Level and Typology of Responsible Consumption among ITCA Students

Abstract

Higher Technological Institute ITCA, committed to environmental education and sustainable development, became the first technical-technological institute allied with the Hola Consumo Responsable (Hello Responsible Consumption) campaign of the Corporación Ecuatoriana para la Responsabilidad Social & Sostenibilidad (Ecuadorian Corporation for Social Responsibility & Sustainability) and the United Nations Environment Programme. This article reports the first phase (Inform Yourself) applied in the face-to-face modality. It aimed to describe practices, levels and typologies of responsible consumption among students, as well as to examine the diagnostic validity of a specific instrument. A quantitative approach was used with an instrument consisting of 40 Likert-type questions, for educational purposes, applied to 648 students. The analysis included descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis with polychoric matrix, internal consistency measures (Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω), and Spearman correlations. A four-factor solution emerged; the first, the most robust, grouped general responsible consumption behaviors (preference for sustainable products and waste reduction). The classification of participants showed a predominance of low levels of responsibility, highlighting the "not very responsible" category. The abbreviated scale derived from the first factor reproduced the pattern observed with the complete scale, which supports its use in educational and screening contexts. Overall, the study offers a valid and operational tool to assess students' environmental commitment and underscores the role of environmental education in training critical and responsible consumers.