Socially responsible behaviour: values and attitudes of the alternative trading organisation consumer

The purpose of this study was to examine whether consumers' intentions to purchase apparel products from an alternative trading organisation (ATO; an example of socially responsible consumer behaviour) could be explained by their societally-centred values and attitudes, as well as attitudes more specifically related to purchasing. Data were collected with a nationwide mail survey of US consumers (n =344) randomly drawn from the stratified mailing list of one North American ATO. Theory-based relationships, suggesting a hierarchical system of effects among values and atti-tudes, were tested and supported with path analysis. Comparison of two different path models revealed that attitude towards the behaviour of purchasing apparel from the ATO was a better predictor of purchase behaviour than was attitude towards the apparel itself; however, the two concepts were determined to each contribute valuable information for understanding purchasing behaviour.