Well-Being and Everyday Ethical Consumption

Consumption is central to many people’s lives and their well-being. Well-being and Quality of Life Indicators are increasingly included in consumption studies, either as outcomes of consumption or as influential factors influencing consumption choices. Marketing and consumption research is frequently interested in understanding consumer choices and has traditionally focused on the evaluative dimension of wellbeing, measuring satisfaction with (aspects of) life. Well-being is multidimensional and exploring additional dimensions broadens understanding of the concept. Using are broad sample of Austrian consumers, this research applies the Satisfaction with Life Scale, Personal Well-being Index, Flourishing Scale and Pleasure Orientation and correlates well-being levels with a newly constructed hierarchy of everyday Ethical Consumption Behavior (eECB). The psychometric soundness of the well-being measures employed, collected in German, and the conceptualization of eECB in Austria is supported. Perceived eudaimonic well-being and eECB are positively related, while the correlation between hedonic well-being and eECB is negative. There is no significant relationship between evaluative well-being scales and eECB. While Universalism as a guiding principle in peoples’ lives positively correlates with eECB, demographic characteristics, except for age, are not important. The study provides support for including multiple well-being measures to increase depth and breadth of understanding in consumption research.