Head or heart? A comparative study of the factors influencing sustainable consumption intention in two generational cohorts

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivational drivers of sustainable consumption intentions of two generational cohorts, namely, Millennials and Generation Z. The authors focus on the role of rational and moral factors by adopting the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the norm-activation model, respectively. An empirical study was conducted in Italy through an online survey approach to examine and compare the potentiality of the two abovementioned theories in explaining the Millennials and Generation Z’s sustainable consumption behavioral intentions. N = 549 valid answers were collected. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings revealed that the norm-activation model is more solid and successful than the TPB in explaining the intention to engage in sustainable consumption of Millennials and Generation Z. Furthermore, empirical findings showed that behavioral intentions are higher for Generation Z than for Millennials.