<p>A classic question in moral philosophy asks "Why be moral?" In other words, what reason or motive do people have to act in accordance with the requirements of morality? In the tradition of Thomas Hobbes and David Hume, this project defends the thesis that nearly all people have reason to be moral nearly all of the time, because moral conduct generally serves individuals' desires and needs. It's argued, first, that a reason for action must be capable of motivating an agent to act, and second, that reasons for action motivate through the desires of the agent. This view is defended against the objection that reasons for action are not contingent on any particular agent's desires. Turning to morality, the case is made that the desires of an individual can be consonant with the demands of morality in any of three possible ways: (1) moral action serves one's other-regarding desires to help others; (2) moral action serves one's moral desires, which are formed when one internalizes the moral norms of his or her community; and (3) moral action serves one's self-regarding desires to avoid punishments that one incurs by violating moral norms. In the final chapter, it is acknowledged that the moral norms which happen to prevail in a society sometimes conflict with the moral convictions of individuals. Under certain conditions, however, it can be rational for nearly all members of a society to collectively change existing moral norms. Furthermore, it is within the power of individuals to foment the conditions for collective transitions to alternative moral norms.</p> / Dissertation

Zugl.: Bielefeld, Univ., Diss.

With the increasing environmental problems, sustainable consumption is an important consumer behavior. Therefore, it is important to investigate further the significant drivers to and barriers against sustainable consumption, in order to increase the share of sustainable consumption and understanding of consumer behavior. This dissertation identifies two gaps. The first is in understanding consumer positive and negative anticipated emotions as an important factor influencing high-involvement sustainable consumption. The second gap relates to the lack of understanding about the associations between anticipated emotions and personal moral norms in high-involvement sustainable consumption. Against this background, the aim is to contribute to the sustainable consumption literature by investigating the roles and relations of anticipated emotions, personal moral norms, and weighing costs and benefits as drivers to and barriers against consumer adoption of a high-involvement sustainable product. A literature review and two empirical studies were conducted. Consumer adoption of alternative fuel vehicles is the specific sustainable consumption. Using quantitative methods, this phenomenon is investigated in the empirical studies conducted in Sweden. It was shown that anticipated emotions have direct effects on consumers' intention to adopt alternative fuel vehicles. Moreover, positive anticipated emotions (e.g. pride, pleasure, happiness) are drivers of sustainable consumption, while negative anticipated emotions (e.g. regret, embarrassment) are barriers against the sustainable consumption. This dissertation suggests an extension to the norm activation model, and shows that moral norms, ascription of responsibility, and awareness of environmental problems influence consumers' intentions through consumers’ anticipated emotions. For people who perceive high social norms related to decreasing the environmental impacts of car driving, the influence of positive anticipated emotions and personal moral norms are stronger. This points toward the social aspect of sustainable consumption and suggests that targeting the consumers who perceive high social norms is an important step to promoting sustainable consumption. Findings would be of relevance to marketers, policymakers and environmental organizations. Creating awareness and communicating personal responsibilities and moral norms related to the environment and consumption are important drivers for consumer adoption of sustainable products. However, it is noteworthy that consumer anticipated emotions about high-involvement sustainable products (such as alternative fuel vehicle) have also important influence on the sustainable consumption. Thus, consumer anticipated emotions should be considered in designing promotion programs.