A STUDY FOR INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR

There are many problems in the world encountered by people such as climate change, excessive population growth, deforestation, lack of cooperation, injustice and inadequate protection of consumer rights. The fact that goods and services are not consumed correctly is at the center of these problems. Therefore, increasing awareness of socially responsible consumption will lead to more awareness of negative effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of individual social responsibilities of people living in Sivas on conscious consumption behavior. For the purpose of this study, “Individual Social Responsibility Scale” developed by Asar (2017) and “Conscious Consumption Scale” developed by Bu？day (2015) were used and 372 participants in the province of Sivas were interviewed face to face. At the end of the research following results have been achieved: Among the sub-dimensions of individual social responsibility the dimension of “assistance” has a significant effect on simple consumption, socially responsible consumption, ethical consumption and rational consumption behavior; the dimension of “responsibility towards society and the environment” has a significant effect on simple consumption, environmental conscious consumption and rational consumption behavior; the dimension of “initiative-taking” has a significant effect on environmental conscious consumption, socially responsible consumption, ethical consumption and rational consumption behavior; the dimension of “optimism” has a significant effect on ethical consumption behavior and the dimension of “sensitivity” has a significant effect on simple consumption, environmental conscious consumption, socially responsible consumption and ethical consumption behavior. Besides, this research has also tested whether individual social responsibility and conscious consumption behavior differ significantly according to demographic characteristics or not. According to the results of the analysis: While individual social responsibility and conscious consumption behavior differ according to age, education, income and occupational variables; only individual social responsibility varies according to gender and marital status