Table of Contents
•
Motivation for this research
•
Key ingredients of the research
–
Corporate Social Responsibility
–
Awe
–
Prosociality
–
Nature Relatedness
–
Research overview
•
Methodology
•
Results
Motivation for this research
• Banks and other financial institutions received bad publicity in the past years. • Their actions may have serious consequences for the world, as banks are
responsible for the funding of many other firms.1
› “With great power comes great responsibility”.
• Customer attention for the negative consequences of bankers’ behaviors is increasing.2
• For example, tools are available to compare banks on their policy and behavior regarding climate change, labor rights, animal welfare, et cetera.3
1. Scholtens, 2009
Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reflects organizational care for People, Planet, and Profits.1
• This refers to environmental and social concerns, together with creating shareholder value.
• In banking, examples of corporate social responsibility are (1) choosing not to invest in fossil fuels, and (2) only grant funding to organizations that prove to respect human rights and fair labor practices.
• This research investigates whether customers are willing to pay more for a bank account at a bank that exhibits CSR, and if this willingness to pay is influenced by eliciting awe.
1. Elkington, 1998
Awe
• Awe is the positive emotional response to a vast stimulus, that causes an individual to adapt his/her mental frame of reference.1
• Awe can be triggered by, for example:2
– Massive mountains – An overwhelming vista
– A complex piece of art or music
• Awe is an example of a self-transcendent emotion, which has one’s surroundings as center of attention rather than the self.3
• Awe is likely to increase prosocial behaviors, due to three mechanisms:4
1. The attention shift from the self to the environment 2. Decreased materialistic and individual concerns
3. A broadened time perception and decreased impatience
1. Keltner & Haidt, 2003
2. Shiota, Keltner, & Mossman, 2007 3. Piff et al., 2015
Prosociality
• Awe is found to direct one’s attention
towards his/her environment, rather than to the self.1
• Awestruck individuals often feel small relative to the environment or to others.2
• This leads to increased prosocial behaviors:
– Sharing resources3
– Helping someone in need3
– Volunteering4
• Hence, the following two hypotheses:
1. Elicited awe has a positive effect on customers’ willingness to pay for a socially responsible bank.
2. The relationship between elicited awe and customers’ willingness to pay for a socially responsible bank is mediated through customers’ prosociality.
1. Shiota, Keltner, & Mossman, 2007 2. Campos et al., 2013
3. Piff et al., 2015
Nature Relatedness
• For 99% of human history, people have lived in the natural world.
• This is likely the reason that we still feel a need to affiliate with nature, despite living in urbanized societies.1
• However, personal differences exist.
• The degree in which one feels connected with the natural world is reflected in his/her nature relatedness.2
• Considering the environmental component of CSR (care for Planet), I expect that customers with strong nature relatedness are willing to pay more for CSR in banking. • Hence, the third hypothesis:
3. The relationship between elicited awe and customers’ willingness to pay for a socially
responsible bank is positively moderated by customers’ nature relatedness.
1. Wilson, 2007
The Research
Conceptual Model
Elicited awe (high versus low)
Prosociality
Customers’ WTP for a bank that exhibits
CSR
Nature Relatedness
Problem Statement
What is the influence of elicited awe, prosociality and nature relatedness
on customers’ willingness to pay for a bank that behaves socially
responsible?
+
+ +
Methodology
Awe
•
Manipulated through three
video conditions.
WTP
1. Described a regular bank, that
costs €1.40 per month.
2. Described a bank that offers
identical services as the
regular bank, but cares for
planet and people as well.
3. Asked monthly WTP for the
bank that exhibits CSR.
Urban condition Mundane nature condition
Grand nature (awe-eliciting) condition
Methodology
Prosociality
• Measured through participants’ Social Value Orientation (SVO).1
• In 9 tasks, participants are asked to divide an amount of valuable points between them and a hypothetical other person.
• For example (choose A, B, or C):
• By computing an overall SVO score, participants’ prosociality can be measured.
Nature Relatedness
• Measured through participants’ nature relatedness (NR).2
• Participants are asked to rate 21 statements on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = disagree strongly, 7= agree
strongly).
• For example:
– I feel very connected to all living things and the earth.
– My ideal vacation spot would be a remote, wilderness area.
• The NR score consists of the average of all items.
A B C
You get: 500 500 550 Other gets: 100 500 300
Results
•
Awe manipulation was successful: grand nature condition significantly
elicited higher levels of awe.
•
More than 60% of respondents was willing to pay a price premium for a
bank account at a bank that exhibits CSR.
– On average, more than €1 over and above the standard price of €1.40 per month.
1.
Awe did not significantly influence participants’ willingness to pay for
CSR (H1 not confirmed).
2.
Awe did not significantly influence participants’ prosociality scores
(H2a not confirmed).
3.
Participants’ prosociality scores did not significantly influence
willingness to pay for CSR (H2b not confirmed).
Limitations & Suggestions for
further research
• The analyses suggested that WTP may be partially influenced by participants’ income level. Replicating this study with a more diverse sample may be fruitful. • It is unknown whether the video effect lasted throughout the whole survey. • The absence of effect of awe on prosociality contradicts similar research by
Joye & Bolderdijk (2015). This might have to do with different methods of eliciting awe, differing participant samples, or some other unexpected factor. • This research was conducted in an experimental setting, which may decrease
