Merging the Social Influence Theory and the Goal-Framing Theory to Understand Consumers' Green Purchasing Behavior: Does the Level of Sensitivity to Climate Change Really Matter?

The effect of goal frame and risk perception on digital flood prevention tool acceptability

Introduction

To cope with catastrophic floods, people need to be better prepared. In this context, a self-assessment digital tool for habitat vulnerability was developed. To improve its take-up rate, we are looking at the motivations associated with the social acceptability of this tool. The motivations (hedonic-gain-normative), derived from goal-frame theory, as well as elements relating to risk perception, are tested.

Method

One, 688 participants (aged between 18 and 87) first read a scenario presenting the application (reflecting either one of the motivations of the Goal Framing Theory or a control scenario with no motivation). After reading one of the scenarios, they completed an online questionnaire, measuring the acceptability of the tool using three measures: a direct one (items from the Technological Acceptability Model: ease of use, perceived usefulness and social influence), an indirect measure (by asking the percentage of neighbours interested in the tool) and a social measure (judgement of a person using the tool). The last part of the questionnaire was about subjects' risk perception.

Results

The analyses show that, of all the scenarios, the one involving hedonic motivation leads to the lowest social acceptance of the tool. We also observe that a better risk perception predicts better tool acceptability. Finally, we observe interaction effects between risk perception and motivations, showing that normative motivation is better when risk perception increases and that the control condition is better when risk perception decreases.

Discussion

Goal framing theory is usually used for ecological behaviors. It also appears here as relevant in the field of risk prevention. Although risk perception remains the best predictor of acceptability, these results lead us to conclude that hedonic motivation is not appropriate for the acceptability of a flood risk prevention tool. It is preferable to focus on normative and gain motivations.

Achieving sustainability: Determinants of conscious green purchasing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread worldwide, resulting in crises in public health and sustainable development. Aimed at understanding the determinants of conscious green purchasing behavior (GPB), this paper developed a comprehensive framework linking the moderating effect of negative environmental affective reactions (NEAR) to COVID-19 based on the S-O-R paradigm. Using randomly selected urban residents from China's Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Rim regions, the empirical study was conducted using 559 valid responses. The results show that media and peers are the major social forces activating altruistic and egoistic motivations, while family influence was not significant. Dual motivations significantly mediated the relationships of unconditional and conditional GPB with media exposure and peer influence. Contrary to expectations, NEAR negatively moderated the formation process of conscious GPB. The findings indicate that the influence of peers on conscious GPB through dual motivations is stronger compared to media. Negative affective reactions to COVID-19 were also found to inhibit the impact of peer influence on altruistic and egoistic motivations, as well as the path of altruistic motivation on unconditional GPB. The results of this study have important theoretical and practical implications for enterprise marketing and environmental campaigns, and narrowing the green attitude-behavior gap.

A goal-framing perspective on the important aspects of energy-efficient multifamily buildings

The growth of Sweden’s urban population necessitates new approaches for increasing the sustainability and energy efficiency of multifamily buildings. The development of such approaches will require a holistic and integrated understanding of the factors driving the decision making of both professionals who design buildings and end-users who live in them. This paper, therefore, uses the goal framing theory to determine which aspects of multifamily buildings are considered important by these two groups of actors. An empirical study based on semi-structured interviews with professionals involved in building design and development (project developers, housing company representatives, architects, and engineers; N = 15) was conducted to identify goals affecting the choices made during building design and development. In parallel, a questionnaire survey of building end-users (N = 61) was conducted to determine which factors guided their choice of dwelling. It was found that professionals’ design choices were primarily governed by normative goals relating to environmental benefits but were also influenced by the other goals. These included gain goals relating to budgetary constraints and keeping the building’s operational and maintenance costs low. Hedonic goals were also important; some design choices were made with the aim of providing pleasant, comfortable, and convenient living environments, or of giving the buildings a distinct aesthetic or some other special features. By comparing the professionals’ responses to the end-user surveys, it was found that the two groups had similar views concerning gain goals; both considered it important for apartments to be affordable and easy to maintain. However, their views on hedonic and normative goals differed markedly. The professionals sought to strike an optimal balance between different related aspects, whereas end-users placed greater importance on aspects relating to hedonic and gain goals when choosing dwellings. The findings provide a basis for constructive discussions on building design and development, and the scope for creating buildings that encourage end-users to adopt sustainable living practices while also satisfying their needs and preferences.

Pro-Environmental Behavior Research: Theoretical Progress and Future Directions

Realistic environmental problems drive the growth of pro-environment behavior research, among which the most important progress is about the theoretical innovation and development of pro-environmental behavior. Thus, the main purpose of this paper was to review the literature and help researchers to understand the theoretical progress of pro-environmental behavior. This study systematically analyzed 1806 papers published in SCI-EXPANDED and SSCI databases. It presented the research overview of pro-environmental behavior in terms of status of literature publication, research hotspots and topics. On this basis, this paper further focused on key theoretical papers and summarized three paths of theoretical progress for pro-environmental behavior: theoretical development, theoretical exploration and theoretical integration. Along the theoretical development path, studies mainly apply theories of psychology, sociology and economics to analyze and explain the formation and consequences of pro-environmental behavior. In terms of theoretical exploration, existing studies propose and develop value-belief-norm theory, behavioral theories related to contexts and pro-environmental behavior decision models. Theoretical integration is the direction of future research, such as the combination of rationality and sensibility, and the combination of external and internal causes. Therefore, this paper summarized the theoretical progress of pro-environmental behavior and proposed future research directions, which contribute to its theoretical development.

Ability Orientation or Good Character? Moderated Mediation Mechanism to Determine the Impact of Telepresence on Consumer Purchasing Intention in Cross-Border E-Commerce

A research model is proposed based on the telepresence theory to determine the long-term mechanism for generating consumer purchasing intention and explore potential information haze caused by information overload. A total of 406 usable samples were collected from the consumers of several cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) platforms in China. The results showed that telepresence has a positive effect on benevolence trust, integrity trust, and ability trust. As expected, benevolence trust and ability trust were found to exhibit significant mediation effects, while integrity trust did not have a significant mediation role. The moderated mediation mechanism shows that product information (description, display, and content) restrain mediation paths. The findings provide new perspectives on the information haze caused by information overload. The results suggest that promoting an ability-oriented (ability trust) business philosophy and instilling good corporate character (benevolence trust) are vital in achieving sustainable development in CBEC platforms. Eliminating information haze could also help strengthen the activation effect of telepresence and promote the guiding role of customer trust on purchasing intention. This study's theoretical and management contributions extend our knowledge of optimizing management strategies for CBEC platforms.