Vol. 14 No. 2 (2026): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

The impact of companies' environmental, social, and economic sustainability activities on consumers' purchasing intentions: An empirical study

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  • Murat Akbaş,
  • Prof. Dr. Remzi Altunışık
Murat Akbaş
PhD. Student, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye
Prof. Dr. Remzi Altunışık
Prof. Dr., Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye
Bio

Published 2026-06-25

Keywords

  • Çevresel Sürdürülebilirlik, Sosyal Sürdürülebilirlik, Ekonomik Sürdürülebilirlik, Tüketici Davranışı, Satın Alma Niyeti
  • Environmental Sustainability, Social Sustainability, Economic Sustainability, Consumer Behaviour, Purchase Intention

How to Cite

The impact of companies’ environmental, social, and economic sustainability activities on consumers’ purchasing intentions: An empirical study. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(2), 644-662. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i2.2725

Copyright (c) 2026 Murat Akbaş- Prof. Dr. Remzi Altunışık

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The impact of companies’ environmental, social, and economic sustainability activities on consumers’ purchasing intentions: An empirical study. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(2), 644-662. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i2.2725

Abstract

The concept of sustainability has become a strategic necessity for businesses to survive and gain social acceptance in the global trade world we live in. However, a comprehensive literature review reveals that most existing academic studies address sustainability primarily from a consumer perspective and within an environmental (ecological) framework. In contrast, the influence of economic and social factors on consumers' decision-making processes is often neglected. This study aims to empirically investigate the impact of companies' environmental, social, and economic sustainability activities on consumers' purchasing intentions, adopting a different perspective. Research data were collected by distributing a Google Forms survey link via social media platforms (WhatsApp, LinkedIn, etc.). While selecting participants with diverse socio-demographic characteristics increases the interpretability of the research results, it also underscores the need for caution when making generalisations. Analyses conducted using IBM SPSS 23.0 revealed that all three dimensions of sustainability positively and significantly influenced purchase intention. Contrary to the general trend in the literature, this study empirically demonstrates that economic sustainability is the strongest factor influencing purchase intention, thereby underscoring the strategic importance of consumer rationality as a unique contribution to the literature. Among these factors, economic sustainability was found to have the strongest effect on purchase intention. The research results reveal that although consumers value environmental awareness in their consumption of sustainable products, they prioritise rationality (price, durability, local economy). The findings show global companies and lawmakers that economic benefit rationality is an important factor in sustainability planning, not just environmental discourse.

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