Scale for measuring responsible consumption behavior among Spanish-speaking consumers

Abstract

Reports on the predominance of different languages ​​in the world place Spanish in second place. Its importance in business and academia resides in its prevalence in large part of the world population, either as native speakers or as a second language. However, Spanish-speaking consumers are often assessed with behavioral scales developed in foreign language. Companies, organizations and governments around the world need more appropriate scales to evaluate behavior of this group of consumers. Especially in the area of ​​responsible consumption, where different contexts and realities prevail between developed and developing countries, many of which are Hispanics. This research proposes a new scale developed for Spanish-speaking consumers. We conducted interviews in Mexico and six other Spanish-speaking countries. Our new scale is better suited for the Hispanic markets compared to the translated versions of the existing scales. The new scale is clearly understood in all the countries of Latin America and measures more precisely how responsible consumption of Hispanics is carried out. Our proposed scale incorporates consumer literacy and the reputation of the company, as factors impacting Hispanics´ responsible consumption. For the reliability of the instrument, we test its internal and external validity.