Your Own Shopping Bags) Behavior Intention: The Mediation Effects of Perceived Importance and Ethical Judgement

Abstract

More and more environmental pollution problems make sustainability development and green behavior receive an increasing amount of attention. Green behaviors are often characterized by sacrificing immediate costs to achieve future benefits. We studied on the relationship between time orientation and one of the typical and universal green behavior: bring your own shopping bags (BYOB). Both a unidimensional Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFCS) and a two factors CFCS (immediate orientation (CFC-Immediate) and future orientation(CFC-Future)) were used to measure time orientation. We found that future orientation (CFC-Future) could positively predict BYOB intention, but immediate orientation(CFC-Immediate) and future time orientation measured by unidimensional CFCS show no significant effect on BYOB intention. Also perceived importance of BYOB, ethical judgement of BYOB both have positive effects on BYOB intention. Moreover, the empirical result showed that perceived importance played a partial mediation role between future orientation(CFC-Future) and BYOB intention, ethical judgement played a partial mediation role between perceived importance and BYOB intention. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) showed the combination of future orientation, perceived importance and ethical judgement played significant role in BYOB intention. In theoretical contribution, we underline the mechanism of future orientation(CFC-Future) on BYOB intention, and from the ethical concept of BYOB, we also found other antecedent for ethical judgement and behavior intention: perceived importance of the ethical issue. In practical implication, we can manipulate consumers’ future orientation and perceived importance of BYOB and to increase BYOB behavior in the real life.