Abstract Purpose – Encouraging sustainable consumer behaviour is a growing topic of interest in the marketing literature (Karmarkar & Bollinger 2015) and has been identified as one of the more pressing research topics (Mick 2006). In addition, consumers are increasingly demanding more environmentally friendly packaging in terms of reduced packaging, or packaging which can be recycled or reused (Magnier & Schoormans 2015) and research into consumer attitudes on new packaging indicate that consumers now expect all packages to be environmentally friendly (Olsen, Slotegraaf & Chandukala 2014). However, extant literature on this topic remains scarce. This thesis adds to knowledge by shedding light on self-reported (i.e., explicit) and automatic (i.e., implicit) evaluations that may encourage/inhibit consumers’ adoption of eco-friendly packaging choices. According to recent academic research on sustainable consumption, this thesis adopts the theoretical lenses of Construal Level Theory, contributing with important insights into the effects of different mental representation and the effectiveness of different message appeals in motivating consumers to engage in sustainable consumption choices. Recent academic research has demonstrated that the “fit” (or lack thereof) between communication frames and consumer’s construal level mind-set can be an alternative explanation for the success or failure of environmental behaviour adoptions (White et al. 2011; Tangari et al. 2015; Ramirez et al. 2015). Design/methodology/approach – According to the purpose of the research, this thesis adopts 3 studies: for Study 1, 88 participants completed an Implicit Association Test and a questionnaire, whilst Study 2 and 3 employed a between-subject online experiment with 108 participants. Findings - The findings confirmed positive implicit and explicit attitudes towards compostable packaging across two different food categories (healthy vs unhealthy). Study 1 also showed a dissociation between implicit and explicit associations in the case of unhealthy food, which informs approaches to nudging changes in consumers’ behaviour towards choice of packaging. Study 2 confirms that a message framed as environmental matched with a more abstract mind-set produces more positive behavioural intentions toward a sustainable packaging. On the contrary, Study 3 does not provide evidence on a similar fit when individuals form a concrete mind-set and self-benefits are highlighted, allowing to suppose that, in such a case, making salient the personal benefit (lower-order goals) does not change the perception that the green products help the environment. Originality/value – The thesis contributes to current marketing knowledge on sustainable consumption by expanding the application of implicit attitudes and Construal Level Theory (CLT) into a new domain, such as consumers’ evaluation of environmentally friendly packaging. .Main contribution of study 1 lies on showing whether Implicit Association Test (IAT) has the potential to more fully explain pro-environmental behaviour or its rejection. Studies two and three contribute to the extant literature on CLT and sustainable consumption, by exploring how psychological distance affects behavioural intentions toward sustainable packaging, and further if this effect is linked by the presence of benefits associations (self-other). The main goal lies in extending the knowledge surrounding CLT and in contributing to the hope of Trope, Liberman, and Wakslak (2007) in making CLT an “unified theoretical framework that will allow us to parsimoniously understand a range of seemingly unrelated psychological phenomena” (p. 94). Limitations and future research - The current thesis has limitations that may trigger future research. First, Study 1 does not present implications of implicit and explicit attitudes for actual behavioural choice (or behavioural intention) as well as it does not assess possible antecedents or moderators. Further research can be implemented in order to display antecedents and moderators which might explain differences between implicit and explicit attitude measures as well as a regression model, in order to investigate if and how explicit and implicit attitude measures predict behaviours. As for Studies 2 and 3, a main limitation lies in the fact that an external validity of the results cannot be assessed. Therefore, future research could replicate the findings in other domains. Also, in order to advance sustainable consumption research, it could be useful to apply this type of study to other psychological distances, whether the environmental outcome is occurring in a local or distant place, or affecting people like or unlike the respondents in the study.
Abstract Obiettivo della tesi – Il consumo sostenibile ha assunto crescente rilevanza nella letteratura di marketing (Karmarkar & Bollinger 2015), tanto da essere uno dei temi di ricerca più critici (Mick 2006). Contribuisce alla complessità del tema il cambiamento nei comportamenti di acquisto dei consumatori, sempre più sensibili alla sostenibilità non solo dei prodotti ma anche del loro packaging (Magnier & Schoormans 2015), così come confermato da recenti ricerche empiriche (Olsen, Slotegraaf & Chandukala 2014). Tuttavia, i contributi accademici in tema di attitudini dei consumatori nei confronti di packaging sostenibili risultano ancora incompleti ed in continua evoluzione. Il presente lavoro, dunque, si propone di contribuire alla letteratura esistente, approfondendo lo studio delle attitudini ed intenzioni di acquisto nei confronti di packaging sostenibili. In particolare, si evidenza come il rapporto tra le attitudini implicite ed esplicite, espresse dai consumatori nei confronti di packaging bio-degradabili, possa incoraggiarne o inibirne l’adozione. Inoltre, la tesi adotta la prospettiva della Construal Level Theory, allo scopo di valutare l’effetto combinato di diverse rappresentazioni mentali con i benefici indicati nei framing comunicazionali. Recenti ricerche accademiche hanno, infatti, dimostrato come un fit (o la mancanza di esso) tra il frame di comunicazione e il livello di rappresentazione mentale del consumatore possa essere una spiegazione alternativa nell’adozione di comportamenti sostenibili (White et al. 2011; Tangari et al. 2015; Ramirez et al. 2015). Design/metodologia/approccio – Coerentemente con gli obiettivi della ricerca, la tesi ha previsto tre studi: per il primo studio, 88 partecipanti hanno completato un Implicit Association Test (IAT) e un questionario, mentre il secondo e terzo studio hanno adottato un esperimento online tra gruppi, coinvolgendo 108 partecipanti. Risultati – I risultati dello studio 1 confermano, in generale, attitudini implicite ed esplicite positive verso il packaging sostenibile in entrambe le categorie di food (salutare vs non salutare). Tuttavia, lo studio 1 evidenzia una discrepanza tra attitudini implicite ed esplicite nel caso del cibo non salutare, risultato che consente di implementare strategie di nudging volte al cambiamento delle attitudini riferite alla scelta di packaging sostenibili. Lo studio 2 conferma il fit esistente tra la struttura del messaggio in termini di benefici (ambientali vs personali) e il diverso livello di rappresentazione mentale: un messaggio pro-ambiente combinato ad un livello mentale astratto produce intenzioni all’acquisto maggiormente positive. Al contrario lo studio 3 non produce tale evidenza nel caso in cui si combina un livello mentale concreto con i benefici personali. Tale risultato implica che dare una maggiore rilevanza ai benefici personali (low-order goals) non cambia la percezione che i prodotti green aiutino l’ambiente. Originalità/contributo – La tesi contribuisce alla letteratura di marketing relativa al comportamento sostenibile, espandendo l’applicazione del concetto di attitudini implicite e della Construal Level Theory (CLT) in un nuovo ambito, ovvero quello del packaging sostenibile. Il principale contributo dello studio 1 consiste nel dimostrare come l’Implicit Association Test possa essere un nuovo strumento per comprendere maggiormente l’attivazione o meno di comportamenti sostenibili. Gli studi 2 e 3 contribuiscono alla letteratura relativa alla CLT e al consumo sostenibile, esplorando come la distanza psicologica possa influenzare le intenzioni di acquisto e se tale effetto è strettamente collegato alla presenza di opposti benefici (ambientali vs personali). Limitazioni e ricerche future – La tesi presenta una serie di limitazioni che possono ispirare ricerche future. In particolare, lo studio 1 non mette in evidenza possibili implicazioni delle attitudini implicite ed esplicite per quanto attiene le scelte comportamentali (o intenzioni), così come non valuta possibili antecedenti o moderatori nella relazione. Future ricerche possono, quindi, essere implementate con l’obiettivo di evidenziare antecedenti o moderatori, che possono spiegare le differenze tra misure esplicite ed implicite, o adottare modelli di regressione, che dimostrino se e come tali attitudini siano in grado di predire i comportamenti dei consumatori. Relativamente agli studi 2 e 3, la principale limitazione risiede nella impossibilità di generalizzare i risultati. A questo proposito, le ricerche future possono replicare tali risultati in ambiti diversi. Infine, può essere utile adottare lo studio manipolando distanze psicologiche diverse, come ad esempio la distanza spaziale (un posto vicino o lontano) o quella sociale (persone simili o distanti ai partecipanti allo studio).
Being green is a matter of implicit attitudes and mind-set. an application of implicit association test and construal level theory on sustainable consumption / Grazzini, Laura. - (2017 Mar 01).
Being green is a matter of implicit attitudes and mind-set. an application of implicit association test and construal level theory on sustainable consumption.
GRAZZINI, LAURA
2017-03-01
Abstract
Abstract Purpose – Encouraging sustainable consumer behaviour is a growing topic of interest in the marketing literature (Karmarkar & Bollinger 2015) and has been identified as one of the more pressing research topics (Mick 2006). In addition, consumers are increasingly demanding more environmentally friendly packaging in terms of reduced packaging, or packaging which can be recycled or reused (Magnier & Schoormans 2015) and research into consumer attitudes on new packaging indicate that consumers now expect all packages to be environmentally friendly (Olsen, Slotegraaf & Chandukala 2014). However, extant literature on this topic remains scarce. This thesis adds to knowledge by shedding light on self-reported (i.e., explicit) and automatic (i.e., implicit) evaluations that may encourage/inhibit consumers’ adoption of eco-friendly packaging choices. According to recent academic research on sustainable consumption, this thesis adopts the theoretical lenses of Construal Level Theory, contributing with important insights into the effects of different mental representation and the effectiveness of different message appeals in motivating consumers to engage in sustainable consumption choices. Recent academic research has demonstrated that the “fit” (or lack thereof) between communication frames and consumer’s construal level mind-set can be an alternative explanation for the success or failure of environmental behaviour adoptions (White et al. 2011; Tangari et al. 2015; Ramirez et al. 2015). Design/methodology/approach – According to the purpose of the research, this thesis adopts 3 studies: for Study 1, 88 participants completed an Implicit Association Test and a questionnaire, whilst Study 2 and 3 employed a between-subject online experiment with 108 participants. Findings - The findings confirmed positive implicit and explicit attitudes towards compostable packaging across two different food categories (healthy vs unhealthy). Study 1 also showed a dissociation between implicit and explicit associations in the case of unhealthy food, which informs approaches to nudging changes in consumers’ behaviour towards choice of packaging. Study 2 confirms that a message framed as environmental matched with a more abstract mind-set produces more positive behavioural intentions toward a sustainable packaging. On the contrary, Study 3 does not provide evidence on a similar fit when individuals form a concrete mind-set and self-benefits are highlighted, allowing to suppose that, in such a case, making salient the personal benefit (lower-order goals) does not change the perception that the green products help the environment. Originality/value – The thesis contributes to current marketing knowledge on sustainable consumption by expanding the application of implicit attitudes and Construal Level Theory (CLT) into a new domain, such as consumers’ evaluation of environmentally friendly packaging. .Main contribution of study 1 lies on showing whether Implicit Association Test (IAT) has the potential to more fully explain pro-environmental behaviour or its rejection. Studies two and three contribute to the extant literature on CLT and sustainable consumption, by exploring how psychological distance affects behavioural intentions toward sustainable packaging, and further if this effect is linked by the presence of benefits associations (self-other). The main goal lies in extending the knowledge surrounding CLT and in contributing to the hope of Trope, Liberman, and Wakslak (2007) in making CLT an “unified theoretical framework that will allow us to parsimoniously understand a range of seemingly unrelated psychological phenomena” (p. 94). Limitations and future research - The current thesis has limitations that may trigger future research. First, Study 1 does not present implications of implicit and explicit attitudes for actual behavioural choice (or behavioural intention) as well as it does not assess possible antecedents or moderators. Further research can be implemented in order to display antecedents and moderators which might explain differences between implicit and explicit attitude measures as well as a regression model, in order to investigate if and how explicit and implicit attitude measures predict behaviours. As for Studies 2 and 3, a main limitation lies in the fact that an external validity of the results cannot be assessed. Therefore, future research could replicate the findings in other domains. Also, in order to advance sustainable consumption research, it could be useful to apply this type of study to other psychological distances, whether the environmental outcome is occurring in a local or distant place, or affecting people like or unlike the respondents in the study.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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