Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain.

Sec. Sustainable Consumption

The Mediating Role of Conscious Consumerism in Shaping Sustainable Consumption Intentions: Evidence from Coimbatore District, India

Provisionally accepted
S AdlindaS Adlinda1Dr. G. BrindhaDr. G. Brindha1M ReshmaM Reshma1Jaheer Mukthar KPJaheer Mukthar KP2*Jeremy KoJeremy Ko3*Mohammad RidwanMohammad Ridwan4*Chun Kai LeungChun Kai Leung5Hoi Sze TangHoi Sze Tang6R GowrishankarR Gowrishankar7Wai-kit MingWai-kit Ming8
  • 1PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore, India
  • 2Department of Economics, Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, India
  • 3ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 4Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali District, Bangladesh
  • 5University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
  • 6The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
  • 7Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, India
  • 8City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Select one of your emails

You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:

Notify me on publication

Please enter your email address:

If you already have an account, please login

You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here

Understanding the psychological correlates of sustainable consumption intention is essential for recognising how individual actions influence society and the environment. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), this study examines how attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control affect sustainable consumption intention, and explores the mediating role of conscious consumerism. Using survey data from Coimbatore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (N = 430), structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesised model. The results indicate that all three TPB constructs significantly predict intention. More importantly, conscious consumerism, defined as ethical, mindful, and environmentally aware decision-making, significantly mediates these relationships. The effect of conscious consumerism is strong with sustainable consumption intention suggesting that elevated ethical awareness enhances both self-understanding and the perceived feasibility of sustainable actions. This study extends the TPB by integrating value-based and reflective processes, showing how ethical self-identity and moral reflection transform cognitive antecedents into sustainable intentions. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and marketers aiming to promote critical thinking and ethical awareness, thereby encouraging more responsible and sustainable consumption behaviours.

Keywords: Behavioural sustainability, Ethical consumption, Mindful consumption, Pro-environmental intention, Theory of Planned Behaviour, value-driven decision making

Received: 03 Dec 2025; Accepted: 23 Jan 2026.

Copyright: © 2026 Adlinda, G. Brindha, Reshma, KP, Ko, Ridwan, Leung, Tang, Gowrishankar and Ming. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Jaheer Mukthar KP
Jeremy Ko
Mohammad Ridwan

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material