A new insight in socially responsible behavior: The relation among uniqueness, frugality and self-esteem with the mediation of socially responsible consumption

Social responsibility aims to satisfy customers' needs and wants through the usage and disposition of products that minimize the harmful effects and maximize the benefits for the environment and the society. It has become increasingly vital for enterprises to act responsibly and adopt policies on the subject. The consumers preferably would have more positive attitude towards those businesses. Hence, looking from the consumers' perspective we may also assume that the socially responsible consumers also will have a positive attitude towards themselves. Their responsible behavior expected to have a positive influence on their self-esteem that will cause recurrent behaviors. It is assumed that behaviors receive sources and motive from different traits of people. The need for uniqueness, using or disposing goods that enhance one's social identity and image can be one of these traits. Besides, the economic usage of the resources and avoiding from the unnecessary consumption can be another trait that is called frugality. This research aimed finding the relationships among the need for uniqueness, frugality, consumer's socially responsible consumption and self-esteem. In this respect, the model is developed and the hypotheses are constructed. A face-to-face questionnaire conducted to 322 customers in Istanbul. The model is tested through partial least square (PLS) algorithm for structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings showed a positive relationship between the need for uniqueness and self-esteem through the mediation of subconstruct resistance to irresponsible businesses that discriminate women and exploit their employees. There is also a positive relation between frugality and self-esteem without mediation.