Plastic waste has detrimental effects for the environment, and recycling is merely a symptomatic treatment since the material cannot be reused indefinitely. Therefore, this study focuses on...Show morePlastic waste has detrimental effects for the environment, and recycling is merely a symptomatic treatment since the material cannot be reused indefinitely. Therefore, this study focuses on reducing plastic at the purchasing phase. More specifically, the present study examined the potential effects of message framing with congruent imagery on intention to purchase plastic products, with self-conscious emotions shame, guilt, and pride as hypothesized mediator. A significant indirect effect was found to support the mediating role of shame between a negatively framed message and a decreased intention to purchase plastic product. High levels of guilt and pride correlated significantly with decreased intention to purchase plastic products. However, there was no evidence found to support the mediating role of these emotions between message valence and intention to purchase. Lastly, the level of environmental concern was taken into account as a possible moderator between message valence and self-conscious emotions, though no evidence was found to support this hypothesis. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for using message framing in reducing plastic consumption.Show less
Cigarette packages are prominent exemplars of placing visuals on packages in an effort to influence consumer behaviour. While such intervention methods and the effects on consumer behaviour are...Show moreCigarette packages are prominent exemplars of placing visuals on packages in an effort to influence consumer behaviour. While such intervention methods and the effects on consumer behaviour are widely studied in the health domain, there is a lack of knowledge about the effects of visuals on consumer behaviour in the environmental domain. Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental problem, therefore, this research investigates whether placing positive or negative framed messages with visuals on plastic packages, have an impact on a consumer’s intention to not purchase a plastic product. Previous studies have shown that negative framed messages have a general stronger effect than positive framed messages on achieving a desired behaviour in other domains however, little is known about which messages valence is best when encouraging pro-environmental behaviours. Contributing to research on encouraging pro-environmental behaviours regarding plastic consumption, data from 98 respondents, who were randomly assigned to either a ‘positive no efficacy’ condition or a ‘negative no efficacy’ condition, was analysed. The independent samples t-test showed no significant evidence for believing that a positive framed message would have a stronger effect in reducing plastic consumption than a negative framed message. In addition, the mediation analysis showed that the message valence had a significant effect on shame despite the absence for a direct effect of the message valence on the intention to not purchase a plastic product. The moderated mediation showed no evidence that the need for social approval has a moderating effect on the relationship between the message valence and shame.Show less
The current study examined the Norm-Activation Model, expanded by perceived social norms, in the context of disconnecting households from the gas grid. A survey distributed amongst residents of the...Show moreThe current study examined the Norm-Activation Model, expanded by perceived social norms, in the context of disconnecting households from the gas grid. A survey distributed amongst residents of the municipality of Leiden (N = 240) indicated that residents who were more aware of the consequences of household gas use upon climate change had stronger positive personal norms towards disconnecting from the gas grid, mediated by a stronger feeling of being personally responsible for the consequences of household gas use upon climate change. Moreover, the positive relationship between feeling personally more responsible for the consequences of household gas use upon climate change and having stronger positive personal norms towards disconnecting from the gas grid was moderated by the perceived social norms towards disconnecting from the gas grid. Findings implicate that Dutch municipalities can influence the personal norms towards disconnecting from the gas grid of their residents by both creating awareness of the consequences of household gas use upon climate and communicating disconnecting from the gas grid as the social norm.Show less
The municipality of Leiden wants to disconnect several neighborhoods from the gas grid by 2030. In order to run this process as smooth as possible, they wanted to know which are factors that...Show moreThe municipality of Leiden wants to disconnect several neighborhoods from the gas grid by 2030. In order to run this process as smooth as possible, they wanted to know which are factors that enhances this process. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the social and personal norms about disconnecting from the gas grid on the perception about disconnecting from the gas grid, and if these relationships are moderated by social identification. An online survey was distributed (N = 240) among inhabitants within the municipality of Leiden. As predicted, the social and personal norms are important predictors in changing someone’s perception about disconnecting from the gas grid. When there is a social norm where it is normal to disconnect from the gas grid, people are more likely to change their personal norms and perception about disconnection from the gas grid according to this social norm. However, contradicting our predictions, identifying with the neighbors or with people that are important to you did not moderate these relations. These findings confirm that social and personal norms foster the perception about disconnecting from the gas grid. Moreover, the municipality can use these findings as a direction in further research or with developing interventions.Show less
