Experiential Motivations of Socially Responsible Consumption

This paper uses the experiential marketing concept to explain some of the motivations for socially responsible consumption. It is argued that practising responsible behaviour helps consumers to perceive five different types of experiential value: emotional, cognitive, sensory, relational and behavioural. A web-based survey on a panel of more than 1,000 North American respondents confirmed the presence of an average level of each experiential value type in responsible decisions. We also found evidence for gender and age differences in the perception of those experiential benefits. This study provides guidelines to better promote socially responsible consumption through enriching consumers' experiential motivations. The findings of this study also provide ideas for demographic-based targeting of responsible goods/services.