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Effects and interactions of labels’ color scheme and the individual difference variable lay rationalism on pro-environmental choices
... However, previous research has neglected to explore how consumers' perceptions of altruism toward an entrepreneur's behavior mediates EEWOM. A recent study conducted by Bengart and Vogt (2023) showed that lower lay rational consumers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products than their high lay rationalism counterparts. The authors further suggested that highly lay rational consumers are more motivated to pursue their own financial self-interests than to invest in the public good. ...
Consumers often share and discuss information about entrepreneurs' behaviors on the Internet. Research has found that this electronic entrepreneur-related word of mouth (EEWOM) has a sizable impact on brand and consumer behavior. While some research has started to examine the consequences of EEWOM, few studies have explored how different types of entrepreneur behavior (in this case, philanthropic versus economic) drive this form of WOM. Across three experiments, this paper demonstrates that philanthropic behavior (compared to economic behavior) encourages a higher intention to share EEWOM. Additionally, consumers lower in lay rationalism exhibited higher amounts of liking toward the entrepreneur, driven by their perceptions of the entrepreneur's altruism. This research sheds light on the interplay between entrepreneurial behavior, consumers' lay rationalism, and WOM and thus offers some practical implications for marketing managers.
... being the best performing) and colours (using a traffic light system) (Ölander & Thøgersen, 2014; although grayscale may be as effective, Bengart & Vogt, 2023). Examples include the EU Energy Efficiency label and the Building Energy Rating in Ireland (Figure 1). ...
Excess clothing consumption severely harms the environment, through greenhouse gas emissions, resource degradation and water pollution. For consumers, however, the trade-off between this environmental impact and the convenience of “fast fashion” is hidden at the point of purchase. We present a pre-registered, experimental test of two clothing eco-labelling systems using a large, representative sample of consumers (N = 1,200). Participants used a simulated online clothing store, with some chosen at random to receive their selected items. They were randomised to see (i) a binary label, informed by existing policy, applied to the most sustainable products, (ii) a colour-coded, graded “eco-score” applied to all products, or (iii) no label. Compared to the control condition, participants exposed to binary label chose 10% more sustainable products. Eco-score participants, however, chose 20% more, and were twice as likely to exclusively buy the most sustainable products. There was no effect on the number of items purchased, implying a shift towards more sustainably produced clothing. Exploratory analyses revealed that the effects were driven by greater salience of the eco-score system and that effects were stronger among those most concerned about the environment. Those who saw the eco-labels reported the same level of shopping satisfaction and willingness to wear selected clothes as those in the control condition. Additional findings revealed a general underestimation of clothing production's environmental impact and strong support for implementing the eco-score both online and in-store. The results have implications for enabling informed consumer choice in the clothing market.
... being the best performing) and colours (using a traffic light system) (Ölander & Thøgersen, 2014; although grayscale may be as effective, Bengart & Vogt, 2023). Examples include the EU Energy Efficiency label and the Building Energy Rating in Ireland (Figure 1). ...
Excess clothing consumption severely harms the environment, through greenhouse gas emissions, resource degradation and water pollution. For consumers, however, the trade-off between this environmental impact and the convenience of "fast fashion" is hidden at the point of purchase. We present a pre-registered, experimental test of two clothing eco-labelling systems using a large, representative sample of consumers (N = 1,200). Participants used a simulated online clothing store, with some chosen at random to receive their selected items. They were randomised to see (i) a binary label, informed by existing policy, applied to the most sustainable products, (ii) a colour-coded, graded "eco-score" applied to all products, or (iii) no label. Compared to the control condition, participants exposed to binary label chose 10% more sustainable products. Eco-score participants, however, chose 20% more, and were twice as likely to exclusively buy the most sustainable products. There was no effect on the number of items purchased, implying a shift towards more sustainably produced clothing. Exploratory analyses revealed that the effects were driven by greater salience of the eco-score system and that effects were stronger among those most concerned about the environment. Those who saw the eco-labels reported the same level of shopping satisfaction and willingness to wear selected clothes as those in the control condition. Additional findings revealed a general underestimation of clothing production's environmental impact and strong support for implementing the eco-score both online and in-store. The results have implications for enabling informed consumer choice in the clothing market.
... Furthermore, LR shapes the input of information. Individuals with low LR are affected by marginal cues (e.g., color), whereas those with high LR respond to quantitative information (e.g., text) (Bengart & Vogt, 2023). Overall, people with high LR invoke facts more to guide their decisions than those with low LR (Hsee et al., 2015). ...
Filtered selfies are prevalent on social media and are considered an effective way to project an ideal self. Built-in editing by beauty filters allows the user to easily obtain an enhanced self-image in a second, and such auto-editing filters are employed across a multitude of contexts. In the present research, we explore the effect of filtered selfies on product preference. Four studies with various real filtered selfie manipulations and an ancillary study reveal that filtered selfies promote a preference for hedonic over utilitarian products through self-worth, and this justification effect is attenuated among individuals exhibiting high levels of lay rationalism and when beauty-editing cues are salient. The studies ruled out alternative explanations of emotions and visceral state. The findings indicate the justification effect of filtered selfies for hedonic versus utilitarian products, which contributes to the literature on selfies, hedonic consumption, and practical suggestions for marketing.
... Respondents show a clear preference for labeling, with "No label" consistently least preferred. Also Bengart and Vogt (2023) showed that labels increased the propensity of consumers to buy environmentally friendly energy. But we could not have anticipated the labeling configurations that solicited higher preference scores. ...
Renewable gases like biomethane or Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) can play an important role in short-to mid-term decarbonization of the residential heating sector. By (partially) replacing the dominant natural gas, they accomplish two major goals: lowering CO 2 emissions and lessening import dependencies. While existing research points to great production potential and technical options for producing renewable gases, the demand side has largely been neglected. Yet consumer decision making is highly relevant for climate change mitigation. Against this backdrop, we conducted a Discrete Choice Experiment with 512 heating consumers in Germany, a country with a high dependency on natural gas. We decomposed the gas tariff into six attributes (share of renewable gas, labels, regionality, biomethane feedstock, supplier type, and price) with varying attribute levels. We identified knowledge gaps regarding both biomethane and SNG technologies, gaps which are more pronounced for SNG. Results show that the gas mix and the price are key in consumer evaluations. Labels and feedstock are less relevant, regionality and supplier type almost neglectable. Biomethane is clearly favored over SNG, which comes as a surprise given the past controversy over food vs. fuel. Our results call for raising consumer awareness and standardizing information in order to improve decision-making.
The expresser's smile is a ubiquitous nonverbal communication cue used to elicit favorable impressions among consumers. However, does the expresser's smile exert persuasive power in luxury advertising, where exclusivity often outweighs approachability? Integrating the social‐functional perspective of emotions with the stereotype content model of social judgments, we explore how, why, and when the intensity of a smile can adversely impact the effectiveness of luxury advertising. We demonstrate that a neutral expression (vs. a slight and broad smile) leads to higher levels of luxury ad engagement scores, click‐through rates, ad attitudes, and purchase behaviors. This effect is unique to luxury products and driven by a serial processing mechanism: enhanced competence judgments and perceived ad credibility that surface when the expresser features a neutral expression. To provide a deeper understanding of how the persuasive impact of smile intensity vary depending on complementary nonverbal signals and individual level factors, we elucidate two boundary conditions: lay rationalism level of consumers and eye gaze direction of the expresser. Specifically, the detrimental effect of smile intensity on competence perceptions is attenuated for low‐lay rationalistic consumers, who base their decisions on emotions, while the neutral expression facilitates higher ad effectiveness when paired with a direct gaze (vs. an averted gaze). Six preregistered studies, including field data on Instagram ads (N = 435), two large‐scale field experiments on Meta (Ntotal = 233,301), and three controlled online experiments (Ntotal = 940), using different luxury products as well as fictitious and real brands, support these findings. Theoretically, this research advances literature on the nonverbal communication of emotions and the psychology of luxury consumption by showing that smile intensity serves as a visual deterrent to the effectiveness of luxury advertising. Managerially, it offers implications for luxury brand marketers on how to leverage the psychophysical characteristics of facial expressions in their ad design and positioning strategies.
Sustainability labels convey information about different product attributes, such as its environmental impact, lifespan or ethical performance. The labelling can be either positive (only identifying the most sustainable products available on the market), negative (only identifying the least sustainable products available on the market) or graded (comparing the sustainable performance of a product with that of all other products on the market). We assess the relative performance of these three labelling approaches in terms of influencing product choices. A nationally representative sample of 1243 consumers from Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic participated in an incentive‐compatible online discrete choice experiment with random allocation to different labelling approaches. Compared with positive and negative labels, graded labels were most effective in guiding consumers towards more sustainable product choices. These findings support policy interventions that convey product sustainability with graded labels.
Enhancing consumers’ purchase intention for carbon-labeled products is crucial for the sustainable development of the market economy. This study aims to address a key challenge by exploring the often-overlooked impact of external incentive mechanisms in the existing literature. Utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA), the research dissects survey data from 730 Chinese consumers. It reveals the complex influence of four social incentives (i.e., monetary incentives, price incentives, spiritual incentives, and information incentives) on purchasing intentions from the perspective of perceived value. The results indicate that consumers’ awareness and trust in carbon labels are highly important but show modest performance. To be specific, among the four incentive measures, information incentives significantly promote purchasing intentions, followed by spiritual incentives. Interestingly, although the price incentives are a key precondition for increasing purchasing intentions, they do not show a direct and statistically significant effect. Besides, monetary incentives specifically facilitate the formation of purchasing intentions by enhancing consumers’ perception of the efficacy of carbon-labeled products, while information incentives promote intentions by influencing consumers’ desire for value expression. Benefiting from these four incentive measures, this study provides valuable insights to help develop effective strategies for promoting carbon labeling and green products, refine the design of environmentally friendly choice architectures for public policy, and enhance our understanding of consumer behavior in contemporary culture.
Prior measures on rationality overlook the individual differences in the weight people place on social rationality versus individual rationality. The current research develops and validates an individual-collective dilemma task (ICDT) to distinguish different rationality types. It was translated from a reality that, at the beginning of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, a global shortage of face masks occurred because of the jumping demand for masks as a precautionary measure. The ICDT asked participants to decide how many masks to buy in front of a shortfall of masks, which facilitated coping with a hypothetical epidemic outbreak. Based on the number of masks they selected, three rationality groups emerged. Individual rationalists preferred self-interest goals to goals of social interests; social rationalists prioritized social-interest goals; balancers assigned equal weight to both goals. The ICDT showed sound test-retest reliability and criterion-related, discriminant, and convergent validity. The present research contributes to the literature on rationality assessment and offers policy-makers a valid and reliable tool to understand the distribution of rationalists among the public.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03338-x.
Carbon labelling systems can inform individual and organizational choices, which potentially reduce the carbon footprints of goods and services. We review the ways labelling is conceptualized and operationalized, and the available evidence on effectiveness. The literature focuses mainly on how labelling affects retail consumer behaviour, but much less on how labelling affects the behaviour of the organizations that produce, transport and sell products despite preliminary research suggesting that the effects on corporate behaviour may be substantial even without strong consumer responses. We consider key challenges for carbon labelling systems related to standard setting, data collection and use, and label design. We summarize the available knowledge, identify key research questions and identify steps towards achieving the promise of carbon labelling.
In response to the growing importance of environmental issues, more and more consumers are turning to anti-consumption by reducing, rejecting, or avoiding consumption. Covering the intersection of sustainable consumption and anti-consumption, previous studies relied on socio-cognitive models to explain this decision. In order to extend their findings, we consider the moral and emotional perspectives to examine reducing consumption for environmental reasons in a particular context, i.e. air travel. It is against this backdrop that we propose a conceptual model that includes moral foundations as the main antecedent, followed by anticipated guilt and personal responsibility, while intention to reduce consumption (i.e. air travel) for environmental reasons, positive word of mouth about reducing air travel (WOM) and environmental activism represent the outcomes. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 511 respondents from a UK online consumer panel. Our results confirm the importance of moral foundations, anticipated guilt and personal responsibility and their interplay in the prediction of intention to reduce consumption for environmental reasons. Anticipated guilt influences WOM, while personal responsibility influences activism. In addition, intentions to reduce consumption for environmental reasons have a positive impact on WOM and environmental activism. There are several implications for public policy makers and NGOs that fight against climate change that derive from these findings, as well as research opportunities for academics interested in this topic.
Intergenerational research on sustainable consumption remains scarce, particularly in relation to which factors may affect the level of intergenerational similarity and the direction of intergenerational transmission. The present study addresses these gaps and adds to the growing body of literature in environmental consumer socialization by examining intergenerational influence on sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors in a sample of 146 dyads comprised of mothers and college-age daughters. In the domain of intergenerational influence, we study two potential moderating factors suggested in past consumer research: communication effectiveness and peer conformity. Using the co-orientational model and nominal dyad method, we reveal the existence of intergenera-tional similarity in dyads' sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors-after accounting for nominal effects-and show that stronger parent-child communication between mother-daughter pairs leads to greater intergenerational similarity, whereas stronger peer influence on daughters reduces intergenerational agreement. Our analysis further suggests the presence of reverse environmental socialization, in which intergenerational influence predominantly occurs from daughter to mother. Dyads' subjective knowledge regarding sustainable consumption provides empirical insights for this co-orientational model finding on reverse intergenerational transfer. Overall, outcomes of this study encourage marketing managers to leverage young-adult offspring in the process of communicating sustainable marketing strategies. K E Y W O R D S consumer socialization, family communication, intergenerational influence, peer influence, subjective knowledge, sustainable consumer attitudes, sustainable consumer behaviors
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop a model that integrates self-conscious emotions (i.e. anticipated guilt and anticipated pride) alongside the theory of planned behavior’s key explanatory factors to challenge the idea that recycling behavior is driven mainly by cognitive factors. The model is empirically validated in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a region where research are lacking despite generating one of the highest per capita solid waste and holding one of the lowest recycling rates.
Design/methodology/approach
The data was collected from the general public in the UAE using a two-wave survey ( n = 287). The first wave of data collection measured the constructs except for the actual recycling behavior. The second wave assessed the respondent’s self-reported recycling behavior for the previous fortnight.
Findings
Anticipated guilt, subjective norms, perceived effort and recycling knowledge are the main drivers of the intention to recycle. The latter impacts the actual recycling behavior positively. Attitude toward recycling and anticipated pride failed to predict the intention to recycle. Awareness of consequences triggers only anticipated pride, while the degree of concern is a significant predictor of both anticipated pride and guilt.
Practical implications
One key implication of this research is that governments in the Middle East have not only to focus on cognitive factors but also emotions to promote recycling behavior.
Originality/value
This study adds to the pro-environmental literature by showing that the decision to recycle is not only based on cognitive factors but also anticipated guilt. It is also one of the first that explore recycling behavior in the UAE.
Interest in using information-based interventions to induce energy and water conservation has increased in recent years but have shown mixed evidence of their effectiveness. This paper seeks to answer two main questions - whether these programs are broadly effective in inducing conservation, and what are the most effective versions of these programs. Using a meta-analysis of 116 studies, we examine the effects of information-based interventions on residential customers' consumption of electricity, gas, and water. We find evidence of publication bias in this literature. After correcting for publication bias, meta-analysis results indicate that information-based interventions reduce consumption by an average of 6.24%, 95% CI [-10.72, -1.76]. In addition, we find that studies employing RCTs find smaller conservation effects, (-5.2%, 95% CI [−9.53, −0.51]). Our results show that the effectiveness of information-based interventions at the household level are significantly larger than those at the aggregate level (such as dorms and buildings). Finally, interventions with a shorter duration or with more frequent reporting show larger estimated effect sizes.
This study investigated whether color cues in health PSAs affect people’s experience of psychological reactance to health recommendations. By integrating psychological reactance theory and color-in-context theory, we predicted that reactance would be greater after viewing a threatening health PSA conveyed in red compared to other colors. Using a 3 (color: gray, green, red) × 2 (freedom threatening language: low, high) experimental design in the context of oral health, we found that red exacerbated the degree to which freedom threatening language elicited perceived freedom threat and reactance, and this effect further decreased attitude and intention toward using a firm-bristled toothbrush. These findings show the importance of considering visual communication like color cues when developing successful health campaigns.
Consumers’ perceptions of five front-of-pack nutrition label formats (health star rating (HSR), multiple traffic lights (MTL), Nutri-Score, reference intakes (RI) and warning label) were assessed across 12 countries (Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, the UK and the USA). Perceptions assessed included liking, trust, comprehensibility, salience and desire for the label to be mandatory. A sample of 12,015 respondents completed an online survey in which they rated one of the five (randomly allocated) front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) along the perception dimensions described above. Respondents viewing the MTL provided the most favourable ratings. Perceptions of the other FoPLs were mixed or neutral. No meaningful or consistent patterns were observed in the interactions between country and FoPL type, indicating that culture was not a strong predictor of general perceptions. The overall ranking of the FoPLs differed somewhat from previous research assessing their objective performance in terms of enhancing understanding of product healthiness, in which the Nutri-Score was the clear front-runner. Respondents showed a strong preference for mandatory labelling, regardless of label condition, which is consistent with past research showing that the application of labels across all products leads to healthier choices.
Background: Food production and consumption contributes to one third of households' environmental impact. The environmental impact of different food categories varies and in general environmental footprint of meat is high than fish and vegetable options. Environmental food labels have been suggested as a means to sway consumption patterns. The purpose of this study is to test if different simple eco-labels in combination with posters can influence consumers to select environmentally friendly food options. Method: Three different labeling systems were tested on warm dishes in a University cafeteria in Oslo, Norway. The first system was traffic-light labels with three symbols (red, yellow and green), the second system was a single-green label that only labeled the environmentally friendliest dishes, and the third system was a single-red label that only labeled the least environmentally friendly option. Posters were placed in the cafeteria, explaining the labeling systems and the climate impact of different food categories. Outcome measures was sales share of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. The intervention period was separated in two; the first 20 days (period 1) and 22 last days (period 2) to evaluate if the effects of the labels was different when first introduced and after some months. Results: The traffic-light labels significantly reduced sales of meat dishes with 9% in the period 1 (p < 0.1) but not in period 2. Sales share of fish or vegetarian dishes were not impacted. Single-green and single-red labeling had no effect on sales share of meat, fish or vegetarian dishes. Posters were present during all interventions. Conclusion: Findings suggests that traffic-light labels in combination with posters can improve the eco-friendliness of customers food choices in a cafeteria setting, at least short-term. Future studies should investigate the long-term effects of simple eco-labels. Additionally, one should study the combined effect of symbols with other changes in the choice architecture.
Are people more satisfied with decisions to resist or to indulge temptation? We propose that the effect of restraint versus indulgence on decision satisfaction depends on individual differences in lay rationalism, that is, reliance on reason versus feelings to guide decisions. Across 2 pilot studies and 9 main studies (N = 3,264) with different methodologies and various self-control domains, we found consistent evidence that individuals experience higher satisfaction with restraint the more they rely on reason than on feelings. The proposed effect uniquely concerns individual differences in lay rationalism and is independent from individual differences in trait self-control. We also show that authenticity (feeling true to oneself) is the mechanism underlying this effect and rule out self-typicality (acting in ways typical of oneself) as an alternative account. Additionally, we examined downstream consequences of this effect for compensatory authenticity seeking. These findings advance a more nuanced view of self-control based on identity and suggest that the subjective utility of restraint is contingent upon individual differences in reliance on reason versus feelings in decision making. Our research contributes to the understudied topic of the phenomenology of self-control and provides novel insights into its potential downsides for some individuals. We discuss theoretical implications for research on self-control, lay rationalism and authenticity.
The climate impact of tomato production is an important issue in the sustainability of tomatoes, especially in northern European countries, such as Germany. Communicating the climate impact of products to the consumer is difficult and the design of the label might be the key to its success. For this reason, the present study compares the utilities of six different carbon footprint labels to evaluate which label design works best for the consumer. 598 consumers were surveyed in a representative online choice-experiment. The participants had to choose between tomatoes with different product characteristics, such as origin, price, organic label, and carbon footprint label. A split sample approach was used where each sub-sample with around n = 100 saw a different carbon footprint label design in the choice-experiment. The results suggest that qualitative carbon footprint labels using color-coded traffic light labelling are superior to those that claim climate impact reduction or neutrality, including those that provide more details regarding the climate impact of the product and the company. The latent class analysis with four consumer segments shows that a significant proportion of consumers in Germany would consider a carbon footprint label as an important characteristic.
This study examines how environment-related food labels affect shopping behaviour. Using an experimental store consisting of nearly 300 available food items, we observe the food purchases of consumers before and after each product is tagged with one of three environmental labels: single traffic lights, multiple traffic lights and the kilometric format. The kilometric format indicates the greenhouse gas emissions for each product by indicating the equivalent number of kilometres driven by an average car. The other two formats are based on the traffic-light rating system used for nutrients by the British Food Standard Agency. Multiple traffic lights present three traffic lights simultaneously: one each for greenhouse gas emissions, water eutrophication and air acidity. The single traffic light label displays one unique traffic light for greenhouse gas emissions. All three types of environmental labels lead consumers to purchase more environmentally friendly food baskets (i.e., significant decreases in carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur dioxide emissions). Labelling, however, does not affect the price of selected food baskets (in Euros per 100 g) or their nutritional content. By generating more product substitutions between unlabelled and labelled baskets, multiple traffic lights are more effective in reducing GHG emissions, eutrophication and acidification.
Why are people often uncomfortable dealing with financial decisions? We propose that people perceive financial decisions-more so than decisions in many other equally complex and important domains-as compatible with a cold, analytical mode of thinking and as highly incompatible with feelings and emotions. Consequently, the more people perceive themselves as inclined to rely on affect in their decisions, the more they experience self-concept incongruity with financial decisions (i.e., feeling that financial decisions are "not them"), and consequently show an increased tendency to avoid such decisions. Five studies demonstrate this phenomenon, using both consequential and hypothetical decisions; provide evidence for the proposed mechanism; and rule out alternative accounts, including perceived financial knowledge, expertise and self-efficacy perceptions, decision confidence, and preference for numerical information. The findings contribute to research on thinking styles and decision avoidance, and they underscore a unique characteristic of financial decisions that makes them stand out among many other decision types. In addition to their theoretical significance, the findings have practical implications for the communication of financial products and services. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Journal of Consumer Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
Nutrition labeling literature yields fragmented results about the effect of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition label formats on healthy food choice. Specifically, it is unclear which type of nutrition label format is effective across different shopping situations. To address this gap, the present review investigates the available nutrition labeling literature through the prism of dual-process theory, which posits that decisions are made either quickly and automatically (system 1) or slowly and deliberately (system 2). A systematically performed review of nutrition labeling literature returned 59 papers that provide findings that can be explained according to dual-process theory. The findings of these studies suggest that the effectiveness of nutrition label formats is influenced by the consumer's dominant processing system, which is a function of specific contexts and personal variables (eg, motivation, nutrition knowledge, time pressure, and depletion). Examination of reported findings through a situational processing perspective reveals that consumers might prefer different FOP nutrition label formats in different situations and can exhibit varying responses to the same label format across situations. This review offers several suggestions for policy makers and researchers to help improve current FOP nutrition label formats.
In this research note, we reflect critically on the use of sampling techniques in advertising research. Our review of 1,028 studies published between 2008 and 2016 in the four leading advertising journals shows that while current academic literature advocates probability sampling procedures, their actual usage is quite scarce. Most studies either lack information on the sampling method used, or engage in non-probability sampling without making adjustments to compensate for unequal selection probabilities, non-coverage, and sampling fluctuations. Based on our results, we call on researchers to revisit the fundamental aspects of sampling to increase their research results’ rigor and relevance.
In the present study, 866 participants completed a questionnaire on the personality facet "dutifulness." A dichotomous (DS), a 5-point Likert-type (LTS), and a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS) were analyzed regarding their effects on psychometric properties in a repeated measures design. Concerning estimates of reliability, it was shown that Cronbachs alpha increased with the number of response alternatives of the scales, while McDonalds omega and validity coefficients remained steady. It is argued that, given the ô-congeneric measurement model of the present study, omega provides the more adequate estimate of internal consistency. Generalized linear regression analyses indicated that the participants judged the intervals between varying levels of dutifulness on the VAS differently from the other two scales. It is concluded that the choice of response format should not be exclusively based on desired psychometric properties but rather on practical considerations.
Empirical evidence suggests that the color red acts like an implicit avoidance cue in food contexts. Thus specific colors seem to guide the implicit evaluation of food items. We built upon this research by investigating the implicit meaning of color (red vs. green) in an approach-avoidance task with healthy and unhealthy food items. Thus, we examined the joint evaluative effects of color and food: Participants had to categorize food items by approach-avoidance reactions, according to their healthfulness. Items were surrounded by task-irrelevant red or green circles. We found that the implicit meaning of the traffic light colors influenced participants' reactions to the food items. The color red (compared to green) facilitated automatic avoidance reactions to unhealthy foods. By contrast, approach behavior toward healthy food items was not moderated by color. Our findings suggest that traffic light colors can act as implicit cues that guide automatic behavioral reactions to food.
This research examines the metacognitive effects of nutrition facts label clarity on
food preferences. Two experiments show that, holding information content and
comprehensibility constant, providing consumers with easier-to-process nutrition information
increases purchase intentions for food products. The effect occurs for healthy (Study 1) but
also, and more ironically so, for unhealthy (Study 1 & 2) food products. In addition, the latter
fluency effect is found to be stronger among people scoring low in nutrition knowledge
(Study 2). These findings emphasize the consequences of delivering easily readable nutrition
information to consumers. They also point to a potential pitfall of health prevention policies
based on the simplification of nutrition labeling.
Traditionally, marketing of sustainable products addresses green buyers, thus missing out on the mainstream consumers and volume necessary to cover the potentially higher cost of more sustainable materials. However, how to effectively communicate more sustainable products to mainstream consumers and to increase their buying intention is still underexplored. Combining personal and environmental benefits, called double benefit theory, is promoted as an effective green marketing strategy but so far not supported by quantitative research as being effective to reach mainstream consumers. We studied the effect of advertisement elements (layout color, benefit type, and heritage) on the products’ perceived sustainability, quality and fashion image, and buying intentions of mainstream consumers. Two hundred adults participated in a study that was based on a 2 (red vs. green layout) × 2 (personal vs. environmental benefit) × 2 (local vs. global heritage) between-subjects factorial design of a sustainable shoe advertisement. The impact of these independent variables on product image as well as on buying intention was analyzed by means of three-way ANOVAs. In line with the double benefit theory, combining a personal benefit with a green layout led to the highest buying intention. Moreover, a mediation analysis revealed the effect of emphasizing a personal benefit on buying intention was mediated by fashion image but not by sustainability. Sustainability, however, did have a positive effect on buying intentions independent of benefit type.
In this article we argue that a widespread adoption of nudging can alter legal and political institutions. Debates on nudges thus far have largely revolved around a set of philosophical theories that we call individualistic approaches. Our analysis concerns the ways in which adherents of nudging make use of the newest findings in the behavioral sciences for the purposes of policy-making. We emphasize the fact that most nudges proposed so far are not a part of the legal system and are also non-normative. We propose two ideal types: “law-as-normative” and “law-as-instrumental”, that allow us to understand and evaluate the relation of nudges and the law. We stress the importance of law as a safeguard for the possible negative consequences of nudges and conclude with proposals that could complement nudging policies.
A large number of visualization tools have been created to help decision makers understand increasingly rich databases of product, customer, sales force, and other types of marketing information. This article presents a framework for thinking about how visual representations are likely to affect the decision processes or tasks that marketing managers and consumers commonly face, particularly those that involve the analysis or synthesis of substantial amounts of data. From this framework, the authors derive a set of testable propositions that serve as an agenda for further research. Although visual representations are likely to improve marketing manager efficiency, offer new insights, and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, they may also bias decisions by focusing attention on a limited set of alternatives, increasing the salience and evaluability of less diagnostic information, and encouraging inaccurate comparisons. Given this, marketing managers are advised to subject insights from visual representations to more formal analysis.
When should nudging be deemed as permissible and when should it be deemed as intrusive to individuals' freedom of choice? Should all types of nudges be judged the same? To date the debate concerning these issues has largely proceeded without much input from the general public. The main objective of this study is to elicit public views on the use of nudges in policy. In particular we investigate attitudes toward two broad categories of nudges that we label pro-self (i.e. focusing on private welfare) and pro-social (i.e. focusing on social welfare) nudges. In addition we explore how individual differences in thinking and feeling influence attitudes toward nudges. General population samples in Sweden and the United States (n= 952) were presented with vignettes describing nudge-policies and rated acceptability and intrusiveness on freedom of choice. To test for individual differences, measures on cultural cognition and analytical thinking were included. The results show that attitudes toward nudge-policies were more positive in Sweden than United States, but the level of stated support was generally high in both countries. Somewhat paradoxically a majority of the respondents perceived the presented nudge interventions as intrusive to freedom of choice. Nudge-polices classified as pro-social had a significantly lower acceptance rate compared to pro-self nudges (p<.0001). Individuals with a more individualistic worldview were less likely to perceive nudges as acceptable, while individuals more prone to analytical thinking were less likely to perceive nudges as intrusive to freedom of choice. To conclude, our findings suggest that the notion of "one-nudge-fits-all" is not tenable. Recognizing this is an important aspect both for successfully implementing nudges as well as nuancing nudge theory.
Unavoidable sample size issues beset psychological research that involves scarce populations or costly laboratory procedures. When incorporating longitudinal designs these samples are further reduced by traditional modeling techniques, which perform listwise deletion for any instance of missing data. Moreover, these techniques are limited in their capacity to accommodate alternative correlation structures that are common in repeated measures studies. Researchers require sound quantitative methods to work with limited but valuable measures without degrading their data sets. This article provides a brief tutorial and exploration of two alternative longitudinal modeling techniques, linear mixed effects models and generalized estimating equations, as applied to a repeated measures study (n = 12) of pairmate attachment and social stress in primates. Both techniques provide comparable results, but each model offers unique information that can be helpful when deciding the right analytic tool.
A rich body of empirical research has posited the emotional concepts of pride and guilt are psychological forces that affect pro-environmental behavior, yet there is conflicting evidence about how each shapes pro-environmental behavior. We report on results from the first meta-analysis that has evaluated the associations of pride and guilt in relation to pro-environmental behavior over a 30-year period. An analysis of 23 correlational studies showed that anticipated pride (r = 0.47) and anticipated guilt (r = 0.39) were significantly correlated with intended and reported pro-environmental behavior, and that anticipated pride had a stronger relationship with behavior than guilt. Results from 12 experimental studies indicated that pride (r = 0.17) and guilt (r = 0.26) were equally strong in their ability to explain variation in pro-environmental behavior. Additionally, a moderator analysis revealed that in experimental studies the effects of both anticipated pride and guilt were significantly correlated with intended and reported pro-environmental behavior but did not differ from one another. By contrast, only experienced guilt (and not pride) predicted intended and reported pro-environmental behavior in experimental research. These findings underscore the importance of considering the mechanisms and extent to which pride and guilt shape behavioral patterns that influence environmental sustainability.
Renewable energy technologies (RETs), particularly solar and wind energy technologies, have experienced a rapid decline in their costs over the last two decades. Several studies claim that RETs are cost-competitive with fossil fuel technologies based on their levelized costs of electricity (LCOE), the most common indicator used to compare the cost competitiveness of electricity-generating technologies. However, no consensus exists due to the wide variations in factors influencing the LCOEs across countries and technologies. This study calculates more than 4000 LCOEs for 11 technologies, varying all input variables. It shows that the LCOEs for RETs, except concentrated solar and offshore wind, are lower than those for fossil fuel technologies at the lower range of capital costs and discount rates of 10% or lower. However, for a reasonable range of input variables, the study cannot justify the low auction prices for solar power, below US$20/MWh, recently observed in some parts of the world. The study illustrates how various factors influence the cost of electricity generation across technologies. It also compares the trends in electricity generation costs between RETs and fossil fuels over the last two decades.
The color red widely appears on food packages. However, understanding of the effects of this color on consumers in the context of food packages remains limited. In particular, the literature stresses the need for a better grasp of the underlying mechanisms that explain the effects of this color when used on food packages. Building on the psychological literature on colors and emotions, this research argues that because the color red carries negative meanings related to transgression, it may prompt consumers to feel some guilt about their consumption. Three studies demonstrate the indirect effect of the color red (versus green or blue) on guilt and eventually on choice through the mediating role of negative cognitive associations. The results also highlight the moderating role of perception of the food product as unhealthy, with the color red leading to stronger negative associations and guilt for unhealthy (vs. healthy) products.
Transitioning to a circular economy depends on transforming the behaviour of both producers and consumers. Product labelling schemes are regularly offered as a solution to support those shifts. While numerous labelling schemes and related research on the effectiveness of individual schemes exist, it remains unclear how impactful labelling is in supporting circular economy outcomes. The emergence of behavioural public policy presents new opportunities for knowledge translation in this field. This study provides a systematic, succinct overview of evidence using a rapid review methodology, identifying and summarising existing systematic reviews or reports. A comprehensive search was undertaken in three databases of publications between 2000 and 2019, yielding 4,875 citations. Following screening by two independent reviewers, 10 reviews were included. Several key drivers and barriers for adopting product labelling schemes among consumers and businesses were identified. The existing evidence provides limited support for the impact of labelling schemes on behaviour, the environment, and business. Overall, results indicate that eco-labels on their own are an information-based communication tool that is unlikely to create significant shifts in consumer choices or production. Conditions required for schemes to have optimal impact and recommendations to amplify impact drawing on behavioural science are discussed.
Electricity suppliers in many countries are legally required to disclose their electricity products' fuel mix, with the objective of helping consumers make more informed electricity purchase decisions. The fuel mix disclosure system in Germany differs from those of many other countries and from that which the European Union demands. While electricity suppliers must list fossil and fissile energy sources individually, the renewable energy sources (RES) are lumped together under the generic terms "renewable energies supported by the EEG" and "other renewable energies." We investigated whether breaking these generic terms down into their components (photovoltaics, hydropower, wind power, and biomass) impacts consumers' preferences and their willingness to pay for renewables. Our results suggest that consumers are willing to pay more for electricity made from RES when information about the individual RES was provided. We found that a possible explanation for this finding is that consumers perceive the specified RES as less harmful to the environment than the two generic RES and that consumers have poor knowledge about what energy sources these generic RES represent. We therefore recommend German policy makers to move away from the current fuel mix disclosure system toward one that provides more detailed information.
There are inconsistent research findings in relation to the antecedents of green consumer behaviour (GCB). This is well documented in the traditional attitude-behaviour relationship, which is partly due to the exclusion of affective factors in its predictive model. Yet, an inclusive understanding of the antecedents of GCB is critical for effective green marketing communications. This study integrates both affective factor (e.g., emotion) and cognitive factor (e.g., knowledge) to better understand the antecedents of GCB. Data were obtained from 381 Malaysian respondents in major cities, and were analyzed using principal component analysis and structural equation modeling. The key findings of the study suggest consumers’ emotional affinity towards nature and environmental values have a strong direct positive influence on GCB, while the direct impact of knowledge is insignificant. These findings are consistent across genders. Thus, the use of moral and emotional appeal in green communications (e.g., advertising, packaging) appears to induce GCB.
A substantial body of research provides evidence for the role of parents in transferring pro-environmental attitudes, values, and behaviors to their children. However, little research has focused on children’s active attempts to influence parents’ pro-environmental behavior. In a survey involving 508 Lithuanian families, we examined the bidirectional influences of parents’ and adolescents’ information-induced proenvironmental intentions and behavior. Three plastic waste-related consumption behaviors were studied: purchasing bottled water, using reusable shopping bags, and recycling non-refundable plastic. Results show that both adolescents and their parents influence each other’s proenvironmental intentions and behaviors, suggesting that not only parents but also adolescents, may be important agents of positive changes in families and society.
Public support is growing for policy initiatives to spur a transition from a fossil to renewable energy portfolio in the electricity sector. Some utilities in the United States offer programs that allow consumers to voluntarily pay premiums (0.1–7.0 ¢/kWh) for electricity from renewable sources. However, it is unclear whether public support translates to paying for green electricity if given the option. Our analysis employs data from two national, longitudinal surveys on energy attitudes and willingness to pay for renewables to investigate whether environmental concerns and stated preferences for renewable energy translate to consumer behavior as measured through ratepayer participation in voluntary utility renewable energy programs known as utility green pricing. We find higher green pricing program participation rates in areas where consumers have stronger feelings about the environmental impacts of energy. Consumers in high-participation areas also have a higher stated willingness to pay for renewable energy, on average, than consumers in low-participation areas. We also find income, homeownership, and home value explain some of the difference between high- and low-participation programs. Further, program participation is lower in areas where utilities charge higher green pricing program premiums. These findings suggest that green power programs—such as utility green pricing—offer a market-based mechanism for consumers to realize their desire to purchase renewable energy. Policymakers may use these results to support further expansion of green power programs in areas where customers currently lack accessible and affordable options to act on their environmental beliefs and concerns.
Past research offered evidence that cosmopolitan individuals behave more pro-environmentally. The current study systematically examined two mechanisms explaining why. One the one hand, cosmopolitan individuals acquire knowledge about global challenges concerning environmental crises and become aware of mitigating strategies. On the other hand, cosmopolitan individuals extend their prosociality beyond humankind and develop an emotional affinity toward the natural environment. We set out to provide the first empirical support for these cognitive and emotive pathways accounting for why cosmopolitan individuals tend to be more environmentally friendly. We recruited a total of 1,159 participants to systematically investigate the simultaneous mediation of cognitive and emotive characteristics of cosmopolitan individuals on their commitment to and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). The results from both the large community study (a Singaporean sample; N = 959) and the replication study (an American sample; N = 200) revealed that cosmopolitan orientation fostered both the acquisition of knowledge and emotional affinity toward nature, while emotional affinity was a stronger predictor for commitment to and frequency of PEBs. Theoretical and practical implications for a nuanced understanding of the motivational value of the cognitive and emotive pathways on PEBs are discussed.
Front-of-package (FOP) labels may help shoppers make healthier food choices. The objectives of this review are, first, to establish the effectiveness of different FOP labels at enabling shoppers to identify which foods are healthy and which are not healthy, and, second, to assess whether different FOP labels induce shoppers to buy healthier foods. Some labels are nutrient-specific, such as Multiple Traffic Lights (MTL) and Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA). These labels state the content per serving of energy and of several substances, most commonly saturated fat, sugar, and sodium (or salt). Warning labels are another type of nutrient-specific FOP label (e.g., for food high in added sugar). Summary labels, such as Nutri-Score and labels with stars, translate the components of the food into a single value that indicates how healthy it is. Studies on FOP labels lack consistency. The majority of such studies indicate that they help shoppers to distinguish between healthy and less healthy foods. The designs that appear to be most successful in this regard are MTL, warning labels, and Nutri-Score. Labels based on GDA or that included stars were much less successful. Many studies using a simulated shopping situation reported that shoppers exposed to FOP labels had an increased intent to purchase healthier foods. Warning labels were the most consistently successful FOP design followed by MTL, Nutri-Score, and labels that included stars, while GDA failed in almost every study. Very few studies have been carried out in real-world supermarkets; the findings indicate that FOP labels or shelf labels may achieve a small degree of success (<2.0%) at persuading shoppers to buy healthier foods. Those advocating for effective FOP labels must resist opposition from food corporations.
An experiment aimed at reducing calorie content of a food order was performed by introducing interventions at the fast food ordering screen on a tablet computer. Modifications included a virtual order assistant, a color-coded system and highlighting low-calorie choices. Participants of the study were 401 university students. Before starting an order, participants were asked to indicate their calorie goal. Our results show that the order assistant is the only intervention that leads to significantly fewer calories in the fast food order. The effect is due to women ordering fewer high-calorie dishes. Men, in contrast, are unresponsive to changes in the choice context regarding calories ordered. Results indicate that the level of self-control moderates the impact of the feature highlighting choices so that higher levels of self-control lead to lower calorie intake for both sexes. This research highlights the importance of gender and self-control for designing choice environments aimed at decreasing calorie intake.
Renewable resources are often owned by residential customers who do not actively participate in electricity markets yet. To better integrate these decentralized resources into the energy system, market signals must reach the customers. Local energy markets (LEMs) are a promising concept to provide these market signals, and balance generation and demand at distribution network level. We examined the importance of design parameters for LEMs with an adaptive choice-based conjoint study from a customer perspective. Two surveys (a Germany-wide panel of 417 respondents and a regional survey of 239 respondents) show that economic design parameters (monthly cost and investments) are most important for German households to participate in LEMs. However, the sum of non-economic design parameters (interaction frequency, supplier, electricity source, and data privacy) levels with the importance of monthly cost without investment. Results show, that compared to the German average the regional customers are willing to pay a slight price premium on their monthly costs if regional electricity is offered on the LEM. Our results show suitable early adopters for LEMs to be large (> 2 persons) residential households with young ( < 60 years) inhabitants. Overall, regulatory niches and subsidies allowing LEMs to offer discount prices should be exploited.
Based on data from a large-scale survey (n=3400) conducted in Germany, we analyze citizens’ acceptance and protest intentions regarding the construction of new power plants for renewable energy production. We differentiate between wind energy, solar energy, and biomass energy; natural gas is used as a reference category. We measure protest intentions and acceptance regarding the construction of new power plants within a 10-kilometer radius of respondents’ place of residence. Protest and acceptance are explained by several competing theoretical determinants such as specific attitudes towards each energy source, general attitudes towards climate change, social norms, the “not-in-my-backyard” phenomenon, place attachment, and conditional cooperation. We use decomposition models used in labor market research to study endowment, discrimination, and characteristics effects related to different attitudinal dimensions and their influence on acceptance and protest intentions. Our results show more positive attitudes, less protest intentions, and a stronger acceptance of solar energy, followed by wind energy, biomass energy, and natural gas. Theory comparison reveals, for instance, that “not-in-my-backyard” beliefs have high explanatory power, climate change concern is only relevant for the acceptance of wind energy and solar energy, and place attachment seems to be a useful concept for explaining protest intentions. The decomposition models indicate that attitudes are strong determinants of acceptance and protest intentions where, in addition to endowment effects, we also find some indications of discrimination effects (i.e., different weights of attitudinal dimensions) and characteristics effects (i.e., effects of respondents’ characteristics). Finally, we discuss the policy implications of these results.
Previous research on coupon proneness has measured the construct only in behavioral terms (i.e., consumers who are more responsive to coupon promotions are coupon prone). On the basis of the study premise that at least one other psychological construct, value consciousness, underlies the behavior of redeeming coupons, the authors argue that coupon proneness should be conceptualized and measured at a psychological level and treated as one construct that affects coupon-responsive behavior rather than as isomorphic with the behavior. They offer conceptual definitions of both coupon proneness and value consciousness and make a theoretical distinction based on acquisition-transaction utility theory. Eight hypotheses that reflect theoretical differences between the two constructs are proposed and tested. Results support the study premise that coupon-responsive behavior is a manifestation of both value consciousness and coupon proneness.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the nutritional traffic light can reduce consumers’ intention to purchase unhealthy food by eliciting negative emotions (i.e. fear and guilt). The work also examines the moderating role of income in the above-mentioned relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study was conducted in Ecuador. In an initial phase, exploratory research was carried out with two focus groups. Then a quasi-experiment was conducted with 330 participants following a 3×2 design, in which the nutritional traffic light for a dairy product (green, yellow, red) and the variable income (high and low income) were manipulated.
Findings
Traffic light colours (red, yellow and green) significantly influence consumers’ levels of fear and guilt as well as their intention to purchase. Income has also been found to have a moderating effect on the above relationships.
Practical implications
Further understanding of how nutritional labels influence consumer behaviour may have beneficial effects for public authorities attempting to improve citizens’ health and for society as a whole. It may also help firms that produce and market packaged foods to be aware of what type of foods new consumers want and adapt their offering in consequence.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this work is the analysis of the influence of the nutritional traffic light on emotions, namely, fear and guilt and how these emotions lead consumers to control their consumption of unhealthy foods. In addition, the present work proposes the moderating effect of income on the influence of colour on emotions and purchase intention.
Financial markets play a decisive role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. This study investigates the role of climate information presentation for climate-friendly investing among retail investors. We conduct a choice experiment in which we vary the presentation format of climate information by means of three label designs to test their influence on investment practices. We provide empirical evidence for the effectiveness of climate labeling as a potential nudge for climate-friendly investing. Further, we find heterogeneity in the influence of climate information across different label designs and cognitive characteristics of investors. Intuitive (reflective) decision-makers tend to place significantly more (less) weight on funds’ climate performance compared to financial performance — irrespective of a participant’s environmental preference.
Many officials have been considering whether it is possible or desirable to use choice architecture to increase the use of environmentally friendly ("green") products and activities. The right approach could produce significant environmental benefits, including large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and better air quality. This Article presents new data from an online experiment in which 1245 participants were asked questions about hypothetical green energy programs. The central finding is that active choosing had larger effects in promoting green energy use than did green energy defaults (automatic enrollment in green energy), apparently because of the interaction between people's feelings of guilt and reactance. This finding is principally driven by the fact that when green energy costs more, there is a significant increase in opt-outs from green defaults, whereas with active choosing, green energy retains considerable appeal even when it costs more. More specifically, we report four major findings. First, forcing participants to make an active choice between a green energy provider and a standard energy provider led to higher enrollment in the green program than did either green energy defaults or standard energy defaults (automatic enrollment in standard energy). Second, active choosing caused participants to feel more guilty about not enrolling in the green energy program than did either green energy defaults or standard energy defaults; the level of guilt was positively related to the probability of enrolling. Third, respondents gave lower approval ratings to the green energy default than to the standard energy default, but only when green energy cost extra, which suggests reactance towards green defaults when enrollment means additional private costs. Fourth, respondents appeared to have inferred that green energy automatically would come at a higher cost and/or be of worse quality than less environmentally friendly energy. These findings raise important questions both for future research and for policy making. If they reflect real-world behavior, they suggest the potentially large effects of active choosing-perhaps larger, in some cases, than those of green energy defaults.
This research examines how future event markers influence intertemporal choice, and it demonstrates across five studies that the number of salient events between a smaller-sooner and larger-later option impacts patience. The direction of the effect depends on whether the individual relies on emotion versus reason to make decisions. For those who rely on emotion, additional events increase patience. Conversely, for individuals who rely on reason, additional events decrease patience. These effects are driven by perceptions of time, as events contract perceptions of time for emotional decision makers but expand perceptions of time for rational decision makers. Implications arise for intertemporal choice, time perception, and emotional versus rational decision making.
Environmental policies are increasingly informed by behavioral economics insights. ‘Green nudges’ in particular have been suggested as a promising new tool to encourage consumers to act in an environmentally benign way, such as choosing renewable energy sources or saving energy. While there is an emerging literature on the instrumental effectiveness of behavioral policy tools such as these, their ethical assessment has largely been neglected. This paper attempts to fill this gap by, first, providing a structured overview of the most important contributions to the literature on pro-environmental nudges and, second, offering some critical considerations that may help the practitioner come to an ethically informed assessment of nudges.
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the negative environmental implications of purchasing goods, which in turn shape their behaviour. Yet, there are indications that consumers do not always act on these concerns, causing an attitude–behaviour gap. For consumers to make ecologically responsible purchases, they need relevant product environmental information. Therefore, marketers and firms are increasingly integrating more detailed environmental information in their offerings, including eco-labels with externally validated information. This study integrates consumers’ knowledge and trust in eco-labels with their environmental knowledge to determine how these affect pro-environmental consumer behaviour (PECB). The findings suggest environmental and eco-label knowledge is positively associated with attitudes towards the environment, and that positive environmental attitudes and trust in eco-labels affect PECB. This implies that firms, policy-makers and accreditation organisations (i.e. labelling) can educate consumers about eco-labels and the environment to increase PECB. Such strategies will also build consumer knowledge and trust in eco-labels, necessary for facilitating PECB.
Law often compels the disclosure of information in particular—and, increasingly today, in visual—forms. Some judges conclude that such modern disclosure requirements break with the First Amendment interest in ensuring that consumers are “well informed.” This Article brings an empirically dedicated perspective to such judicial analyses and provides a specific delineation—for three existing legally required visual communications—of data and tools that facilitate evidence-based assessment of the degree to which consumer perceptions are factually ac-curate in the presence versus the absence of such legally required visual communications.