Blind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free

In the past, researchers focusing on environmentally friendly consumption have devoted attention to the intention–action gap, suggesting that consumers have positive attitudes toward an environmentally friendly product even though they are not willing to buy it. In the present study, we borrow insig...

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Autores principales: Bohee Jung, Jaewoo Joo
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Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:b99c07c923fb41a792ef3a50f029482c2021-11-11T19:51:56ZBlind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free10.3390/su1321123222071-1050https://doaj.org/article/b99c07c923fb41a792ef3a50f029482c2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12322https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050In the past, researchers focusing on environmentally friendly consumption have devoted attention to the intention–action gap, suggesting that consumers have positive attitudes toward an environmentally friendly product even though they are not willing to buy it. In the present study, we borrow insights from the behavioral decision making literature on preference reversal to introduce an opposite phenomenon—that is, consumers buying an environmentally friendly product even though they do not evaluate it highly. We further rely on the research on goals to hypothesize that choice–evaluation discrepancies disappear when consumers pursue an environmentally friendly goal. A two (Mode: Choice vs. Evaluation) by three (Goal: Control vs. Quality vs. Environmentally friendly) between-subjects experimental design was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Our findings obtained from 165 undergraduate students in Korea showed that, first, 76% of the participants chose an environmentally friendly cosmetic product whereas only 49% of the participants ranked it higher than a competing product, and, second, when participants read the sentence “You are now buying one of the two compact foundations in order to minimize the waste of buying new foundations,” the discrepancy disappeared (64% vs. 55%). Our experimental findings advance academic discussions of green consumption and the choice–evaluation discrepancy and have practical implications for eco-friendly marketing.Bohee JungJaewoo JooMDPI AGarticlebehavioral decision makingenvironmentally friendlychoice–evaluation discrepancyintention–action gappreference reversalgoalEnvironmental effects of industries and plantsTD194-195Renewable energy sourcesTJ807-830Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENSustainability, Vol 13, Iss 12322, p 12322 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic behavioral decision making
environmentally friendly
choice–evaluation discrepancy
intention–action gap
preference reversal
goal
Environmental effects of industries and plants
TD194-195
Renewable energy sources
TJ807-830
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
spellingShingle behavioral decision making
environmentally friendly
choice–evaluation discrepancy
intention–action gap
preference reversal
goal
Environmental effects of industries and plants
TD194-195
Renewable energy sources
TJ807-830
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Bohee Jung
Jaewoo Joo
Blind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free
description In the past, researchers focusing on environmentally friendly consumption have devoted attention to the intention–action gap, suggesting that consumers have positive attitudes toward an environmentally friendly product even though they are not willing to buy it. In the present study, we borrow insights from the behavioral decision making literature on preference reversal to introduce an opposite phenomenon—that is, consumers buying an environmentally friendly product even though they do not evaluate it highly. We further rely on the research on goals to hypothesize that choice–evaluation discrepancies disappear when consumers pursue an environmentally friendly goal. A two (Mode: Choice vs. Evaluation) by three (Goal: Control vs. Quality vs. Environmentally friendly) between-subjects experimental design was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Our findings obtained from 165 undergraduate students in Korea showed that, first, 76% of the participants chose an environmentally friendly cosmetic product whereas only 49% of the participants ranked it higher than a competing product, and, second, when participants read the sentence “You are now buying one of the two compact foundations in order to minimize the waste of buying new foundations,” the discrepancy disappeared (64% vs. 55%). Our experimental findings advance academic discussions of green consumption and the choice–evaluation discrepancy and have practical implications for eco-friendly marketing.
format article
author Bohee Jung
Jaewoo Joo
author_facet Bohee Jung
Jaewoo Joo
author_sort Bohee Jung
title Blind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free
title_short Blind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free
title_full Blind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free
title_fullStr Blind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free
title_full_unstemmed Blind Obedience to Environmental Friendliness: The Goal Will Set Us Free
title_sort blind obedience to environmental friendliness: the goal will set us free
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/b99c07c923fb41a792ef3a50f029482c
work_keys_str_mv AT boheejung blindobediencetoenvironmentalfriendlinessthegoalwillsetusfree
AT jaewoojoo blindobediencetoenvironmentalfriendlinessthegoalwillsetusfree
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