Deactivating economic motives in green consumption

What is it about?

This research shows that social and moral cues make consumers less sensitive to prices and therefore more likely to choose more expensive pro-environmental alternatives.

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Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our findings suggest that social and moral cues may have to be combined for either of them to influence consumer behavior. When social cues are salient, for instance due to the presence of others, we may feel pressure to act according to norms, but it may not be automatically clear what the normative course of action actually is. On the other hand, when moral cues are salient, for instance due to being reminded of past immoral actions, we may know what the normative course of action is, but there may not be sufficient social pressure for us to act accordingly. Furthermore, we were able to show that the while social and moral cues did not make participants care more about the environment, it did make them care less about the price difference, thereby leading to substantially more participants choosing the more expensive environmentally friendly product. The participants who chose the more expensive environmentally friendly product were more pleased with their choice afterwards, suggesting that being seen acting according to norms likely has a value in and of itself, making the price less of a factor.