(Press-News.org) This news release is available in French.
Whether it's recycling, composting or buying environmentally friendly products, guilt can be a strong motivator — not just on Earth Day.
Now, research from Concordia University's John Molson School of Business published in the Journal of Business Ethics, proves that even just asking ourselves, or predicting, whether we will engage in sustainable shopping behaviour can increase the likelihood of following through — especially when there's an audience.
Lead author, marketing professor Onur Bodur explains that, "this is because asking people to predict whether they will undertake a certain behaviour increases their probability of actually doing so. It's what's called the 'self-prophecy effect.' Our research shows that that effect is even stronger for a person who defines him or herself by social ties and peer opinions."
The study demonstrates how the self-prophecy effect can be used as a marketing technique to increase shoppers' preference for environmentally friendly products. "While the self-prophecy effect has been applied in a consumer context before, our study is the first to examine whether it can actually make buyers more sustainability-conscious," notes Bodur.
Bodur and Concordia co-authors, Kimberly Duval and Bianca Grohmann, showed consumers an ad asking them whether they would purchase environmentally friendly products. Those who were exposed to the prediction message were much more likely to make sustainable consumption decisions later on when given the choice, compared to those exposed to an ad with a neutral message.
The authors then took the study one step further by introducing "watching eyes" alongside the ads. "We added an image of a face or group of faces appearing to make eye contact with the reader. This increased consumer preference for sustainable products even further," explains Bodur.
Again, these effects were stronger for consumers who define their identity based on the perceptions of others in their social circle, which is especially common in Eastern cultures.
The results of this study suggest that introducing a prediction request and audience cue into a social marketing campaign will help increase sales of sustainable products, while potentially boosting other pro-environmental and pro-social behaviours.
"The fact that these effects are stronger for those consumers who define themselves based on others' perceptions shows that this type of marketing strategy could prove especially useful in cultures where social relationships are central to one's identity. That's especially useful news for emerging Asian economies that are particularly plagued by pollution and environmental threats," says Bodur.
INFORMATION:
Partners in research: The Centre for Multidisciplinary Behavioural Business Research and the David O'Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise supported this study.
Ask yourself: Will you help the environment?
Concordia University study shows predicting their own behaviors and being watched makes consumers more likely to buy environmentally friendly products
2014-04-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Brain size matters when it comes to animal self-control
2014-04-22
Chimpanzees may throw tantrums like toddlers, but their total brain size suggests they have more self-control than, say, a gerbil or fox squirrel, according to a new study of 36 species of mammals and birds ranging from orangutans to zebra finches.
Scientists at Duke University, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Yale and more than two-dozen other research institutions collaborated on this first large-scale investigation into the evolution of self-control, defined in the study as the ability to inhibit powerful but ultimately counter-productive behavior. They found that the species ...
Male health linked to testosterone exposure in womb, study finds
2014-04-22
Men's susceptibility to serious health conditions may be influenced by low exposure to testosterone in the womb, new research suggests.
A study has revealed how men's testosterone levels may be determined before they are born.
Understanding why some men have less of the hormone than others is important because testosterone is crucial for life-long health. Low levels of the hormone have been linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Researchers have shown that the cells responsible for producing testosterone in adults – known as Leydig cells – are derived from ...
FASEB releases updated NIH state factsheets
2014-04-22
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) has released updated factsheets for fiscal year (FY) 2013 highlighting how funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) benefits each of the 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. "FASEB is pleased to make these factsheets available to help citizens and policymakers understand the significance of NIH to their state," said FASEB President, Margaret K. Offermann, MD, PhD. NIH is the nation's leading source for biomedical research funding, investing $29.2 billion in FY 2013 in medical research, 80 percent ...
Report recommends insurers use prescription monitoring data to reduce opioid abuse, deaths
2014-04-22
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Center of Excellence at Brandeis University has issued a ground-breaking report recommending that medical insurers use prescription monitoring data to reduce the overdoses, deaths and health care costs associated with abuse of opioids and other prescription drugs.
"At a time when the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids has reached epidemic levels, it's important that third party payers be able to use states' prescription monitoring data to make sure these drugs are prescribed appropriately," said Peter Kreiner, ...
RNA shows potential as boiling-resistant anionic polymer material for nanoarchitectures
2014-04-22
A team of nanotechnology researchers at the University of Kentucky has discovered new methods to build heat resistant nanostructures and arrays using RNA.
The research, led by Peixuan Guo, professor and William Farish Endowed Chair in Nanobiotechnology at the UK College of Pharmacy and Markey Cancer Center, is reported in an article titled "RNA as a Boiling-Resistant Anionic Polymer Material To Build Robust Structures with Defined Shape and Stoichiometry," coauthored by Emil F. Khisamutdinov and Daniel L. Jasinski.
The article, which will appear in a forthcoming edition ...
EORTC and SIOG update expert opinion on management of elderly patients with NSCLC
2014-04-22
Half of all patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer are 70 years of age or older, yet despite this high percentage, these elderly patients are not well represented in clinical trials. Therefore, the paucity of clinical data has made it difficult to reach evidence based clinical recommendations.
In 2010, the EORTC Cancer in the Elderly Task Force and Lung Cancer Group along with the International Society for Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) wrote an expert opinion on managing treatment for elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and now, in an article ...
US medical innovation needs smarter incentives to cut health spending, study finds
2014-04-22
To help rein in massive health care spending, a new RAND study concludes that U.S. policy makers should urgently find ways to incentivize pharmaceutical companies and device makers to develop products that produce more value.
Instead of examining existing medical technologies and their use, a new study suggests the study identifies options to affect what drugs and medical devices get created in the first place. The aim is to help reduce health care spending with as little loss of health as possible and to ensure that costlier advances have large enough health benefits ...
NREL unlocking secrets of new solar material
2014-04-22
A new solar material that has the same crystal structure as a mineral first found in the Ural Mountains in 1839 is shooting up the efficiency charts faster than almost anything researchers have seen before—and it is generating optimism that a less expensive way of using sunlight to generate electricity may be in our planet's future.
Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are analyzing the new material, perovskite, using the lab's unique testing capabilities and broad spectrum of expertise to uncover the secrets and potential ...
Commonly available blood-pressure medication prevents epilepsy after severe brain injury
2014-04-22
Between 10 and 20 percent of all cases of epilepsy result from severe head injury, but a new drug promises to prevent post-traumatic seizures and may forestall further brain damage caused by seizures in those who already have epilepsy.
A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, Ben-Gurion University in Israel and Charité-University Medicine in Germany reports in the current issue of the journal Annals of Neurology that a commonly used hypertension drug prevents a majority of cases of post-traumatic epilepsy in a rodent model of the disease. If ...
Short-term environmental enrichment exposure induces maturity of newborn neurons
2014-04-22
Many studies have shown that exposure to environmental enrichment can induce neurogenesis of the hippocampal region, thus improving learning and memory. Previous studies have demonstrated that doublecortin-positive immature neurons exist predominantly in the superficial layer of the cerebral cortex of adult mammals such as guinea pigs, and these neurons exhibit very weak properties of self-proliferation during adulthood under physiological conditions. Whether environmental enrichment has an impact on the proliferation and maturation of these immature neurons in the prefrontal ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
A unified approach to health data exchange
New superconductor with hallmark of unconventional superconductivity discovered
Global HIV study finds that cardiovascular risk models underestimate for key populations
New study offers insights into how populations conform or go against the crowd
Development of a high-performance AI device utilizing ion-controlled spin wave interference in magnetic materials
WashU researchers map individual brain dynamics
Technology for oxidizing atmospheric methane won’t help the climate
US Department of Energy announces Early Career Research Program for FY 2025
PECASE winners: 3 UVA engineering professors receive presidential early career awards
‘Turn on the lights’: DAVD display helps navy divers navigate undersea conditions
MSU researcher’s breakthrough model sheds light on solar storms and space weather
Nebraska psychology professor recognized with Presidential Early Career Award
New data shows how ‘rage giving’ boosted immigrant-serving nonprofits during the first Trump Administration
Unique characteristics of a rare liver cancer identified as clinical trial of new treatment begins
From lab to field: CABBI pipeline delivers oil-rich sorghum
Stem cell therapy jumpstarts brain recovery after stroke
Polymer editing can upcycle waste into higher-performance plastics
Research on past hurricanes aims to reduce future risk
UT Health San Antonio, UTSA researchers receive prestigious 2025 Hill Prizes for medicine and technology
Panorama of our nearest galactic neighbor unveils hundreds of millions of stars
A chain reaction: HIV vaccines can lead to antibodies against antibodies
Bacteria in polymers form cables that grow into living gels
Rotavirus protein NSP4 manipulates gastrointestinal disease severity
‘Ding-dong:’ A study finds specific neurons with an immune doorbell
A major advance in biology combines DNA and RNA and could revolutionize cancer treatments
Neutrophil elastase as a predictor of delivery in pregnant women with preterm labor
NIH to lead implementation of National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act
Growth of private equity and hospital consolidation in primary care and price implications
Online advertising of compounded glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists
Health care utilization and costs for older adults aging into Medicare after the affordable care act
[Press-News.org] Ask yourself: Will you help the environment?Concordia University study shows predicting their own behaviors and being watched makes consumers more likely to buy environmentally friendly products