Intuition or Rationality? A Revised Knowledge‐Attitude‐Behaviour Framework in Sustainable Consumer Behaviour

ABSTRACT

The paper provides a revised knowledge–attitude–behaviour (KAB) framework to explain sustainable consumption. Drawing on the dual‐process perspective, the study investigates how intuitive and rational cues shape the translation of objective product knowledge into sustainable attitudes and consumption. The empirical analysis is based on (i) a controlled experiment conducted in a virtual supermarket, where 181 Generation Z consumers make wine purchase decisions under different settings, and (ii) a post‐experiment questionnaire. The results show that intuitive cues drive immediate purchases independent of attitude change, whereas rational interventions weaken attitude–behaviour alignment. Meanwhile, product knowledge moderates the effectiveness of both approaches, contingent on consumers' product baseline understanding. These findings clarify how external sustainability stimuli and product knowledge jointly shape the attitude–behaviour relationship in sustainable consumption.