Understanding Green Purchase: The Influence of Collectivism, Personal Values and Environmental Attitudes, and the Moderating Effect of Perceived Consumer Effectiveness

This study investigates determinants of green buying behavior. Using structural equation modeling, the effects of collectivism, values and attitudes on ecological purchase and their hierarchical relationships are investigated. Furthermore, a moderated multiple regression is applied to test whether the link between attitude and behavior is enhanced by the degree of perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE). The results suggest that collectivism is important in predicting green purchase. The positive influence of collectivism on consumer greenness flows through selftranscendence values. However, PCE fails to moderate the strength of the relationship between environmental attitudes and green purchase behavior. Implications for public policy and marketing communication efforts are discussed

Text versus pictures in advertising: effects of psychological distance and product type

The authors examine effects of marketing messages that use text or pictures for advertising durable or nondurable products appealing to consumers’ perceptions of close versus far psychological distance. In three studies, ads featuring text (pictures) evoke more favourable attitudes and purchase intentions toward products to be purchased in the distant (close) future or at a distant (close) location. In addition, ads featuring text (pictures) evoke more favourable attitudes and purchase intentions for durable (nondurable) goods. The research shows that marketers will be most persuasive if they ensure congruence among message formats, product types, and psychological distance

Message assertiveness and price discount in prosocial advertising: differences between Americans and Koreans

Purpose Prosocial advertisers widely use assertive messages to encourage prosocial attitudes and behaviors, but ironically, assertive messages may cause reactance. By applying cultural theories and the reciprocity principle, this study aims to observe whether consumers’ responses to assertive messages hold across culturally different audiences (Americans vs South Koreans) and different consumption situations (price discount vs no discount). Design/methodology/approach American and Korean participants take part in three experimental studies examining the interactions of nationality, price discounts and assertive messaging for influencing consumer responses, first to a prosocial ad encouraging recycling (Study 1), the second for a campaign requesting donations for disadvantaged children (Study 2) and the third to prosocial messages encouraging water conservation (Study 3). Findings The three experiments strongly support the moderating role of price discounts and cultural backgrounds in the persuasiveness of assertive prosocial messages. American consumers generally dislike assertive messages, but feel reciprocal obligations if marketers include price discounts, whereas South Korean consumers accept both assertive and nonassertive messages without resistance, and discounts have no effects on persuasion. Research limitations/implications The findings make two key contributions to the literature and to prosocial advertising practices. First, although many corporations have adopted philanthropic strategies, few researchers have examined how specific consumption contexts determine the effectiveness of prosocial persuasion. The findings show how price discounts and message framing potentially alter the effectiveness of prosocial messages across Eastern and Western cultures. Second, assertive language evokes reactance, but the findings suggest that reactive responses to prosocial advertising are culture-specific. Practical implications International nonprofit organizations and brands using philanthropic strategies might use the guidelines of this study for tailoring strategic, practical prosocial messages that will appeal to consumers from diverse cultural backgrounds. In particular, pro-environmental and charity campaigns targeting North American or Western European populations may consider bundling discounts into promotions to evoke reciprocity. Originality/value Findings provide novel implications for social marketers regarding on how to couple message assertiveness and price discounts to maximize the success of prosocial messages in different cultures

Social Exlcusion Influences on the Effectiveness of Altruistic Versus Egoistic Appeals in Charitable Advertising

In three experiments, the authors study charitable behaviors and demonstrate that consumers who feel socially excluded react more positively to altruistic, other appeals rather than egoistic, self-benefit appeals. In Study 1, a child poverty relief campaign with a message persuasiveness variable, consumers who feel socially excluded are more persuaded by other-benefit appeals, but other appeals and self-benefit appeals have equal effects on consumers who feel socially included. Study 2 replicates the findings in a cancer research campaign with an amount-to-donate variable: consumers who feel socially excluded allocate more dollars to the charity in response to other-benefit rather than self-benefit ads, but the effects are not observed among consumers who feel socially included. Study 3, a campaign for providing drinking water, further validates the findings with a donation intentions variable: other-benefit ads rather than self-benefit ads drive consumers who feel socially excluded to be more willing and likely to donate, but the effects are not observed among consumers who feel socially included and those in the baseline control condition

Effort Investment in Persuasiveness: a comparative study of environmental advertising in the United States and Korea

The authors of this article compare American and Korean reactions to the persuasiveness of environmental advertising campaigns that are preceded by environmental pledges. Findings indicate that environmental advertising effectiveness depends on how much effort recipients put into making environmental pledges prior to viewing the advertisements. Study 1 demonstrates that when environmental pledges requesting more effort precede ad messages, Americans are more persuaded but Koreans are less persuaded. Study 2 extends the findings and rules out an alternative explanation – mere-effort effect – by showing that the results are replicated only with an issue-relevant pledge, but not with an issue-irrelevant pledge

Temporal and social scarcities: effects on ad evaluations

Temporal scarcity appeals are a marketing technique in which marketers inform consumers that offers are valid for a limited time, such as “The offer ends today!” Social scarcity appeals inform consumers that offers are exclusive, such as “Members only!” In two studies, the authors study effects of temporal and social scarcity appeals for attracting consumers to promotional offers, depending on consumer perceptions of being socially included or excluded and their perceptions of the duration of temporal scarcity. The studies reveal that socially included (excluded) consumers perceive temporal scarcity appeals indicating a short (long) expiration date to be more persuasive. The research further identifies perceived value as a mediator of the effects

Closing the Green Gap : the impact of environmental commitment and advertising believability

We investigated how consumer and message characteristics affect the consistency between message acceptance and purchase intention for green products (viz., green gap). Participants were 231 adults who were approached in various public places in South Korea (e.g., shopping malls). We used 2 mock advertisements with fictitious brand names. Our data showed that participants who were committed to environmentally friendly behaviors, as measured by their past proenvironmental behaviors, displayed a tighter relationship between accepting green advertising messages and intending to purchase green products. Furthermore, the acceptance–intention relationship was even stronger among participants who were strongly committed to environmentally friendly behaviors and who also found the advertising message believable. Our research findings add to the literature on the attitude–behavior relationship by demonstrating that both dispositional and message factors strengthen thought–action connections

Color Effects in Green Advertising

Marketers often use green in marketing communications to signal sustainability, despite the lack of supportive data. This article is a report of two experiments to observe consumer reactions to advertisements that use color to indicate environmental friendliness. The pretest and Study 1 confirm that consumers associate green with environmental friendliness and gray with environmental unfriendliness. Thus green (gray) is more (less) effective for producing positive ad attitudes and purchase intentions. Consumer perceptions regarding color appropriateness mediate the effects. Study 2 shows that persuasion knowledge moderates the effects: when consumers have high persuasive knowledge, green has a less positive effect; gray has a less negative effect; blue remains neutral. The study concludes that green functions as a peripheral cue signaling an eco‐friendly brand image, but the use of green may backfire when consumers are aware that green is used to bias responses

Is that coffee mug smiling at me? How anthropomorphism impacts the effectiveness of desirability vs. feasibility appeals in sustainability advertising

In this study, we examine how two message appeals—feasibility vs. desirability—and anthropomorphism jointly shape the effectiveness of environmental persuasion. The findings of Study 1 showed that the feasibility appeal was more effective than the desirability appeal in an ad promoting recycling. In Study 2, we found that this effect was moderated by anthropomorphic imagery in the ad. That is, the desirability appeal was more effective than the feasibility appeal when the ad featured a reusable cup with a smiley face and first-person copy, whereas the feasibility appeal was more effective than the desirability appeal when the ad featured a reusable cup with no smiley face and third-person copy. Theoretical and practical implications for sustainability marketing strategies are discussed