Digital Transparency and Consumer Awareness: Digital Platforms for Educating Consumers about Product Origins and Sustainability
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Published:
Dec 3, 2024
Keywords:
Consumer awareness, digital platforms, digital transparency, sustainability
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Abstract
This paper investigates the role of digital transparency in enhancing consumer awareness of product origins and sustainability. As consumers increasingly seek to make informed, ethically aligned purchasing decisions, digital platforms - such as blockchain-enabled systems, mobile apps, and e-commerce sites - offer a medium for brands to communicate supply chain transparency. Through a comprehensive literature review, this article examines how transparency practices impact consumer trust, decision-making, and the adoption of sustainable products. Findings reveal that while digital platforms can significantly influence ethical consumption, their effectiveness depends on the clarity, accessibility, and perceived credibility of information presented. Key challenges, including greenwashing and information overload, can hinder transparency efforts, thereby reducing consumer trust. Additionally, stakeholder theory and the theory of planned behaviour provide insights into the ethical responsibilities of brands and the cognitive factors shaping consumer choices. Practical recommendations are offered, including the need for simplified, interactive transparency tools and collaboration with third-party certifiers to enhance authenticity. The study highlights the importance of evolving digital transparency practices to meet the ethical demands of modern consumers and suggests ways for future research to explore the impact of transparency across diverse consumer segments and regions.
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Carrington, M. J., Neville, B. A. & Whitwell, G. J. (2010). Why ethical consumers don’t walk their talk: Towards a framework for understanding the gap between the ethical purchase intentions and actual buying behaviour of ethically minded consumers. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(1), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0501-6.
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Donaldson, T. & Preston, L. E. (1995). The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications. The Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65–91. https://doi.org/10.2307/258887.
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Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Parmar, B. L. & de Colle, S. (2010). Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art. Cambridge (UK), Cambridge University Press.
Galbreth, M. R. & Ghosh, B. (2012). Competition and sustainability: The impact of consumer awareness. Decision Sciences, 44(1), 127–159.
Gong, W., Maddox, L. M. & Stump, R. L. (2012). Attitudes towards online shopping: A comparison of online shoppers in China and the U.S. International Journal of E-Business Development, 2(2), 28–35.
Graham, M. & Ward, J. W. (2011). The Cambridge History of African American Literature. Cambridge (UK), Cambridge University Press.
Harrison, J. S. & Freeman, R. E. (2017). Stakeholders, social responsibility, and performance: Empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives. Academy of Management Journal, 42(5), 479–485.
Hastig, G. M. & Sodhi, M. S. (2020). Blockchain for supply chain traceability: Business requirements and critical success factors. Production and Operations Management, 29(4), 935–954. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13147.
Henriques, A & Richardson, J. (2004). The Triple Bottom Line: Does It All Add Up? Assessing the Sustainability of Business and CSR. Abingdon (UK), Routledge.
Hudders, L., Van Reijmersdal, E. A. & Poels, K. (2019). Digital advertising and consumer empowerment. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 13(2).
Ishak, S. & Zabil, N. F. M. (2012). Impact of consumer awareness and knowledge on consumer effective behavior. Asian Social Science, 8(13). https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v8n13p108.
Johnston, M. (2014). Secondary data analysis: A method of which the time has come. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, 3(3), 619–626.
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Kapferer, J. N. & Michaut-Denizeau, A. (2014). Is luxury compatible with sustainability? Luxury consumers’ viewpoint. Journal of Brand Management, 21(1), 1–22.
Kaplan, A. M. & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.
Kshetri, N. (2018). Blockchain’s roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives. International Journal of Information Management, 39, 80–89.
Lang, S., Minnucci, G., Mueller, M. & Schlaile, M. P. (2023). The role of consumers in business model innovations for a sustainable circular bioeconomy. Sustainability, 15(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129573.
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Mason, M. C., Oduro, S., Umar, R. M. & Zamparo, G. (2023). Effect of consumption values on consumer behavior: A meta-analysis. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 41(7), 923–944. https://doi.org/10.1108/mip-03-2023-0100.
Mirghaderi, L., Sziron, M. & Hildt, E. (2023). Ethics and transparency issues in digital platforms: An overview. AI, 4(4), 831–844. https://doi.org/10.3390/ai4040042.
Mondejar, M. E., Avtar, R., Diaz, H. L. B., Dubey, R. K., Esteban, J., Gómez-Morales, A., Hallam, B., Mbungu, N. T., Okolo, C. C., Prasad, K. A., She, Q. & Garcia-Segura, S. (2021). Digitalization to achieve sustainable development goals: Steps towards a smart green planet. Science of the Total Environment, 794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148539.
Nguyen, N. & Johnson, L. W. (2020). Consumer behaviour and environmental sustainability. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 19(6), 539-541. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1892.
Nicholas, D., Huntington, P., Williams, P. & Dobrowolski, T. (2006). The digital information consumer. Information Science and Knowledge Management, 8, 203–228.
O’Rourke, D. & Ringer, A. (2015). The impact of sustainability information on consumer decision making. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 20(4), 882–892. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12310.
Parguel, B., Benoît-Moreau, F. & Larceneux, F. (2011). How sustainability ratings might deter ‘greenwashing’: A closer look at ethical corporate communication. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(1), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0901-2.
Pavlou, P. A. & Dimoka, A. (2006). The nature and role of feedback text comments in online marketplaces: Implications for trust building, price premiums, and seller differentiation. Information Systems Research, 17(4), 392–414. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1060.0106.
Pavlou, P.A. & Gefen, D. (2004). Building effective online marketplaces with institution-based trust. Information Systems Research, 15(1), 37–59. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1040.0015.
Porter, M. E. & Kramer, M. R. (2011). Creating shared value [online]. [accessed 2024 Nov 13]. Retrieved from: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=39071.
Portes, A., N’Goala, G. & Cases, A. S. (2020). Digital transparency: Dimensions, antecedents and consequences on the quality of customer relationships. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), 35(4), 72–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/2051570720973548.
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Raihan, A. (2024). A review of the potential opportunities and challenges of the digital economy for sustainability. Innovation and Green Development, 3(4).
Reyes, M. (2020). Consumer Behavior and Marketing. London (UK), IntechOpen.
Rogers, K. (2024). How Consumers Rely on Technology But Don’t Trust It [online]. [accessed 2024 Nov 13]. Retrieved from: https://www.ey.com/en_uk/insights/consumer-products/how-to-serve-consumers-who-rely-on-tech-but-dont-trust-tech.
Saini, C. P., Kumar, S., Dangi, A. & Yadav, K. (2021). Exploring the role of social media in shaping consumer buying behaviour: A factor analysis approach. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 25, 1–8.
Sayogo, D., Zhang, J., Pardo, T. A., Tayi, G. K., Hrdinova, J., Andersen, D. F. & Luna-Reyes, L. F. (2014). Going beyond open data: Challenges and motivations for smart disclosure in ethical consumption. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 9(2), 3–4. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0718-18762014000200002.
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