Variation in Green Appeals: A study on the effects of locus of green
appeal, environmental awareness and convenience on product attitude
and purchase intention
Sarina van der Riet
Student number: 11110511 Master’s Thesis
Graduate School of Communication
Master’s programme Communication Science Supervisor: Young-shin Lim
Date of completion: February 3th 2017 Word count: 7376
2
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the effect of locus of green appeal, specifically a personal or environmental locus of green appeal, environmental awareness and convenience on product attitude and purchase intention. Expectancy-Value theory was used to substantiate the hypothesized effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude and purchase intention and to explain the moderating role of environmental awareness in this effect. Theory of
Planned Behaviour was used to explain the mediating effect of product attitude in the effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude and to explain the moderating role of convenience. An experiment was conducted by showing participants an advertisement with either one locus of green appeal. A process analysis of model 21 showed that locus of green appeal did not have an effect on product attitude nor on purchase intention. Furthermore, the moderating effect of environmental awareness was also not significant. Since the effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude or purchase intention was not significant, there was also no
mediating effect of product attitude on the effect of locus of green appeal on purchase intention, and only the effect of product attitude on purchase intention was significant. The moderating role of convenience in this relationship was not significant, but, though not
hypothesized, convenience did have a direct effect on purchase intention. This study therefore did not confirm the expected effects, but it does provide starting points for future research by employing a new theory to ground expectations on and by providing a new possible
explanation for the attitude-intention gap.
Key words: green appeals, environmental awareness, convenience, product attitude, purchase intention
3 Variation in Green Appeals: A study on the effects of locus of green appeal, environmental
awareness and convenience on product attitude and purchase intention.
Both green consumerism and green marketing are on the rise with a growing amount of consumers preferring green products and a growing amount of businesses reacting to this demand by taking social responsibility and employing green marketing techniques
(NBCUniversal, 2011; Wymer & Polonsky, 2015). The amount of scientific research on the topic of green marketing also grows, but seems to shift towards the field of social corporate responsibility and less towards the field of communication (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015). Even though there is yet a large base of empirical evidence for the effects of green marketing on consumption, this is by no means exhaustive, especially when it comes to nuances, for
example more specific types of green marketing (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014). This study will therefore take a more nuanced view to examine the effects of green marketing and look into specific ways to employ green marketing.
This study will take a more nuanced view by examining a specific way of employing green marking, namely using green appeals. A scientific definition of green marketing is: “marketing activities which attempt to reduce the negative social and environmental impact of
existing products and production systems, and which promote less damaging products and services” (Peattie, 2001, p.129). Green marketing research in the field of communication has primarily focused on whether green branding is more effective than traditional non-green branding, but the effectiveness of different green appeals on attitude and purchase intention received scant attention (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014). While green marketing in general is about promoting products as having environmental benefits, there are more specific ways to use green appeals and to assign these positive environmental attributes to products or services (Ottman, 2011). For example, Ottman (2011) suggested to use a green appeal that targets consumer’s self-interest rather than only focus on environmental benefits, but scarce
4 empirical evidence confirmed the effectiveness of the strategy. Grimmer and Woolley
investigated the effect of different green appeals by differentiating between personal and environmental appeals (2014) and examining their effectiveness on purchase intention. However, they found no direct effect of green appeal on purchase intention and they found only partial support for the moderating role of environmental involvement. Therefore, empirical evidence for more specific locus of green appeal, such as Ottman’s (2011) suggestion to target consumers’ self-interest, is still lacking. This study will contribute to empirical research that is needed to base the usage of such green marketing strategies on and to more effectively target consumer behaviour (Todd, 2004). More effective usage of green marketing does not only benefit the marketer, but is also socially and environmentally better, because green products are more socially and environmentally responsible.
Environmental awareness will be examined as an explanation for the expected effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude. Based on the Expectancy-Value Theory and previous research, people prefer messages that are in line with their values (Han & Shavitt, 1994). Furthermore, consumers that are environmentally conscious usually favour products that are in line with their environmental values (Prothero et al., 2011). Consumers hold a positive attitude towards environmental friendly and socially responsible products and services in general and the rise of green consumerism shows that consumers to some degree prefer green products over other products when consumers have a choice (Wymer &
Polonsky, 2015). Even though consumers in general become more environmentally aware, there is still variation in the amount of environmental awareness among consumers and it is expected that the appreciation of this value influences consumers reaction to the
communication of such a value. In this study, environmental awareness is examined as a moderator in the effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude.
5 While green consumerism is on the rise and consumers in general become
environmentally aware, there is a considerable gap between attitude and intention, because when it comes to acting environmentally friendly, some consumers become reluctant (Nottage, 2008). According to the Theory of Planned Behaviour, attitude should be an
accurate predictor of intention (Ajzen, 1991), but even though there seems to be a widespread positive attitude towards green products, this has not translated in evenly widespread purchase behaviour of these green products (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015). Grimmer and Woolley (2014) did not measure attitude in their research on the effect of locus of green appeal on purchase intention and might therefore have missed the attitude-intention gap. Since this gap is specifically prominent for green consumerism, empirical research in the field of green marketing should take both attitude and intention into account, as will be done in this study, while also consider possible causes for this gap.
A possible explanation for this gap examined in this study is convenience. Johnstone and Tan (2014), namely showed that even though consumers have favourable green attitudes, they perceive it is hard to act in accordance and “be green”. Schultz and Oskamp (1996) empirically confirmed that required amount of effort moderated the relationship between attitude and behaviour when it comes to acting environmentally responsible. However, convenience, encompassing the construct of effort, has never been quantitatively tested as a moderator between attitude and intention, even though there are qualitative presumptions (Aagja, Mammen, & Sawaswat, 2011). Finding ways to narrow the gap in green consumerism is not only of concern for marketers, but can also be of societal concern. Green products are socially and environmentally more responsible and consumption of these products over other products should be socially and environmentally better (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015). The present research will therefore gain insight in the attitude-intention gap in green consumerism by empirically testing the moderating role of convenience.
6 To summarize, this research aims to contribute to green marketing literature by
empirically testing the effect of locus of green appeal on attitude and purchase intention. Moreover, the moderating role of environmental awareness in the effect of green appeal on attitude will be investigated based on Expectancy-Value Theory. Furthermore, this research will provide insight in the attitude-intention gap that is specifically prominent in green consumerism. It will do this by examining convenience as a moderator in the effect of brand attitude on purchase intention.
Theoretical Framework Locus of Green Appeal
Green appeals are a way of promoting a product by its positive environmental attributes (Schuhwerk & Lefkoff-Hagius, 1995). Green appeals emphasize environmental attributes of the product and make these salient to the consumer in a marketing expression. More specifically, green appeals highlight those green product attributes that should be beneficial for and appealing to consumers. Employing green appeals is a green marketing strategy. From a marketer’s view, green marketing is a way of promoting a product or service as to be environmentally favoured above others (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015). Green marketing is thus a overarching promotion strategy under which a more specific strategy, namely
employing green appeals, is employed. In the promotion of a green product trough green marketing, certain (desirable) attributes are assigned to the product that focus on the
‘greenness’ of the product. Subsequently, green appeals more specifically make a statement
that these green attributes have positive effects for one individually or for society to make the environmental attributes salient and appealing to the consumer (Schuhwerk &
Lefkoff-Hagius, 1995). The benefits of the product for the consumer are communicated through locus of green appeal; the product attributes that should be appealing to the consumer.
7 A green appeal can differ in locus, such as appealing to a consumer’s self-interest or focussing on environmental benefits arising from the product. Environmental locus of green appeal refers to the general focus of green appeals on the environmental benefit that is related to the product or service, such as it being environmentally friendly. The appeal is not a benefit for the individual’s own good, but for the greater environmental or societal good and
marketers try to target consumers on their environmental awareness (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014). Emphasizing personal benefits refers to another locus of green appeal, which makes different product attributes more salient. Here the appeal is an individual benefit that arises from purchasing the product and the marketers target the consumers’ self interest (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014). The personal benefit results from the greenness of the product, similarly to the environmental benefit, but it benefits the consumers themselves in addition to the environment. It is expected that consumers attitude and purchase intention will differ dependent on the locus of green appeal.
An explanation for the way that locus of green appeal affects consumer behaviour can be found in self-construal theory. Self-construal theory focuses on conceptualizations of the self and posits that cultures can be individually orientated or collectively orientated (Kareklas, Carlson, & Muehling, 2014). By living in either a collectively or individually orientated culture, people develop self-views in line with this culture, which are repeatedly confirmed and reinforced trough that culture and subsequently become more accessible (Lee, Aaker, & Gardner 2000). Values or feelings that are more accessible are predisposed to be more favourable. Following this, people in an individually orientated culture are more focused on the self and react more positively to message in line with this value (Zhang & Gelb, 1996). Han and Shavitt (1994) indeed confirmed that consumers from individually orientated cultures react more positively toward messages containing personal, individualistic appeals. Pickett-Baker and Ozaki (2008) also argue that consumers green consumption intention
8 increases when the communicated benefits are in line with their self-interest. Subsequently, egoistic values influence organic food consumption more strongly than altruistic values (Yadav, 2016). Thus, a product that has overt personal benefits will be valued higher than a product that mainly has environmental benefits.
Indeed, several authors claim that for green products the locus of appeal should also be a benefit for the consumers themselves (Hartmann, Ibáñez, & Sainz, 2005; Holmes et al., 2002). Hartmann et al. (2005) found that consumers are more susceptible to personal benefits compared to functional benefits and advice marketers to put emphasis on personal appeals by making the personal benefit overt. Furthermore, Kareklas et al. (2014) state that most
literature suggest that the consumption of organic food is driven by egoistic considerations such as personal health concerns. Consumers purchase decision are more often guided by the perception of personal benefits than by the benefits for the environment that would arise from consumption (Nottage, 2008). This follows that consumers self-interest is more important than environmental value and that messages communicating values in line with people’s
self-interest are judged more positively. Based on theories concerning value orientation and previous research on the driver of green consumption, it is thus hypothesized that:
H1 Consumers will have a more positive (a) product attitude and (b) purchase
intention when receiving a personal green appeal advertisement than when receiving an environmental green appeal advertisement.
Furthermore, according to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), attitude is a predictor of behavioural intention and actual behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). In addition to attitude, the TPB formulates two more constructs that, together with attitude, function as predictors of behavioural intention and actual behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The three constructs are attitude, subjective norm and perceived behaviour control. These constructs can predict behavioural
9 intention and behaviour both collectively and individually. This research will only focus on the prediction of intention by attitude. Following the TPB it is hypothesized that:
H2 Product attitude will mediate the effect of locus of green appeal on purchase
intention, such that locus of green appeal will have an effect on purchase intention trough product attitude.
Environmental awareness
Environmental awareness refers to the degree that the environment is a personally relevant and salient subject (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014). Zhang and Gelb (1996) stated that people tend to act more favourably towards messages communicating values that are in line with their own values. People’s reactions toward messages communicating certain values thus depend on which of their own values is more salient. Following this statement,
environmentally aware consumers value the environment and thus messages employing an environmental locus of green appeal should be evaluated more favourably by those
consumers. Furthermore, environmentally aware consumers are more influenced by their environmental concerns, have a higher purchase intention towards green products in general, and are generally more prone to green marketing (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014; Schlegelmilch, Bohlen, & Diamantopoulos, 1996). Haytko and Matulich (2008) show that consumers who are concerned about and involved with the environment react more positively towards messages communicating environmental appeals.
Furthermore, the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) posits that involvement with an object is dependent on the relevance and salience of that object to the consumer (Petty and Cacioppo, 1990). High involvement is favourably predisposed, which means that when an object is relevant and salient, one is highly involved with that object and is predisposed to hold a positive attitude towards that object. Besides, when involvement is high, people are “more likely to notice, be aware of and be affected by marketing communications relevant
10 [...]” to the high involvement object (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014, p. 235). Following the ELM, consumers who are environmentally concerned hold a positive attitude towards the environment, and are therefore more likely to be influenced by messages communicating environmental benefits. Namely, the involvement with the environment makes these consumers predisposed to notice and be affected by messages employing an environmental appeal, because this appeal is concerned with a relevant and salient object to them.
Another theory that can be used to explain how peoples’ personal values influence the effectiveness of green appeals is the Expectancy-Value Theory (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The theory posits that a person’s attitude is based on a assigned value to a goal and the expectation
to reach that goal. The theory has not yet been used in green marketing literature to explain the formation of attitudes to green products. However, application of the theory to green marketing provides an explanation for green product attitude formation by environmentally aware consumers. Namely, consumers who are environmentally aware value the goal of acting environmentally friendly and might react more positively to green marketing strategies, because these show them a way to reach their goal of acting environmentally friendly. If a message communicates an environmental green appeal that states that a product can
contribute to acting environmentally friendly, the goal of acting environmentally friendly can be achieved through consuming the product. Thus, environmentally conscious consumers should highly value acting environmentally friendly and be more susceptible to messages communicating ways to act environmentally friendly, because it can bring them closer to their goal. Expectancy value theory predicts that environmentally aware consumers will react more favourably to messages communicating environmental appeals, because they value this highly and it helps them achieving their goal.
11 Based on the ELM, Expectancy-Value Theory and previous research, environmental awareness is thus expected to moderate the relationship between locus of green appeal and product attitude. Following this, it is hypothesized that:
H3 More environmentally aware consumers will have a more positive product attitude
when receiving an environmental green appeal advertisement compared to a personal green appeal advertisement, while less environmentally aware consumers will have a more positive product attitude when receiving a personal green appeal advertisement compared to an environmental green appeal advertisement.
Attitude-Behaviour Gap and Convenience
According to the Theory of Planned Behaviour behavioural intention and actual behaviour are predicted by attitude (Azjen, 1991). However, when it comes to green
consumerism, attitude does not completely predict behavioural intention (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015). More specifically, a gap between attitude and behaviour exists. Joshi and Rahman (2015) reviewed empirical articles to examine possible explanations for this gap. More specifically, they listed out factors that have been confirmed to moderate the effect on green purchase behaviour. However, this list is not yet exhaustive nor does it provide a conclusive explanation for the attitude-intention gap in green consumerism. For possible further
exploration Joshi and Rahman (2015) stated that inconvenience and effort might act as barriers to translate a positive attitude into behaviour, but empirical evidence for this expectation is lacking. This study will therefore examine convenience as a moderator of the effect of attitude on purchase intention.
Convenience is the accessibility, ease, comfort and pleasantness of a performance and encompasses constructs as time, use, execution, energy and effort (Aagja et al., 2011). If these subjectively evaluated constructs are high compared to the product or service received, convenience is considered low (Berry, Seiders, & Grewal, 2002). So if the consumption or
12 purchase of a product costs a lot of time, energy or effort, this consumption or purchase is considered inconvenient, which subsequently demotivates consumers to consume or purchase the product. Johnstone and Tan (2015) used a qualitative method to explore the consumers’ motivations for green consumption and found that consumers are reluctant to act
environmentally friendly because they perceive: “it is too hard to be green” (Johnstone & Tan, 2015, p. 316). It follows that in order to engage in green consumption behaviour, consumers need time, money, knowledge, discipline, right situational circumstances and to make
personal sacrifices (Johnstone & Tan, 2015). Nottage also argued that purchase decisions are mostly based on the: “price, range, quality and convenience of products” (2008, p. 33) and that other products usually score better on these constructs than green products. Schultz and Oskamp (1996) empirically confirmed that required amount of effort moderated the
relationship between attitude and intention when it comes to acting environmentally responsible, such that the attitude-intention gap is greater for behaviour that requires more effort. Convenience encompasses most of the previously researched constructs, such as time, effort, energy and situational circumstances, but has not yet been empirically tested as moderator in the attitude-intention relationship.
In sum, acting environmentally responsible could be perceived as inconvenient, because it requires among others time, effort and energy (Johnstone & Tan, 2015). So even though consumers have environmental concerns and are positive towards environmental friendly products, they are not willing to overcome the inconvenience to act accordingly. This research will examine whether convenience as a moderator can account for the attitude-intention gap. Following this it can be hypothesized that:
H4 Consumer who have a high product attitude and perceive high convenience in
13 product attitude and perceive low convenience in using reusable bags have a lower purchase intention.
The conceptual model in figure 1 shows the hypothesized relation of these constructs.
Figure 1. Conceptual model.
Methods
Design and Participants. An online experiment was conducted with a two (locus of
green appeal: personal; environmental appeal) by one (environmental awareness: measured) factorial between subjects design. Participants are randomly assigned to viewing either an advertisement communicating a personal or an environmental appeal.
The experiment was developed with Qualtrics. A convenience sample was collected contacting close relations personally and via online media and a snowballing method was used on social media. Participation was completely voluntarily. The experiment was
distributed online and participants took part in their own uncontrolled environment. A total of ninety valid participants partook in the experiment (97% Dutch nationality, 74% female, 44% completed HBO or WO bachelor education), with a mean age of 29 (SD = 11.15). Forty-two participants were in the environmental condition and forty-eight participants were in the personal condition. Participants who owned the advertised bag were excluded from the analysis.
Stimulus Material and Procedure. The stimulus material is a print advertisement
promoting a recycled plastic bag made of pet bottles. A reusable plastic bag was chosen as Environmental awareness Convenience
Product attitude
Purchase intention Locus of green appeal
14 stimulus material, because this is a moderately low involvement product. The decision for a low involvement product is based on the enlargement of the attitude-intention gap that will allow better exploration. However, the product must not be of too low involvement as the Theory of Planned Behaviour is not applicable anymore. The TPB namely states that people must to some degree elaborate on their product attitude in order for attitude to influence purchase intention (Azjen, 1991). Consumers are likely to elaborate more on a high
involvement product, which will lead to a lower likelihood of discrepancy between attitude and intention or behaviour. When consumers put less thought in a purchase decision, such as with a low involvement product, it is more likely that a discrepancy will occur. The plastic bag that is used as stimulus for this study fits these requirements, because it is not as low involving as disposable plastic bag, but it is not as high involving as a handbag or backpack.
The reusable bag used in the advertisement is an existing bag developed in a
cooperation between a Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn and a fashion brand Supertrash. On the bag a message communicates that the bag is made out of pet bottles and therefore good for the climate. Furthermore, a reference is made to recycling and the brand Supertrash. The advertisement was developed by using the background of existing advertisements for green products by Albert Heijn to make the advertisement look as realistic as possible. The advertisement is the same for both conditions apart from the tagline communicating the manipulated benefit. The personal benefit is communicated by stating that the bag is more durable because of recycling, while the environmental benefit is communicated trough stating that the bag is better for the climate because of recycling. Both taglines communicate that the bag is made of recycled pet bottles to communicate the ‘greenness’ of the product and
because this information is also communicated on the bag. The stimulus material can be seen in figure 2 and 3.
15 Participants were sent a link accompanied by a message asking them to partake in a research study. After clicking the link, participants were taken to a page which presented information on the experiment and the security of their privacy. Following this page, participants had to give their consent upon their data being used and that they were fully informed about the implication of their participation. After giving consent, participants were shown an advertisement communicating either a personal benefit or an environmental benefit. They were asked to take a close look at the advertisement as they would be answering
questions about it next. Following the advertisement, participants were asked questions tapping into the dependent variables, moderator, mediator and control variables. After answering the complete questionnaire, participants were thanked for their participation and instructed to close the page.
Figure 2. Personal benefit: the tagline in Dutch communicates: ‘‘I used to be a pet bottle; recycling made this bag more durable’’.
16 Figure 3. Environmental benefit; the tagline in Dutch communicates: ‘‘I used to be a pet bottle; recycling made this bag better for the climate’’.
Measurements
Purchase intention. The purchase intention scale was adopted from Azjen et al.
(2011) and consisted of six items. On a 7-point Likert scale participants had to answer items such as ‘‘I am planning to buy the advertised reusable bag” and ‘‘I will probably buy the
advertised reusable bag” (Cronbach’s α = .94).
Product attitude. Product attitude was measured with ten adjective pairings adopted
from Azjen et al. (2011) and Valois and Godin (1991). Participants had to indicate their opinion on a 7-point Likert scale concerning adjectives like ‘‘nice/not nice’’, ‘‘good/bad” and ‘‘useful/unuseful” (Cronbach’s α = .85).
Convenience. Convenience is used in the analysis as moderator and was adopted from
Laroche, Bergeron, and Barbaro-Forleo (2001). Participants had to indicate their opinion on a 7-point Likert scale and the scale consisted of three items such as ‘‘Bringing reusable
shopping bags for groceries and shopping is too much trouble” and “I hate to bring my own reusable bags for shopping” (Cronbach’s α = .76).
17
Environmental Awareness. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale is used to
measure the other moderator environmental awareness and was adopted from Dunlap et al. (2000). This eight-item scale is a shortened version of the original scale and consisted of items such as “When humans interfere with nature it often produces disastrous consequences” and “Humans have the right to modify the natural environmental to suit their needs”
(Cronbach’s α = .75). Participants had to indicate their opinion on a 7-point Likert scale.
Control variables. Price sensitivity, product familiarity, self construal, and gender
were added as the control variables in the analyses, because of correlation with product
attitude or purchase intention. Price sensitivity was controlled for because green products tend to be more expensive than other products in general and previous research showed that price of green products can influence consumers purchase intention, such that when the price is higher consumers become reluctant to purchase the product (Johnstone and Tan 2014). Price sensitivity was measured with four items adopted from Goldsmith et al. (1996) and added as control variable. Participants had to indicate their opinion on a 7-point Likert scale, which included items such as “I don’t mind paying more to try out a reusable bag” and “In general, the price or cost of buying reusable bags is important to me” (Cronbach’s α = .82).
Product familiarity was controlled for because previous experience with the advertised product, rather than the stimuli material, might influence participants’ attitude or intention. The scale for product familiarity consists of three items and was adopted from Herrera and Blanco (2012). Participants had to indicate their opinion on a 7-point Likert scale, which included items such as “I’m very familiarized with the advertised reusable bag” and “I have much experience with the advertised reusable bag” (Cronbach’s α = .82).
Self construal was added as control variable, because being individually or collectively orientated indicates certain values consumers hold, which might influence their reaction towards the manipulated message. The scale for self construal was adopted from Cross et al.
18 (2000) and called the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale (RISC). Participants had to indicate their opinion on a 7-point Likert scale and the measurement consists of eleven items including items such as “If a person hurts someone close to me, I feel hurt as well” and “In general, my close relationships are an important part of my self-image” (Cronbach’s α
=.75).
Manipulation Check. Manipulation check question were asked to indicate whether
the benefit manipulation was successful. Two questions were asked tapping into both the personal benefit; “The advertisement communicates that using the reusable bag benefits myself.” and the environmental benefit; “The advertisement communicates that using the reusable bags benefits the environment.” See appendix A for the complete scales.
Results
Preliminary analysis. As assumed, a chi-square test showed that randomization was
successful and neither gender (x2(1) =.376, p =.539), nor education (x2 (3) =6.175, p =.103), nor nationality (x2 (3) =2.900, p =.407) significantly correlated with locus of green appeal. A one way analysis of variance also confirmed that age (F(1) = .196, p =.659), environmental awareness (F(1) =.241, p =.624), convenience (F(1) = 3.302, p =.082), price sensitivity (F(1) = .134, p =.716) and product familiarity (F(1) =2.000, p =.161) were successfully
randomized.
Table 1 presents a summary of the correlation results between the key variables. A correlation analysis measuring Spearman’s Rho showed that there was a significant correlation between gender and product attitude (r = .258, p =.022). Spearman’s Rho was chosen for this variable because gender is measured at nominal level. A Pearson correlation analysis also showed that price sensitivity (r = -.281, p =.007) significantly correlated with purchase intention, product familiarity significantly correlated with both purchase intention (r = .231, p =.045) and product attitude (r = .211, p =.028) and that self construal significantly
19 correlated with product attitude (r = .212, p =.045). Therefore, both gender, price sensitivity, product familiarity and self construal were added as covariates in the main analysis.
Table 1. Summary of correlations, means and standard deviations between, gender, price sensitivity,
product familiarity, self construal, environmental awareness, convenience, product attitude and purchase intention.
Note: n = 90, * P<.05, ** P<.001. a 1 = Male, 2 = Female
A manipulation check was performed with a one way analysis of variance, which showed that there was no significant effect of locus of green appeal on the environmental manipulation check question (asking whether the bag is beneficial for the environment) (F(1) = 3.026, p = .533, M=5.44 (SD =1.02) (personal benefit condition); M=5.57 (SD =1.03) (environmental benefit condition)). This indicates that participants in both conditions rated the advertisement equally on communicating an environmental benefit. However, there was a marginally significant effect of locus of green appeal on the personal manipulation check question (asking whether the bag is beneficial for oneself) (F(1) = .391, p = .085, M=4.21 (SD =1.47) (personal benefit condition); M=3.70 (SD =1.52) (environmental benefit condition)). The manipulation of participants differentiating between the personal benefit and the environmental benefit thus partly worked, because participants in the personal benefit condition indeed perceived the bag to be more beneficial to themselves than the participants
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 M SD 1. Gender a 1.74 .44 2. Price sensitivity .064 4.49 1.17 3. Product familiarity .102 -.169 2.11 1.09 4. Self construal .326** .018 .045 4.96 .69 5. Environmental Awareness .071 .010 .045 .015 5.29 .76 6. Convenience -.033 .235* -.120 -.004 .130 2.29 .99 7. Product attitude .258* .885 .231* .212* .189 -1.98 5.51 .88 8. Purchase intention .173 -.281** .211* .078 .120 .065 .449** 3.27 1.28
20 in the environmental benefit condition. However the effect was only marginally significant, which might not be strong enough for the main analysis.
Main analysis. PROCESS model 21 was used to analyse the hypotheses and the entire
mediated moderation conceptual model (Hayes, 2013). Gender, price sensitivity, product familiarity, and self construal were entered as covariates, because they correlated with product attitude or purchase intention.
Hypothesis One predicted a direct effect of locus of green appeal on (a) product attitude and (b) purchase intention such that participants in the personal benefit condition would have a more positive product attitude and higher purchase intention than participants in the environmental benefit condition. Process showed there was no significant direct effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude (b = -.020, t(82) = -.120, p = .904) or on purchase intention (b = -.208, t(81) = -.841, p = .403). Thus, both hypotheses 1a and 1b were not supported.
Hypothesis Two posits that product attitude will mediate the relationship between locus of green appeal and purchase intention. While, in line with the Theory of Planned Behaviour, there was a significant direct effect of product attitude on purchase intention (b = .784, t(81) = 4.230, p <.001), there were no indirect effect of locus of green appeal on
purchase intention trough product attitude (point estimate =-0.016 (SE = .133) 95% bootstrap CI[-.276,.260]. Thus hypothesis two was not supported.
Hypothesis Three stated that environmental awareness would moderate the relationship between locus of green appeal and product attitude, such that more environmentally aware participants would have a more positive product attitude when receiving the environmental benefit advertisement, while less environmentally aware
participants would have a more positive product attitude when receiving the personal benefit advertisement. However, there was no significant interaction effect between locus of green
21 appeal and environmental awareness on product attitude (b = .361, t(82) = 1.004, p = .318). So, hypothesis Three was not supported.
Hypothesis Four predicted that convenience would moderate the relationship between product attitude and purchase intention, such that consumer who have a high product attitude and perceive high convenience in using reusable bags will have a higher purchase intention, while consumers who have a high product attitude and perceive low convenience in using reusable bags have a lower purchase intention. It was expected that convenience would moderate the relationship between product attitude and purchase intention. There was no significant interaction effect between product attitude and convenience on purchase intention (b = .305, t(81) = 1.519, p = .133). However not hypothesized, there was a significant direct effect of convenience on purchase intention (b= .401, t(81) = 3.217, p =.002), such that people who perceive using reusable bags as convenient have a higher purchase intention. So
convenience might provide some explanation for the gap between product attitude and purchase intention, but it did not moderate the relationship in this case and hypothesis four was not supported.
Discussion and Conclusion
This research aimed to examine the effects of locus of green appeal on product attitude and purchase intention and the moderating roles of environmental awareness and
convenience. Hypothesis One predicted direct effects of locus of green appeal on product attitude and purchase intention. However, the effects were not supported. Consumers thus do not differ in their attitude or purchase intention based on whether they receive an
advertisement communicating a personal appeal or an environmental appeal. Hypothesis Two stated that product attitude would mediate the effect of locus of green appeal on purchase intention, such that locus of green appeal would have an effect on purchase intention trough product attitude. This effect was not supported. Locus of green appeal did not have a direct,
22 nor an indirect effect on purchase intention. Furthermore, Hypothesis Three predicted that environmental awareness would moderate the effect of locus of green appeal on attitude, but this was also not supported. Environmental awareness did not influence the effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude. Finally, Hypothesis Four predicted that convenience would moderate the effect of product attitude on purchase intention to provide an explanation for a possible attitude-intention gap. Both convenience and product attitude had a significant direct effect on purchase intention, but there was no interaction effect between the two variables. Though not hypothesized, participants who perceived more convenience in using reusable bags had a higher purchase intention, which is in line with the predicted direction. However, hypothesis Four was not supported as convenience did not act as a moderator in the effect of attitude on purchase intention.
The first part of the hypothesized model in Figure 1 was not confirmed. Locus of green appeal did not significantly affect product attitude and purchase intention and
environmental awareness did not moderate this relationship. A possible explanation for the results is that the manipulation was not completely successful. Even though participants in the personal benefit condition rated the advertisement higher on communicating a personal benefit than participants in the environmental benefit condition, this effect was only
marginally significant. Furthermore, the participants in the environmental benefit condition did not differ from participants in the personal benefit condition in their rating to what extent the advertisement communicated an environmental benefit. Both advertisements were thus rated as communicating an environmental benefit, regardless of the manipulated tagline. This can be due to the fact that both advertisements communicated a green appeal. Both
advertisements were communicating that the bag was recycled and the background corresponded with Albert Heijns organic product line. Taken together, there were several hints towards the ‘greenness’ of the product, namely the environmental friendly bag, the
23 statement about recycling and the background, while only a small portion focused on
communicating a personal benefit, namely only the latter part of the tagline. The larger focus on the ‘greenness’ of the product was done purposely, to differentiate between green appeals
and not between a green and a not-green appeal. Thus, the baseline for the advertisement was already focused on environmental friendliness. Possibly therefore, no difference in effect of environmental appeal was found between the two conditions; they were too similar. Future research could moderate the ‘greenness’ of the product by putting more emphasis on the personal appeal and making this benefit more clearly different from the environmental appeal.
Another explanation might be found in the product type, which was rather low involving. Possibly, a high involvement product would have yielded different results as consumers elaborate more on high involvement products in forming their attitude and purchase intention. Differences in appeals therefore might become more prominent as consumers elaborated more on their attitude. Furthermore, previous research employing different green appeals also used a low involvement product, which yielded similar results (Grimmer & Woolley, 2014). Future research should therefore use a high involvement product when manipulating locus of green appeal to examine whether differences in product involvement relate to the effect of green appeals. Choosing a high involvement product could also yield different results concerning the mediating effect of product attitude in the effect of locus of green appeal on purchase intention as a smaller discrepancy is expected in the attitude-intention relationship for high involvement products. Future research is thus yet to examine different green appeals in combination with a high involvement product.
The results from this study are in line with Grimmer and Woolley’s (2014) study. They employed a similar locus of green appeal, namely a personal or an environmental benefit, but did not find a significant effect of locus of green appeal on purchase intention. Based on Grimmer and Woolley’s (2014) study and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, it was
24 expected that adding attitude as a dependent variable would yield different results, but this prediction was not supported. Taking previous research and this study into account, it is possible that consumers do not thoroughly differentiate between green appeals and mainly differentiate between green and not-green appeals. Empirical research already confirmed a predisposed positive attitude of consumers towards green products in general (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015), but effects of differences in green appeals has thus far not only received scant attention, but also yielded insignificant results. More research is still needed to examine what the effects are of green appeals on consumers’ product attitude and purchase intention.
Future research could focus on comparing the effects of different green appeals with not-green appeals. It could also take other not-green appeals besides a personal or environmental benefit into account, such as a societal or social benefit. Furthermore, future research should use different ways of manipulating the benefits and possibly employ a stronger contrast between the different green appeals. Green consumerism is on the rise, but there is scant empirical research to base the employment of green appeals on and more research is needed to substantiate marketing choices for these different green appeals. The Expectancy-Value Theory can provide some new theoretical ground to base future findings in green marketing research on.
Hypothesis Three stated that the effect of locus of green appeal could partially be explained by the moderator environmental awareness. However, no effect was found for the moderating role of environmental awareness, as is also in line with the results from Grimmer and Woolley (2014). This lack of significance could also be due to the partially unsuccessful manipulation of locus of green appeal. Furthermore, participants perceived both
advertisements as communicating an environmental benefit and there was no effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude, so there was no significant effect to moderate. Moreover, environmental awareness was only measured and not manipulated, so there might not have
25 been a clear difference between high and low environmental aware participants. Also, since green consumerism is on the rise, there might be a general tendency toward high
environmental awareness (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015), which could lead to a certain skewness and again make it difficult to distinct between high and low environmental awareness. Future research should therefore consider manipulating instead of simply measuring environmental awareness to create clear differences. Furthermore, environmental awareness should also be examined as a moderator of the effect of green versus not-green appeals on product attitude, as there might be a more prominent difference in preference of high and low environmental aware consumers.
The second part of the hypothesized model concerned the effect of product attitude on purchase intention and a possible explanation for discrepancy between these variables. There were no significant direct effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude or purchase intention, nor a significant mediation of product attitude in the relationship between locus of green appeal on purchase intention. Product attitude could not have mediated the relationship between locus of green appeal and purchase intention because there was no significant effect of locus of green appeal on purchase intention, so there was not effect to mediate to begin with. However, there was a significant effect of product attitude on purchase intention as is substantiated by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Product attitude was a significant predictor of purchase intention, though some discrepancy existed between these two variables. Previous research even indicated that specifically for green consumerism a rather large discrepancy exists between product attitude and purchase intention or actual behaviour (Wymer & Polonsky, 2015). This study aimed to further explore this gap between product attitude and purchase intention and to find a possible explanation in a moderator. It was hypothesized that convenience in using the advertised product would moderate the effect of product attitude on purchase intention. This expectation was grounded in qualitative claims of previous research
26 (Aagja et al., 2011), but in the current study convenience was not a significant moderator of the attitude-intention relationship.
The interaction effect between convenience and product attitude on purchase intention was not significant, but, even though not hypothesized, this study found that there was a direct effect of convenience of purchase intention. Convenience thus did not function as a
moderator, but it did have an effect on purchase intention, such that participants who perceive more convenience in using reusable bags had a higher purchase intention. This effect could therefore function as a starting point for further exploration of convenience as an explanation for the attitude-intention gap. Possibly, the moderating effect of convenience can become significant in comparing the effect of green versus not-green appeals on product attitude and purchase intention, as this is not empirically tested yet. Furthermore, convenience was, similar to the other moderator environmental awareness, only measured and not manipulated. Future research could therefore also employ a strategy of manipulating perceived convenience instead of only measuring it. Subsequently, convenience was in this study measured as
moderator in the effect of product attitude on purchase intention, but actual behaviour was not taken into account. Maybe, convenience could also function as a moderator in the attitude-behaviour or intention-attitude-behaviour relationship, which is yet to be empirically tested.
As this study could not empirically confirm the effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude or purchase intention, some practical and societal implications arise. Since green consumption is an environmentally positive development, it should be encouraged. Green marketing is a way of promoting products for green consumption, but to effectively target consumers it is important that green marketing techniques are substantiated by
empirical research. This study provides information on green marketing techniques and more specifically on the locus of green appeal. Locus of green appeal did not influence product attitude or purchase intention, which implicates that green appeals do not have to specifically
27 target different consumer values. This means that marketers do not have to specify the locus of green appeal to promote green products, but it also implicates that it is not yet clear how to more effectively target consumers on green consumption. However, these results need to be interpreted consciously, because even though this study constructed stimulus material based on existing advertisements, it is not exactly an existing advertisement. A constructed stimulus excludes predisposed attitudes towards the advertisement, but it also compromises external validity of the results. Moreover, even though participants were instructed to imagine seeing the advertisement in a supermarket, they were actually in their own uncontrolled environment. Future research should thus try to enhance external validity by employing existing
advertisements in a realistic context to find more ways to encourage green consumption. To conclude, in the current study, locus of green appeal did not significantly affect product attitude or purchase intention. However, this area of green marketing (i.e. differences in green appeals) has received scant attention and big conclusion cannot yet be drawn. More research is needed to examine the nuances of different green appeals and there implication for green consumerism. This study suggested that the Expectancy-Value Theory can provide some new theoretical ground for the explanation of possible effects of green appeals.
Furthermore, as environmental awareness did not moderate the effect of locus of green appeal on product attitude, new moderators need to be taken into account in future research. This study did found a possible new moderator of the attitude-intention relationship to explain the discrepancy between the two variables that is prominent for green consumerism. So even though the hypothesized effects were not supported, still new starting points for further exploration can be drawn from the results of this study.
28
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32
Appendix A: introduction experiment and scales First page/introduction into experiment
Thank you for your interest in participating in this experiment.
Purpose of this study. This study aims to investigate the usage of reusable bags by
consumers. It looks into how people feel about specific reusable bags and reusable bags in general.
Duration. Completing this questionnaire will take approximately fifteen minutes.
Overview. You will start this questionnaire by viewing an existing advertisement. After this
you will be asked to answer questions about the advertisement and some of your personal views. The questionnaire will end with some questions about your demographics. Your answers have successfully been collected when the webpage states that you have finished the questionnaire and you can close the webpage. You are free to quit this experiment any time. You are able to pause this experiment, but you have to finish within 24 hours.
Privacy. This study is interested in your personal views, so please fill in the questions
seriously and accurately. Your answers will be completely anonymous and cannot in any way be traced back to you. You will not be tracked and privacy sensitive information will not be asked.
Contact. Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact the executioner of
this research at sarina.vanderriet@student.uva.nl. Results of this study will be available at March 2017.
Stimulus material. Prior to viewing the stimulus material participants will read:
You are about to view an advertisement for a reusable bag. Image yourself running into this advertisement at the Albert Heijn. Please take a good look at the advertisement. After viewing the advertisement you will be asked questions about this reusable bag.
Scale items
Product attitude. The product attitude measures were adopted from Azjen et al. (2011)
supplemented with adjectives for attitude measurement from Valois and Godin (1991). The total measure consisted of 10 adjectives:
Please indicate your feelings toward the advertised products concerning the following adjectives.
1. I think the advertised product is:
33 Unpleasant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pleasant Negative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Positive Undesirable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Desirable Bad 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Good Useless 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Useful Unwise 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Unwise Worthless 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Valuable Convenient 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Inconvenient Practical 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Impractical
Purchase intention. The measurement for purchase intention was also adopted from Azjen et
al. (2011) and consisted of six items:
1. I am planning to buy the advertised reusable bag
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly disagree
2. I am likely to buy the advertised reusable bag 3. I intend to buy the advertised reusable bag 4. I will probably buy the advertised reusable bag 5. I have decided to buy the advertised reusable bag 6. I expect I will buy the advertised reusable bag
Convenience. The measurement for convenience was adopted from Laroche, Bergeron and
Barbaro-Forleo (2001), which consist of 4 items:
1. Bringing reusable shopping bags for groceries and shopping is too much trouble
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly disagree
2. Buying reusable shopping bags is too much trouble 3. I hate to bring my own reusable bags for shopping
4. Trying to control pollution by using reusable bags is much more trouble than it is worth.
Environmental Awareness. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale is used to measure
environmental awareness and was adopted from Dunlap et al. (2000). This eight-item scale is an abbreviation of the original scale:
1. The balance of nature is very delicate and easily upset.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly disagree
34 3. Humans are severely abusing the environment.
4. The so-called iecological crisisi facing humankind has been greatly exaggerated. 5. If things continue on their present course, we will soon experience a major ecological catastrophe.
6. Humans have the right to modify the natural environmental to suit their needs.
7. Humans were meant to rule over the rest of nature. 8. Plants and animals exist primarily to be used by humal\s.
Price sensitivity. Price sensitivity will be measured with a four items adopted from
Goldsmith et al. (1996):
1. I am less willing to buy reusable bags if I think that they will be high in price.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly disagree
2. I know that recycled reusable bags are likely to be more expensive than other ones, but that doesn’t matter to me.
3. In general, the price or cost of buying reusable bags is important to me. 4. I don’t mind paying more to try out a reusable bag.
Willingness to pay more. Willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly products
consist of three items and was adopted from Laroche et al. (2001).
1. It is acceptable to pay 10 percent more for reusable grocery bags that are produced and processed in an environmentally friendly way.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 strongly agree
2. I would accept paying 10 percent more taxes to pay for an environmental cleanup program. 3. I would be willing to spend an extra 10 euros a week in order to buy less environmentally harmful products.
Product familiarity. The scale for product familiarity consists of three items and was
adopted from Herrera and Blanco (2012). * should it be about the familiarity with the specific advertised product or with the products in the category in general?
1. I’m very familiarized with the advertised reusable bag
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Disagree
2. I have much experience with quality and prestige about the advertised reusable bag 3. I have much experience with the advertised reusable bag.
35
Product ownership. The scale of product ownership was based on the question of whether
the participant have bought/owns the product and whether the participant have used the product, although the latter question might go better with familiarity.
1. I own reusable shopping bags
Yes / No/Don’t know 2. I use reusable shopping bags
Never 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always
3. I own the advertised reusable bag 4. I have used the advertised reusable bag
Personal values/Self-construal. The scale for self construal was adopted from Cross et al.
(2000) and called the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale (RISC). The measurement consists of eleven items:
1. My close relationships are an important reflection of who I am.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly agree
2. When I feel very close to someone, it often feels to me like that person is an important part of who I am.
3. Overall, my close relationships have very little to do with how I feel about myself. (reversed)
4. I think one of the most important parts of who I am can be captured by looking at my close friends and understanding who they are.
5. When I think of myself, I often think of my close friends or family also.
6. When I establish a close friendship with someone, I usually develop a strong sense of identification with that person.
7. If a person hurts someone close to me, I feel hurt as well.
8. My close relationships are unimportant to my sense of what kind of person I am. (reversed) 9. My sense of pride comes from knowing who I have as close friends.
10. In general, my close relationships are an important part of my self-image.
11. I usually feel a strong sense of pride when someone close to me has an important accomplishment.
Prior green behaviour. Prior green behaviour was adopted from the scale from Laroche et al.
36 Please indicate how often you engage in the following behaviours:
1. Using the blue or green box (bag) for recycling
Never 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always
2. When buying something wrapped, check that it is wrapped in paper or cardboard made of recycled material
3. Refusing to buy products form companies accused of being polluters 4. Buying plastic knives, forks or spoons
5. Buying Styrofoam cups
Demographics. Basic demographics will be collected by asking participants to indicate:
1. Age: Please indicate you age in digits
2. Education: Please indicate your highest completed education: High school or less
Some college associate degree Bachelor
Graduate/ professional degree 3. Gender:
Male/female 4. Ethnicity
