The Psychology and Neuroeconomics of Sustainable Behavior
What factors influence Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB) and how can firms nudge greater PEB in consumers to promote "green" incentives?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.496Abstract
For several years, society has faced climate change catastrophes ranging from wildfires to rising sea levels. To combat these effects, researchers have focused on creating technological and societal shifts. However, understanding and influencing an individual's behavior is often overlooked but can provide a benefit. Pro-environmental behavior, or PEB, is an individual’s tendency to consciously reduce negative environmental impacts while improving environmental conditions. Research has shown the advantages of using behavioral findings and neuroeconomics to deepen our understanding of PEB to promote and nudge, or influence consumers subconsciously, to act with PEB. Though this interdisciplinary approach to climate change is relatively new and unexplored, research reveals that it is a growing field.
This literature review provides an overview of PEB in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and marketing. We first examine the psychological factors, such as personality and motivation, that influence PEB and pro-environmental attitudes (PEA). We then move to neuroscience findings based on an individual's brain size and brain activation when engaging in sustainable behavior. Lastly, the neuroscience findings are applied to construct efficient marketing techniques for firms to apply to consumers and promote sustainable behavior.
References
Hills, J. (2022). Two Degrees Too Many: Average Global Temperatures Increase Will Trigger Climate Tipping Point. Columbia Climate Climate School. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/11/15/two-degrees-too-many-average-global-temperature-increase-will-trigger-climate-tipping-points/
Dam, D. V., & Ramirez, R. (2023). New York City’s air pollution among the world’s worst as Canada wildfire smoke shrouds northeast. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/06/us/new-york-air-pollution-canada-wildfires-climate/index.html
The World Counts. (n.d.). The Melting Ice Caps. https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/climate-change/global-warming/the-melting-ice-caps
IPCC. (2023). Climate crisis report delivers “final warning” on 1.5C. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2023/mar/20/ipcc-climate-crisis-report-delivers-final-warning-on-15c-video
Tian, H., & Liu, X. (2022). Pro-Environmental Behavior Research: Theoretical Progress and Future Directions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116721
United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainability | United Nations. Retrieved August 22, 2023, from https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/sustainability
Lange, F., & Dewitte, S. (2019). Measuring pro-environmental behavior: Review and recommendations. Journal of Environmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.04.009
Kollmuss, A., & Agyeman, J. (2002). Mind the Gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education Research, 8(3), 239–260.
Hines, J. M., Hungerford, H. R., & Tomera, A. N. (1987). Analysis and Synthesis of Research on Responsible Environmental Behavior: A Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Environmental Education, 18(2), 1–8.
Small, A. D., & Cryder, C. (2016). Prosocial Consumer Behavior https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X16000038&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1692694832704939&usg=AOvVaw08JtZ5H4p5myVH8ZYaHEAY
Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2009). The HEXACO-60: a short measure of the major dimensions of personality. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(4), 340–345.
Soutter, A. R. B., Bates, T. C., & Mõttus, R. (2020). Big Five and HEXACO Personality Traits, Proenvironmental Attitudes, and Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 15(4), 913–941.
Schultz, A. E., Newman, K. P., & Wright, S. A. (2022). The Negative Effect of Low Belonging on Consumer Responses to Sustainable Products. Journal of Business Ethics: JBE, 1–20.
Milfont, T. L., & Sibley, C. G. (2012). The big five personality traits and environmental engagement: Associations at the individual and societal level. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32(2), 187–195.
Hirsh, J. B., & Dolderman, D. (2007). Personality predictors of Consumerism and Environmentalism: A preliminary study. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(6), 1583–1593.
Thiermann, U. B. (2021). Uncovering the link between mindfulness and sustainability: does mindfulness practice influence pro-environmental behaviours? [Imperial College London]. https://doi.org/10.25560/89320
Otto, S., Pensini, P., Zabel, S., Diaz-Siefer, P., Burnham, E., Navarro-Villarroel, C., & Neaman, A. (2021). The prosocial origin of sustainable behavior: A case study in the ecological domain. Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions, 69, 102312.
Zelenski, J. M., & Desrochers, J. E. (2021). Can positive and self-transcendent emotions promote pro-environmental behavior? Current Opinion in Psychology, 42, 31–35.
Félonneau, M.-L., & Becker, M. (2008). Pro-environmental attitudes and behavior: Revealing perceived social desirability. Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale, 21(4), 25–53.
fMRI Scans: What are They & How They Work. (n.d.). Baptist Health. Retrieved August 22, 2023, from https://www.baptisthealth.com/care-services/conditions-treatments/fmri
Guizar Rosales, E., Baumgartner, T., & Knoch, D. (2022). Interindividual differences in intergenerational sustainable behavior are associated with cortical thickness of the dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. NeuroImage, 264, 119664.
Theory of Mind. (n.d.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2011.05.003
Brevers, D., Baeken, C., Maurage, P., Sescousse, G., Vögele, C., & Billieux, J. (2021). Brain mechanisms underlying prospective thinking of sustainable behaviours. Nature Sustainability, 4(5), 433–439.
Sawe, N., & Chawla, K. (2021). Environmental neuroeconomics: how neuroscience can inform our understanding of human responses to climate change. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 42, 147–154.
Lee, E.-J., Kwon, G., Shin, H. J., Yang, S., Lee, S., & Suh, M. (2014). The Spell of Green: Can Frontal EEG Activations Identify Green Consumers? Journal of Business Ethics: JBE, 122(3), 511–521.
Leeuwis, N., van Bommel, T., & Alimardani, M. (2022). A framework for application of consumer neuroscience in pro-environmental behavior change interventions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16, 886600.
Vezich, I. S., Gunter, B. C., & Lieberman, M. D. (2017). The mere green effect: An fMRI study of pro-environmental advertisements. Social Neuroscience, 12(4), 400–408.
Minton, P., Lee, C., Orth, L., Kim, C., & Kahle L. (2013). https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.2012.10672458&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1692694832716121&usg=AOvVaw227EqWqgwEX0x38YnvrJAa
Thøgersen, J., Haugaard, P., & Olesen, A. (2010). Consumer responses to ecolabels. European Journal of Marketing, 44(11/12), 1787–1810.
McKenzie-Mohr, D. (2000). Fostering sustainable behavior through community-based social marketing. The American Psychologist, 55(5), 531–537.
Reese, G., Loew, K., & Steffgen, G. (2014). A towel less: social norms enhance pro-environmental behavior in hotels. The Journal of Social Psychology, 154(2), 97–100.
Rees, J. H., Klug, S., & Bamberg, S. (2015). Guilty conscience: motivating pro-environmental behavior by inducing negative moral emotions. Climatic Change, 130(3), 439–452.
Moore, M. M., & Yang, J. Z. (2020). Using Eco-Guilt to Motivate Environmental Behavior Change. Environmental Communication, 14(4), 522–536.
Xu, W., Jin, X., & Fu, R. (2021.). The Influence of Scarcity and Popularity Appeals on Sustainable Products https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352550921000877?via%3Dihub
Edinger-Schons, L. M., Sipilä, J., Sen, S., Mende, G., & Wieseke, J. (2018). Are two reasons better than one? The role of appeal type in consumer responses to sustainable products. Journal of Consumer Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Consumer Psychology, 28(4), 644–664.
Rostiani, R., Purwanto, B. M., Septianto, F., & Chiew, T. M. (2023). When I’m First, I Can Use More: The Divergent Effects of Joint Appeals on Likelihood of Purchasing Sustainable Products. Australasian Marketing Journal, 31(3), 228–238.
Reich, B. J., & Soule C. A. A. (2016). https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.2016.1214649&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1692694832712357&usg=AOvVaw0DfaujxK1zh-7hIFKz_lOl
Yang, D., Lu, Y., Zhu, W., & Su, C. (2015). Going green: How different advertising appeals impact green consumption behavior. Journal of Business Research, 68(12), 2663–2675.
Adıgüzel, F. (2020). Does Advertising Appeal Type Make a Difference? A New Sustainable Fashion Product by a Luxury and Mainstream Brand. In S. S. Muthu & M. A. Gardetti (Eds.), Sustainability in the Textile and Apparel Industries: Consumerism and Fashion Sustainability (pp. 53–70). Springer International Publishing.
Goldsmith (auth. ), E. (n.d.). Social Influence And Sustainable Consumption [PDF] [4go1pdvq60o0]. Retrieved August 22, 2023, from https://vdoc.pub/documents/social-influence-and-sustainable-consumption-4go1pdvq60o0
Boomsma, C., Pahl, S., & Andrade, J. (2016). Imagining Change: An Integrative Approach toward Explaining the Motivational Role of Mental Imagery in Pro-environmental Behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1780.
Ketron, S., & Naletelich, K. (2019). Victim or beggar? Anthropomorphic messengers and the savior effect in consumer sustainability behavior. Journal of Business Research, 96, 73–84.
Osbaldiston, R., & Schott, J. P. (2012). Environmental Sustainability and Behavioral Science: Meta-Analysis of Proenvironmental Behavior Experiments. Environment and Behavior, 44(2), 257–299.
Maki, A., Burns, R. J., Ha, L., & Rothman, A. J. (2016). Paying people to protect the environment: A meta-analysis of financial incentive interventions to promote proenvironmental behaviors. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, 242–255.
Van Horen, F., van der Wal, A., & Grinstein, A. (2018). Green, greener, greenest: Can competition increase sustainable behavior? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 59, 16–25.
Downloads
Posted
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Risa Bernier, Roshni Lulla
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.