What does it take to be
Ethical?
In what Way does Price and Quantity Framing affect the Probability of a
Consumer to Engage in Ethical Consumption?
Agenda
Introduction & Relevant Literature
Hypothesis & Conceptual Model
Data & Methodology
Results & Discussion
Introduction & Relevant Literature
Expanding consumption of products made out of wood → Deforestation
➢ Detrimental environmental effects ➢ Undermine societal welfare
Who has the biggest stake? Consumers or Companies?
➢ Consumers state that they care about ethicality of a product (Boulstridge & Carrigan, 2000) but the ethical recycled products are falling behind in the paper industry (Michaud et al., 2010)
Values and behavior are not in line
Introduction & Relevant Literature
Price Premium – The ethical attributes an ethical product has are not salient enough to justify the price premium
(Roddy et al., 1996)
Is there any way for this gap to be bridged?
Consumers tend to be more price sensitive than quantity sensitive (Gourville & Koehler, 2004) Research Question: How does price and quantity framing of office supplies affect the probability of a consumer
purchasing a product produced by recycled materials, and consequently, engaging in ethical consumption behavior?
Does the individual level of Value Consciousness have a moderating effect?
Hypothesis & Conceptual Model
Hypothesis 1: Consumers will be more inclined to engage in the consumption
of the recycled option when the absolute price is equal, but the quantity of the ethical is lowered, compared to the conventional alternative.
Hypothesis 2: Value consciousness moderates the relationship between
price-quantity framing and purchase intention. When the level of value consciousness of the consumer is low, the relationship between price-quantity framing and purchase intention is stronger
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Data & Methodology
Field Experiment : 25th of April to 2nd of May
➢ 178 participants within the University of Groningen Facilities ➢ One-Factor Between-Subject Experimental Design
Each subject was exposed to one condition of a self-administered questionnaire Questionnaire
Product A: Conventional Product - HP Office A4 printer paper Product B: Recycled Product - HP Office Recycled A4 printer paper
Data & Methodology
IV
Price
Quantity
Product A
Product B
Product A
Product B
Control Condition
€4.00
€5.00
250 sheets
250 sheets
Low Condition
€4.00
€4.00
250 sheets
200 sheets
High Condition
€5.00
€5.00
300 sheets
250 sheets
Results & Discussion
Choice
➢ Binary Logistic Regression with Continuous
Moderator (Hayes’s PROCESS Model 1)
➢ Absence of significance of Price-Quantity
Framing on Choice
➢ Odds of participants Choosing the Product B
because of the manipulation did not differ across conditions
Preference
➢ Linear Regression with Continuous Moderator
(Hayes’s PROCESS Model 1)
➢ Absence of significance of Price-Quantity
Framing on Preference for Control and Low
Condition. On the contrary Price-Quantity
Framing significantly increased Preference
for the High Condition.
➢ Odds of participants Preferring the Product B because of the manipulation were
significantly higher in the High Condition. Value Consciousness
➢ Individual level of Value Consciousness did not affect the relationship between
Price-Quantity Framing and Choice
➢ Individual level of Value Consciousness did affect negatively the relationship between
Results & Discussion
Results & Discussion
Attitude-Behavior Gap
➢ One-Way ANOVA: Attitude towards environment had no significant
difference among conditions
➢ Binary Logistic Regression: Attitude towards environment had significant positive effect on Choice
➢ Did not occur → Acted in line with their values
Difficulty of Choice
Contribution & Limitations
The technique of Price-Quantity Framing was applied in the context of recycled products.
➢ Equal face prices, with the quantity of the recycled product being higher,
while the unit price was held constant, lead participants to have higher
Preference for the recycled product compared to the conventional
alternative
Examined the effect of the individual level of Value Consciousness after the
Price-Quantity Framing technique, in the context of recycled products
➢ Lower price sensitivity, as a result from the Price-Quantity Framing
Contribution & Limitations
➢ Initial price difference was perceived as small for a consumption occasion that 65% of the
participants did not or will stumble upon in the near future, since they did not own a printer
○ They did not face the questionnaire realistically - The price failed to appear as a constraint .
➢ Measuring quality would provide with greater interpretation possibilities
➢ Printer paper appeared to not to be a fitting product to assess Value Consciousness
➢ A more diverse sample could also highlight the positive significant effect of education on
References
Boulstridge, E., & Carrigan, M. (2000). “Do consumers really care about corporate responsibility? Highlighting the attitude-behaviour gap”. Journal of Communication Management, 4(4), 355–368.
Gourville, J. T., & Koehler, J. J. (2004). “Downsizing Price Increases: A Greater Sensitivity to Price than Quantity in Consumer Markets”. Harvard Business School Marketing Research Papers, (04), 1–41.
Lichtenstein, D., R., Netemeyer, R., G., Burton, S.. (1990). "Distinguishing Coupon Proneness From Value Consciousness: An Acquisition-Transaction Utility Theory Perspective". Journal of Marketing, 54 (July), 54-67.
Michaud, J.-C., Farrant, L., Jan, O., Kjar, B., Bakas, I., (2010). “Environmental Benefits of Recycling 2010 Update”. WRAP, Material Change for a Better Environment. Retrieved from
Roddy, G., Cowan, C. A., & Hutchinson, G. (1996). “Consumer Attitudes and Behavior to Organic Foods in Ireland”. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 9(2), 41–63.
