University youth and ethical purchases

Abstract

Purpose – The goal of this paper was to present the views, opinions and attitudes of university students on the topic of ethical shopping. It was based on theoretical considerations concerning the characteristics of a modern customer and ethical consumption. Research method – The study was conducted on a group of students from the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Bialystok. A survey was used in order to gather information. It consisted of 12 questions, including 7 questions in the content-related part with 5 questions concerning the specifics of the respondents’ examined. The latter section included characteristics such as their field of studies, gender, employment status, the amount of income a respondent can dedicate to shopping activities (after paying fixed expenses). The selection of the personal characteristics was not a random process. It was hypothesised that those characteristics could differentiate the students’ approach to ethical consumption. Results – It was established that the amount of money a student can devote to shopping did not have any significant influence on the survey responses. It seems necessary to conduct further research in order to provide more comprehensive information on the actual attitude of respondents, as well as on the impact of education on changes in the students attitudes to ethical consumption and shopping. Also, further analysis of other details of the respondents may be beneficial for deeper findings. Implications /originality /value – The paper provides interesting information about the academic youths’ attitude to ethical consumption. It also encourages further in-depth research.