manually bind an event listener for each value that data-action might hold - http://alexkinnee.com/2013/11/binding-js-events-using-data-action-selectors/

data-action.js

// Using [data-action=""] selectors instead of class selectors when binding events in JavaScript
var actions = {
    action1: function() {},
    action2: function() {}
//....
};

$('body').on('click', '[data-action]', function() {
    var action = $(this).data('action');
    if (action in actions) {
        actions[action].apply(this, arguments);
    }
});