Presenting a Model of Sustainable Consumption Behavior using Nudge Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Social and Economic Faculty, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran,

2 Department of Management, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Alzahra, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Social and Economic Faculty, Alzahra

10.22034/cbsj.2023.62917

Abstract

Despite the increasing consumers’ environmental concerns, these concerns are not in line with their actual shopping behaviors. Therefore, to achieve sustainable development, we should focus on sustainable consumption instead of focusing solely on production. Relying on the qualitative research strategy, this study tries to design and validate substantial green consumer behavior using nudge theory. First, in-depth interviews were conducted with Iranian managers and professors who are active in green consumer behavior and green productions issues. The result was coded and categorized using the data theorizing method of the foundation in MAXQDA software. In the next stage, the questionnaire extracted from the paradigm model of research, design and distribution among consumers of green cosmetics in the country and 384 items were collected. Total 1321 basic codes, 46 concepts, 11 sub-categories were finalized. Through axile coding, 6 categories were identified including environmental attitudes, consumer innovativeness, personal norms, behavioral intentions, sustainable consumption behaviors, nudge marketing, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, and consequences. The result confirms the relationships between latent variables, confirming the research hypotheses and correctly identifying the components of the relevant model. The results of the study showed that the use of green nudges along to other factors can have a positive and significant effect on satisfaction, purchase of green products and conservation of natural resources without interfering with the right of consumers to choose products. The results can be effective on the strategies of managers and marketers in motivating customers to buy more green products and turning their attitudes into real purchases.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

 Ajzen, I. (1991). The Theory of Planned Behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50, 179-211.
Ajzen, I. (1998). Attitudes, Personality and Behavior. The Dorsey Press.
Ajzen, I. (2002). Behavioral Perceived Control self-efficacy, locus of control and the theory of planned behavior. journal ofapplied social psychology, 665-683.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behaviour. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Alizadeh, A., & Rajabzadeh, M. (2017). Investigating the Factors Affecting Customer Online Shopping Behavior Using Theory of Planned Behavior. New Approaches to Management and Accounting, 13-32.
Ambuli, T. V., Vijayalakshmi, R., Lalitha, J., & Surendher, M. R. (2022) “GREEN MARKETING: IMPACT OF MARKETING MIX ON CUSTOMERSPURCHASE INTENTION IN CHENNAI CITY” International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE) Vol 14, Issue 05 2022.
Anastasia Gkargkavouzia. (2019). Environmental behavior in a private-sphere context: Integrating theories ofplanned behavior and value belief norm, self-identity and habit. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 145-156. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.01.039
Benartzi, S., Beshear, J., Milkman, K., Sunstein, C., Thaler, R., Shanka, M., . . . Galing, S. (2017). Should Governments Invest More in Nudging? 28(8), 1041-1055. doi:10.1177/0956797617702501
Cass R. Sunstein. (2014). Nudging: A Very Short Guide. J. ConsumerPol'y .
Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative (Vol. 7). Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Dehghanan, H., & Bakhshandeh, G. (2014). The impact of green perceived value and green perceived risk on green purchase behavior of Iranian consumers. International Journal of Management and Humanity Sciences, 1349-1357.
Holsti, O. R. (1969). Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Huang, Y. (2022). Investigation of the Application of Nudge Theory in Real World. International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR 2022) (pp. 1585-1588). Atlantis Press.
Johnstone, M.-L., & Tan, L. (2015). Exploring the Gap Between Consumers’ Green Rhetoric and Purchasing Behaviour. Journal of Business Ethics, 132(2), 311-328.
Kaaronen, R. (2017). Affording Sustainability: Adopting a Theory of Affordances as a Guiding Heuristic for Environmental Policy. FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, 8. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01974
Kamalanon, P., Chen, J. S., & Le, T. T. Y. (2022). “Why Do We Buy Green Products?” An Extended Theory of the Planned Behavior Model for Green Product Purchase Behavior. Sustainability, 14(2), 689.
Karlsen, R., & Andersen, A. (2019). Recommendations with a Nudge. Technologies, 7(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies7020045
Katie S. Mehr, Amanda E. Geiser, Katherine L. Milkman, & Angela L. Duckworth S., (2020). Copy-Paste-Prompts: A New Nudge to Promote Goal Achievement. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. doi:doi:10.1086/708880
Kautish, P., Paul , J., & Sharma , R. (2019). The moderating influence of environmental consciousness and recycling intentions on green purchase behavior. Journal of Cleaner Production, 1425e1436. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.389
Lee, E.-J., Choi, H., Han, J., Kim, D., Ko, E., & Kim, K. (2020). How to “Nudge” your consumers toward sustainable fashion consumption: An fMRI investigation. Journal of Business Research. doi:doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.050
Leea, E.-J., Choia, H., Hanb, J., Hyun , D., & Eunju, K. (2019). How to “Nudge” your consumers toward sustainable fashion consumption:An fMRI investigation. Journal of Business Research. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.050
Miłaszewicz, D. (2022). Survey Results on Using Nudges for Choice of Green-Energy Supplier. Energies, 15(7), 2679.
Md. Nekmahmud, Haywantee Ramkissoon, Maria Fekete-Farkas(2022),”Green purchase and sustainable consumption: A comparative study between European and non-European tourists”,Tourism Management Perspectives,Volume 43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2022.100980.
Phipps, M., Ozanne, , L., Luchs, , M., & Subrahmanyan, , S. (2013). Understanding the inherent complexity of sustainable consumption. A socialcognitive framework.J. Bus.
Rahmati Ghafrani, Y., Taleghani, M., & Chirani, E. (2017). Consumers’ Value Orientation and their Tendency for Purchase Behavior. Business Management Explorations, 9(17), 125-147. (in Persian)
Schwartz, S. (1977). Normative Influences n Altruism. . Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 222-279.
Shealy, T., Klotz, L., Weber, E., Johnson, E., & Bell,. (2016). Using framing effects to inform more sustainable infrastructure design decisions. . Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(9). doi:https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASC
Sobhani, M., Jamshidi, O., & Norouzi, A. (2017). Students' Intention towards Organic Foods Purchase: Application of the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior. Quarterly Journal of Environmental Education and Sustainable Development, 7(1), 49-62. (in Persian)
Steg, L., & Vlek, C. (2009). Encouraging pro-environmental behavior: anintegrative review and research agenda. Environ. Psychol, 309-317. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.10.004
Sunstein, C., & Reisch, L. (2013). Green by Default. Kyklos, 398-402.
Thaler, R., & Sunstein, C. (2008). Nudge. Yale University Press.
Vantamay, N. (2019). Investigation and recommendations on the promotion of sustainable consumption behavior among young consumers in Thailand. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 51-58. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2018.01.007
Vermotea, M., Nysa, J., Verselea, V., D'Hondta, E., Deforchea, B., Clarysa, P., & Deliens, T. (2019). The effect of nudges aligned with the renewed Flemish Food Triangle on thepurchase of fresh fruits: An on-campus restaurant experiment. Appetite. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104479
W, A., Steg , L., Vlek, C., & Rothengatter , T. (2007). The effect of tailored information, goal setting, and tailored feedback on household energy use, energy-related behaviours, and behavioral antecedents. J Environ Psychol 27(4):., 265–276.
Wang, B., Li, J., Sun, A., Wang, Y., & Wu, D. (2020). Residents’ Green Purchasing Intentions in a Residents’ Green Purchasing Intentions in a and MGA Methods. sustainability. doi: doi:10.3390/su12010030
Weimer, K., Ahlström, R., & Esteves, F. (2019). Behavior Change Towards a Sustainable Lifestyle –Effects of Interventions and Psychological Factors on Pro-Environmental Behaviors. Mid Sweden University.
White, K. (2019). The Elusive Green Consumer. harvard business review.
Wittenberg, I., Blöbaum, A., & Matthies, E. (2018). Environmental motivations for energy use in PV households proposal of a modified norm activation model for the specific context of PV households. J. Environ. Psychol, 55, 110–120.
Wolańska, P., Gunia, A., & Acartürk, C. (2022). “Evaluation of the nudge theory effectiveness in an educational application. Eye-tracking study on adolescents” Jagiellonian University Repository .
Yang, S., Lei Li, & Jiemin Zhang. (2018). Understanding Consumers’ SustainableConsumption Intention at China’s Double-11 OnlineShopping Festival: An Extended Theory of PlannedBehavior Model. Sustainability. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061801
 
 
 
Consumer Behavior Studies Journal
Volume 10, Issue 4 - Serial Number 1
February 2024
Pages 180-205

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics