Legitimacy of Tobacco Consumption in India

Abstrakt

The assessment of the theoretical phenomenon of legitimacy in a consumer context is at the core of this thesis. The issue investigated is concerned with Indian regular tobacco consumers’ tobacco consumption behaviour relative to private or social settings. In the first part, a literature review of the pertinent publications is performed and the findings systematised. On this basis, several variables are identified and later incorporated into the statistical analysis as measures in order to assess their interrelations. In the second part, a quantitative primary online self-response study was conducted with a sample of N= 231 relative to the effect of social and moral legitimacy on intention to consume tobacco. The results show that in a private setting, moral and social legitimacy judgements have a weak to no bearing on consumer behaviour. However, in a social setting, legitimacy judgements significantly detract from an Indian regular tobacco consumer’s intention to smoke. Social legitimacy however has stronger effects than moral legitimacy in every setting. The authors attribute the weight of social aspects to the cultural dimension of collectivism inherent in the Indian culture. Based on the results, implications for academia and practice are discussed.