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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the proposed theoretical model to explain consumer behavior in relation to the environment that incorporates the values and principles of the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP) as factors in predicting environmentally friendly behavior. The assumption underlying the theoretical model suggests the DSP was the guiding structure in which individuals make consumer behavior decisions regarding environmental behavior. One objective of this study was to continue the effort of Kilbourne by examining the environmental conditions as a crisis of standards. The second objective was to investigate the effects of the DSP principles within the general predictive relationship between attitudes and behavior. Descriptively, the results indicate support for the environment and environmental issues. Paradoxically, environmental behavior results do not support environmentally responsible behavior. The predictive results imply the DSP was the best overall predictor of consumer behavior. The predictive results imply as belief in technology increases within the DSP, environmentally responsible behavior will decline. The political construct predictive results imply that as belief in the political system increases, environmentally responsible behavior will increase, thus supporting the crisis of paradigms. Complicating the results was the internal reliability measures associated with the DSP scale. Future research should include more scale development work within the DSP to provide improved internal consistency measures.