Communicating Sustainability for the Green Economy

Lynn R Kahle,Eda Gurel-Atay

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317474012
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

With chapters written by experts in their field, this volume advances the understanding of theory and successful practice of marketing and promoting environmental sustainability. Some experts predict that the next big trend in business will involve the green economy. Yet, communicating sustainability to consumers provides a set of challenges for marketers that do not necessarily follow all the rules of other types of marketing communication. In many ways the concept of sustainability challenges the core ideals of promoting consumption. Accordingly, this book identifies for researchers and practitioners the barriers that keep customers from engaging in environmentally sustainable consumption and find ways to overcome those barriers. The book includes topics such corporate advertising strategy related to sustainability, corporate social responsibility advertising, greenwashing, advertising related to values, persuasion and persuasion knowledge in sustainability marketing, social media and sustainability, and advertising and public policy.

1

Introduction to the Psychology of Communicating Sustainability

Lynn R. Kahle and Eda Gurel-Atay

Recent changes in the environment (e.g., climate change and decreases in nonrenewable resources) have persuaded many scholars that we cannot continue to use the world’s resources without considering the consequences (Ottman, 1998; Wasik, 1996). As this environmental awareness increases, sustainable business practices gain in importance, leading to the emergence of a green economy as the world’s new economic engine. In fact, many people believe that the next major world economic growth area is the green economy (e.g., Hawken, Lovins, & Lovins, 1999). However, although firms are adopting more sustainable business practices (as a result of both government sanctions and social marketing orientations), consumers seem to be lagging behind (Thøgersen & Crompton, 2009). In fact, it is suggested that “there is no ‘sustainable consumer’ who is taking social and ecological aspects into account in all fields of consumption” (Schäfer, Jaeger-Erben, & Santos, 2011, p. 179). Instead, consumers tend to engage in sustainable consumption in some aspects of their lives and ignore them in others (Brand, 2000). The reluctance of consumers across the board to engage in environmentally sustainable consumption (e.g., buying green products and recycling products at the end of their life cycle), in turn, raises several questions about the use of sustainable business practices by companies. Because those practices tend to be expensive, companies may begin to question their use if there is not enough demand for their green products. Accordingly, it is important for researchers and practitioners to identify the barriers that keep customers from engaging in environmentally sustainable consumption and find ways to bring down those barriers. The purpose of this book is to bring consumer psychology and marketing communications together to begin to bridge the gap between sustainable business practices and demand for those practices.

This introduction first provides an analysis of environmentally sustainable consumption by focusing on the factors that enhance and restrain environmentally sustainable consumption. The next section discusses some of the consumer psychology, advertising, and marketing communication theories that can be used to understand environmentally sustainable consumption. More specifically, based on means-end chain theory, it is suggested that social values, along with effective market segmentation, can be used to reach consumers and convince them to engage in a greater extent of green consumption. The last section overviews the chapters of this book.

An Analysis of Environmentally Sustainable Consumption

Environmentally sustainable consumption encompasses several consumer behaviors, including, but not limited to, buying green products, shopping at green retailers, supporting companies and charities that adopt or promote sustainable practices, adequately recycling products at the end of their life cycle, purchasing organic food, and wisely using energy resources that are based on renewable resources (e.g., installing solar energy panels on the roof of a house). Although some consumers want to minimize their impact on the earth by adopting at least one of these environmentally friendly consumer behaviors, the majority of the consumers are still reluctant to engage in those behaviors extensively. In this section, we discuss some of the major factors that influence environmentally sustainable, “green” consumption.

The most important factor in green consumption is probably environmental awareness. People who have the appropriate knowledge and information about sustainable consumption tend to understand the importance of green consumption and therefore change their practices in line with green consumption (Thøgersen, 2005; Valor, 2008). Accordingly, it is important to increase “environmental awareness” among regular/average customers through public policy and social marketing efforts. However, researchers have also found that some consumers, although they are knowledgeable about the importance of sustainable consumption, may not put it into practice, creating a “knowledge-to-action gap” (Markkula & Moisander, 2012). One reason for this gap is the burden placed on consumers from excessive amounts of information. Too much, sometimes contradictory, information about sustainable consumption can challenge consumers’ capacity to process this information and come to an understanding about what they can personally do to advance environmental sustainability (Moisander, 2007). This problem suggests that closing the gap between knowledge and action will require consumers to receive more structured and better-planned education about sustainable consumption.

Consumers might also be more inclined to engage in green consumption if they know that they are making a difference. The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) suggests that if people think that their own actions will not change the world (or reverse negative environmental changes), they will be less willing to engage in green consumption. Accordingly, public policy and social marketing efforts should communicate the message that even a single person or action can make a difference. Kaufman-Hayoz et al. (2012) call this method the planned behavior approach.

Another factor that discourages consumers from engaging in green consumption is the perception that green consumption practices are more time-consuming, costly, and stressful (Valor, 2008). Indeed, the majority of the green products are priced higher than non-green products, making them niche products targeted mainly to people with a higher disposable income (Markkula & Moisander, 2012). Making green consumption practices more affordable (e.g., financial incentives for using solar energy) may motivate more people to adopt those practices. However, these types of financial incentives are not without costs either. Because these incentives “can generate high, potentially inequitable and sometimes unpredictable costs,” they may be perceived as “socially regressive instruments, unreliable sources of revenue for the public sector and unpopular measures both with the private sector and consumers alike” (Pape, Rau, Fahy, & Davies, 2011, p. 28). At the same time, the sole use of communication instruments, providing information to consumers to increase environmental awareness and sustainable behavior, can also backfire, especially if people have the knowledge but not the resources to engage in sustainable consumption (Stern, 1999). Accordingly, it is suggested that “instrument mixes that combine information, incentives, social influences and institutional supports” can be more effective in motivating people to consume more sustainably (Pape et al., 2011, p. 29).

It is also possible that people’s everyday consumption routines interfere with the ability and willingness to engage in green consumption. Because everyday routines tend to be well-adapted to social demands, personal needs, financial and time resources, and accessible infrastructure, “they are effective strategies for minimizing the effort of organizing daily life, but are seldom consciously reflected upon, making it difficult to conceptualize policies or interventions aiming to motivate changes of habit behaviour towards sustainability” (Schäfer, Jaeger-Erben, & Bamberg, 2012, p. 2). Habit can prove a powerful inhibitor to positive change (Beatty & Kahle, 1988; Kahle & Beatty, 1987b; Kloekner & Matthies, 2004).

One approach to deal with the difficulty in changing everyday routines is to address people who are experiencing life-course transitions, such as graduating from college, getting married, moving to a new house, moving to another city, or giving birth (Schäfer et al., 2012, p. 2). Because these people are already in the process of changing their everyday routines, they may be more amenable to adopting more sustainable alternatives (e.g., installing solar panels at the new house, shopping at green retailers in the new city, or buying organic food for the new baby). A key concept is that any changes in routine must address lifestyle (Kahle & Valette-Florence, 2012; Reusswig, Lotze-Campen, & Gerlinger, 2005; Shove, 2005). Kaufman-Hayoz et al. (2012) call this sequential change the stage model approach.

In some cases green products may not exist. The range of green products is growing (Figueiredo, Gullen, & Zheng, 2012), but not all consumers have access to green products in all categories. What is a green product? Sometimes greenness is defined based on the manufacturing process. How is it built or rebuilt (e.g., Schuster, 2010)? Does it involve the use of green energy sources? Does it use recycled materials? Does it manufacture the final product in a way that minimizes the use of resources? At times, the greenness relates to the unique characteristics of the product: Is it organic? Is it fair trade (Toulouse, 2012)?

At the macro level, the real challenge may be to encourage consumers to consume less. In some respects, this idea seems contrary to the ideals of marketing, which generally follows an economic model regarding consumption that more is better. But positive psychology (e.g., Peterson, 2006) has shown that happiness does not always derive from obtaining more things. Perhaps consumers would experience more happiness if they enjoyed what they have rather than obtaining ever more products. One way of conceptualizing this idea is with “mindful consumption,” in which consumers commit to more finite materialism (Sheth, Sethia, & Srinivas, 2011). Another perspective involves redefining the concept of marketing, which holds that companies should give consumers what they want, to one of viewing the goal as giving consumers what is good for them, perhaps educating them along the way to want what is good for them in a social sense (Crittenden, Crittenden, Ferrell, Ferrell, & Pinney, 2011; Hult, 2011).

Using Consumer Psychology Theories to Explain Environmentally Sustainable Consumption

Understanding the psychology of consumers is critical to expanding the green economy in democratic societies with an open economy. Theories of psychology, advertising, and marketing can be employed to persuade consumers to engage in green consumption (Jaeger-Erben, Schäfer, Dalichau, Dehmel, Goetz, Fischer, Homberg, Schulz, & Zundel, 2012). The literature on using theories of psychology to increase sustainable behavior is small but growing (e.g., Kahle & Valette-Florence, 2012; Kaufmann-Hayoz et al., 2012; Matthies, Kastner, Kleese, & Wagner, 2011; Steg & Norland, 2013; Stern, 2000).

Previous research has shown that values, personalities, and self-images of consumers dictate how they respond to brands and products (e.g., Batra, Homer, & Kahle, 2001; Kahle, Beatty, & Homer, 1986; Kahle & Valette-Florence, 2012). In fact, brands and products possess values and personalities that shape their perceived images (Aaker, 1997; De Chernatony, Drury, & Segal-Horn, 2004), and those perceived images influence how consumers respond to the brand or product (Da Silva & Syed Alwi, 2006). In general, consumers form stronger relationships with brands and products toward which they have more articulated attitudes (Fournier 1998; McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig, 2002).

One idea on how to reach consumers, expressed in previous research, places social values at the center of consumer decision-making. In means-end chain theory, consumers want products that have certain attributes. When you ask a consumer why he or she bought a certain product, the answer usually involves a product attribute. For example, a consumer may buy a brand of bread because it has ample fiber. If you follow up with a question about why that attribute is important, the consumer will usually respond by citing a consequence of that attribute—for example, that high fiber in the bread aids digestion and promotes health. If you continue to ask the consumer questions about why the consequence is important, the response usually links to a core value held by the consumer. For example, efficient digestion is important because you need to have good health to accomplish what you want in life. If marketers can link a product to a core value held by a particular consumer, that product will be more attractive than one that merely has an attribute. Consumers respond more favorably if one of their core values is related to a product. This logic applies to green consumption as strongly as it does to other types of consumption.

Consider the case of marketing solar energy. Although using solar energy faces some important challenges (e.g., the high cost of solar panels, the difficulty of displacing petroleum products, a lack of familiarity with solar energy), doing so has benefits for consumers. Some of the reasons that someone might want to install a residential solar energy system include lower carbon emissions, greater safety, less dependence on foreign energy sources, widespread availability, individual control, participation in a movement, and incentives. Some of the core values to which these attributes might link include self-respect, a sense of accomplishment, security, being well respected, and warm relationships with others.

The problem with making linkages in any given instance is that not all people have the same core values. Thus one may need to use market segmentation to appeal to different target markets. For the person who values self-respect or a sense of accomplishment, the critical solar attributes might be lower carbon emissions, making a difference in the world, or even conspicuous consumption. For people who value security, the key attributes may be getting off the grid that requires dependence on others for supplies of energy or an increase in nation...