The attitude – behaviour gap in eWOM: the paradoxical Generation Z

Generation Z is often portrayed as the sustainable generation and one of the most socially and environmentally conscious when consuming products and services. This study investigates the sustainability-related online discourse of Gen Z consumers to shed light, through the self-identity theory, on their level of attention toward sustainability practices carried out by service providers. The study explores the presence of environmental and social elements embedded in Gen Z’ers customer reviews, including trend over time and their association with customer satisfaction level (i.e. rating). Based on text analytics covering 485.000 reviews over 10 years, the findings reveal how Gen Z consumers do not convey online their social and environmental responsibility with the same intensity as they do offline. Nevertheless, the overall presence of sustainability elements in Gen Z reviews is growing over time. The aggregate results also exhibit how Gen Z’ers differently associate environmental and social elements with their ratings. The study provides clear theoretical insights to advance the knowledge on Generation Z online vs. offline behaviour and offers practical implications for both, service providers and peers.