Responsible consumer types: a perspective from signaling theory.

Tipos de consumidores responsables: una perspectiva desde la teoría de la señalización

Contemporary societies need to develop awareness of lifestyles and consumption patterns and understand how they affect the environment, society, and their health in order to adapt to balanced and co-responsible ways of living. In order to contribute to this, this study seeks to relate the market signals of sustainable products to different types of responsible consumers. Initially, a literature review allowed the typification of consumers into three groups: integral, relative and accidental, and the identification of signals that communicate the sustainability of a company or a product. Consequently, data was collected from 160 consumers who were classified into each type using k-means clustering, while relating the most relevant signals to each. Each type of consumer is well-defined and has very different behaviours and values about sustainability from the others, perceives signals differently and pays attention to attributes that relate directly to their self-perception as a responsible consumer.