Shifting consumers towards sustainable behaviours is difficult, with an attitude-behaviour gap persistently reported. This study proposes a route towards sustainable behaviours that does not depend on individual attitudes or values: social identity forces within novel online brandconvened consumer groups. A field experiment using a fictitious fruit drink brand demonstrates that by assembling an online consumer group and providing it with sustainability objectives, consumers will engage in a sustainability-aligned behaviour, namely donating to social or environmental charities at the request of the firm, irrespective of their individual attitudes. Furthermore, this behaviour is accompanied by an improvement in brand attachment. As these effects are found within a newly-formed online group, practitioners may be able to achieve sustainability objectives through this mechanism even in the absence of well-established brand communities. The study contributes to social identity literature by demonstrating the impact of group identity effects in a consumer context, and by showing a mechanism by which the negative side of group identity-out-group derogation-can be avoided.
Together with our utility clients, Enervee is experimenting with behavioural intervention strategies to see which are most effective in nudging purchasing decisions toward more efficient products. This paper presents results on decision-making, preferences and online shopping behaviour obtained from a series of observational (utility-branded marketplace platform analytics) and experimental studies (randomized controlled trials). Within the trials, we tested potential direct and interaction effects of two distinct but related energy product attributes that improve market transparency: an energy score (a relative product model energy efficiency index) and energy savings (estimated energy bill dollar savings compared to a base model benchmark). The trials all show that the use of an energy score has a significant effect on consumer product choices, encouraging them to select more energy-efficient products, consistent with the observational data. These robust results make a strong case for leveraging heuristicsbased nudges to drive energy-efficient purchasing behaviour at scale. Responses to the energy bill savings information varied across the studies, offering insights about the influence of buying context and decision styles on consumer choice. The simple-to-process energy score appears to elicit a hot/impulsive decision style, whilst the cognitively more complex energy bill savings information prompts a reflective/cool decision style. Overall, the studies provide intriguing and robust insights to inform the continued development of costeffective and scalable interventions to drive more energy-efficient consumer product choices.
Most attempts to engender sustainable consumer behaviors rely on altruism appeals that are predicated on preexisting pro-social attitudes. This paper explores alternative means by which consumers can be encouraged to engage in socially and environmentally positive behavior. It is proposed that firms can use social influence effects among consumer groups assembled by the firm in the digital environment. Three controlled field experiments show that group influences among a temporary online consumer group can lead to collaborative behaviors, both between the consumer and the brand and between the consumer and other beneficiaries of the behavior. The paper finds support for the existence of two distinct group-level effects: a social identity effect within the newly formed group and an injunctive norm effect. These influence distinct behavioral outcomes, including commitment to purchase a sustainable product, the giving of time to the brand to help with its sustainability initiatives, and the giving of time to sustainability charities supported by the brand. Notably, these outcomes do not depend on the selection of individuals with supportive prior attitudes toward sustainability. The results extend knowledge on social consumer behavior, provide support for the argument that specific attitudes may not be necessary for specific behavioral outcomes, and present opportunities for practitioners to use social influence effects to elicit specific consumer behaviors, particularly in the online environment.
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