New insights into socially responsible consumers: The role of personal values

Given increasing interest in both socially responsible consumption behavior (SRCB) and socially responsible corporate practices in marketing, this study addressed the effects of several personal traits on SRCB (i.e., personal values, collectivism, age, and gender). Findings from an online survey revealed that consumers who valued self‐transcendence (e.g., benevolence and universalism) were more likely to engage in socially responsible consumption (e.g., recycling, avoiding, or reducing usage of products that do long‐term damage to the environment) than those who valued social status and prestige, social power, authority, and wealth. Furthermore, the findings show that older adults and women tended to engage in more SRCB than younger adults and men. Findings also indicate that age and gender were antecedents to the values of self‐transcendence and self‐enhancement.     

Understanding consumption behaviours for fair trade non‐food products: focusing on self‐transcendence and openness to change values

Using the Schwartz value system, this study explored the personal values of consumers related to fair trade product consumption. This study further investigated how the values determine beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions associated with fair trade non‐food products. Data were collected using an online survey from a random sample of 1824 nationwide consumers. The results of this study revealed that fair trade purchasers show a higher level of self‐transcendence (universalism, benevolence) and openness to change values (self‐direction, stimulation) than non‐purchasers. These values also have positive effects on the formation of beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions pertaining to fair trade non‐food products. Fair trade purchasers were also found to possess distinctive socio‐demographic characteristics concerning age, education and income. Findings can offer marketers specific information regarding consumers' motivations to purchase fair trade goods, which can improve targeting of products and ultimately increase the business and benefits of fair trade.     

Personal values associated with political consumption: an exploratory study with university students in Brazil

Emerging countries have witnessed an incredible change in their societal structure in the last few years. In Brazil, the economical rise of the middle class brought more that 100 million people to the marketplace. This stimulus to consumerism (i.e. the social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever‐greater amounts) is accompanied by a notable growth in social movements and mobilization of citizen‐consumers, which indicates changes in the values of individuals and concerns with the direction the society is taking. Conscious and political consumption consequently arises as an alternative way. Especially among young consumers such issues are interesting to address from a theoretical and social point of view, as this new generation will shape the future of the nation. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to analyse socially conscious and political consumption in terms of consumers’ civic engagement as political citizens. We argue that the young political consumer is value‐oriented. The study relied on quantitative research, conducted through an internet‐based survey where 458 valid questionnaires were obtained. Schwartz's Portrait Values Questionnaire was used to measure personal values of the interviewees. Conscious and political consumption were measured through eight questions addressing alter‐ and anti‐consumption actions. The results indicated significant differences among the personal values of the university students that were classified as political consumers. Universalism and benevolence stood out among the core values of this group, with prominence of self‐transcendence, appreciation for equality and concerns for the well‐being of others. However, a gap was observed between the discourse and action of interviewees, once only one‐third of the sample undertook some form of political consumption. The conclusion was that most of the university students interviewed show the will to change society with individual actions, but demonstrate very little political commitment, and currently do not act politically in their purchases.     

How does the negotiation between “me” and “we” in professional identity influence interpersonal horizontal knowledge sharing in multinational enterprises: A conceptual model

Professional identity is an identity that includes two aspects, the personal self (“me”) and the social self (“we”), which are in constant negotiation with each other. The interplay of these two aspects is important because it can shift identity-related motivation and behavior but has received relatively little attention in international business research to date. Recognizing identity dynamics can enrich our understanding of the motivations and behaviors of subsidiary employees in sharing knowledge with overseas colleagues. We develop a conceptual model to reveal the relationship between identity dynamics and interpersonal horizontal knowledge sharing in multinational enterprises. Specifically,- we propose that the different negotiation states between the personal self and the social self of professional identity are related to with whom an employee shares knowledge and what type of knowledge they share. Our article contributes to the knowledge sharing literature by uncovering the psychological mechanisms that influence the behavior of individuals in horizontal knowledge diffusion.     

A cognitive and behavioral hierarchical decision‐making model of college students' alcohol consumption

This study examined college students' drinking behaviors from a consumer behavioral perspective. A consumer‐oriented, cognitive, and behavioral‐hierarchical decision‐making model was developed and tested with the use of structural equation modeling. Questionnaires were collected from undergraduate students ( n = 269) attending a large state university in the southwestern United States. Results indicated that personal values can serve as significant predictors of the attitudes college students have toward alcohol use, which in turn can predict intentions to drink. Results also indicated that intentions to drink are strongly related to actual alcohol consumption, and that gender‐predicted attitudes and alcohol use during the past month influences intentions to drink. However, the structure of the model was similar after controlling for gender differences in alcohol use and for the stability of past behavior. The model delineated the specific roles played by personal values (self‐actualizing values vs. social–hedonic values) and attitudes toward the physical and psychological consequences of drinking. Overall, social–hedonic values and psychological consequences predicted actual alcohol consumption far better than did self‐actualizing values and physical consequences, respectively. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Adding Regret to Fear Appeals: When the Going Gets Difficult,Regret Gets Action

In accord with Protection Motivation Theory, this article finds fear appeals ineffective at motivating health protection behaviors perceived to be difficult; when task difficulty is high, there is a decrease in perceptions of self‐efficacy and a reduction in health protection behaviors. This research examines a novel way to motivate health protection when task difficulty is salient by adding regret to fear appeals. The inclusion of regret, an emotion that motivates corrective behavioral change, bolsters self‐efficacy and enhances health protection intentions. In fact, even when task difficulty is made salient, self‐efficacy and behavioral intentions remain strong in the fear plus regret condition. Thus, in contrast to straight fear appeals, adding regret to fear appeals results in a reversal effect enhancing self‐efficacy and behavioral intentions when task difficulty is made salient. This research highlights the independence of task difficulty, self‐efficacy, and the role of regret in motivating difficult health protection behaviors.     

Materialism and its relationship to individual values

The nature of materialism has been of interest to scholars for many years. Of particular recent interest have been the correlates of materialism and their relationship to each other. This study examined the relationship between individual values, demographics, and materialism. Both self‐enhancement and self‐transcendence values were examined using data from a telephone survey with a random sample of 303 U.S. respondents. It was hypothesized that self‐enhancement is positively related to materialism and self‐transcendence is negatively related. The results suggest that the relationship between values and materialism is more complex than believed previously. Analysis of variance revealed several interactions that were of potential importance for both public policy and marketing strategy. Of particular interest was the interaction between self‐enhancement and self‐transcendence. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Pet‐related consumption as a consumer identity constructor

The objective of this paper was to analyse how pet‐related consumption can be connected to consumer identity construction. This objective is based on the idea that consumers use symbolic meanings from possessions to construct and communicate their identities. Objects of attachment have especially been found to be closely connected to the formation of consumer identity. Furthermore, it is often assumed that consumers struggle to maintain a true sense of self or personal identity while retaining a feeling of belonging and social identity. This may be portrayed through layers of identity, which are composed of personal identity, social identity and other people. Empirical research was conducted using focus groups to create individual collages. The findings indicated that pet‐related consumption was used in the following six ways to construct consumer identity: ‘character developer’, ‘source of well‐being’, ‘means to connect’, ‘status communicator’, ‘object of devotion’ and ‘intermediary’, all of which found their places in the layers of identity. Each of these ways of using pet‐related consumption was paired with one other so that the extremes formulated three dimensions in a consumers' identity construction: the personal dimension, the social dimension and the dimension of emotional attachment. In conclusion, it was proposed that consumer identity construction illustrated via pet‐related consumption as created within both social interactions with meaningful others and those three dimensions is multi‐levelled and multifaceted. The paper invites future research to study both identity construction and emotional attachment, being such multifarious phenomena, and to explore the dynamic interactions that may exist.     

It's about our values: How founder's stories influence brand authenticity

Companies increasingly share the stories behind their brand's founding to engage consumers. The current studies explore how the motives that underlie business formation in founder's stories influence consumer brand perceptions. Specifically, stories that highlight self‐transcendence (vs. self‐enhancement) founder values enhance the perceived authenticity of the focal brand. We examine narrative co fidelity as a mechanism of narrative persuasion through which the audience judges whether the motives underlying character actions represent “good reasons” for action. Across three studies, we show that the values underlying a founder's motivation to start a business influence the perceived authenticity of the associated brand, and this relationship is mediated by narrative fidelity. Further, reader's personal values moderate the influence of founder's values on narrative fidelity judgments, and the relationship between narrative fidelity and brand authenticity is attenuated by a merger between the original company and another company, demonstrating a boundary condition of the observed relationships.     

Generativity and self‐enhancement values in eco‐friendly behavioral intentions and environmentally responsible consumption behavior

During the past 35 years, academic researchers have been examining the relationship between environmentally responsible consumption behavior and numerous antecedent variables. Because sustainability requires a long‐term perspective, the study included generativity, a construct developed by Erikson ( 1950 ) and self‐enhancement values (Schwartz, 1994 ) as antecedent variables for environmentally responsible consumption behavior. Generativity refers to individuals' beliefs that their current behavior has consequences that extend into future generations, while self‐enhancement refers to values relating to power, wealth, and influence. These variables are related in that generativity requires consideration of others while self‐enhancement generally refers to considering only one's self. This suggests that individuals high on generativity ought to be more aware of and concerned about the environment and should modify their behavior accordingly, and those who are high on self‐enhancement should be less concerned or willing to change behavior. The results of the study, including French and American respondents, indicate that individuals who score high on generativity are more likely to have eco‐friendly intentions and more environmentally responsible consumption behaviors, but generativity interacts with self‐enhancement, resulting in an interpretation that is different from that typically found in environmentally related studies. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

“This is who i am”: Identity expressiveness and the theory of planned behavior

This paper explores the role of self‐identity expressiveness and social identity expressiveness in the context of Multimedia Messaging (MMS) adoption. An extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) including a wider array of identity and social influences is developed and tested. As hypothesized, self‐identity expressiveness and social identity expressiveness prove to be significant determinants of intentions to use. Moreover, the extended TPB model explains 62% of the variance in usage intentions. The paper also investigates the relationship between self identity expressiveness and attitude and between social identity expressiveness and subjective norm. The study results indicate that the concept of subjective norm alone is insufficient to capture the rich universe of identity and social influences driving behavioral intentions. Implications for marketing managers and scholars are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Employee participation in non‐mandatory professional development – the role of core proactive motivation processes

With a focus on the self‐initiated efforts of employees, this study examined a model of core proactive motivation processes for participation in non‐mandatory professional development (PD) within a proactive motivation framework using the Self‐Determination Theory perspective. A multi‐group SEM analysis conducted across 439 academic and general employees of an Australian regional University provided initial support for the model. Results indicated that when employees are autonomously motivated to participate in non‐mandatory PD, intrinsic benefits are the most salient aspiration that also mediate the influence of autonomous motivation on transfer implementation intentions. Extrinsic benefits are likely to be a secondary outcome which does not directly relate to transfer implementation intentions. Further research should replicate and extend this core model in other organizational settings where participation in non‐mandatory PD is a critical factor in the effectiveness of the organization.     

A processual theory of green identity formation: the case of young environmentalists in Australia

Using image‐elicited, depth interviews, this qualitative study explores green consumption practices among 20 young environmentalists, aged between 18 and 25 years, in an Australian city with a view to examine how various identity formations reside in their narratives. The study's findings strongly support the applicability of Cherrier and Murray's four‐stage processual theory of identity (sensitization, separation, socialization, striving) to understand young environmentalist's formation of a green identity. The study also develops an emergent processual theory of green identity formation, which encompasses four main stages of control, create, compromise and customize. Each stage corresponds to how the young environmentalists position and negotiate their formative green identities, including first enacting control about their identity; creating their new identity in relation to existing green identity projects; compromising their new identity as it is practiced and socialized in their lives; and finally, customizing their identity as they frame, situate and align personal, social and cultural influences about consumption and their identity. The findings inform green policy makers and institutions working towards building a green consumer society involving young consumers.     

From desire to help to taking action: Effects of personal traits and social media on market mavens’ diffusion of information

While extant research has studied traits of market mavens and the link from mavenism to market helping behavior, there is a need for more research to understand personal and contextual factors that influence actual recommendations of products and differences among market mavens with different traits in that respect. In this study, we took research in the area of market mavenism one step further and investigated the role of personal traits such as self‐esteem and susceptibility to normative interpersonal influence, and the contextual factor of social media, in the frequency of recommendations. We hypothesize that while market mavens with lower self‐esteem are likely to engage in less frequent recommendations, negative effect of their lower self‐esteem is attenuated when they use social media platforms as their medium of choice. Our findings lend support to our hypotheses, including the triple interaction effect between self‐esteem, choice of social media, and market mavenism on market recommendations.     

Trying to complain: the impact of self‐referencing on complaining intentions

This paper introduces the Theory of Trying to complaining behaviour, and argues that complaining intentions can be explained by the model. Moreover, we model propensity to self‐reference (SR) as a moderating variable, and suggest that the effects of the causes to complaining intentions depend on the SR‐level held by consumers. A sample of undergraduate business students participated in the study, where the goal was to get a better understanding of complaining intentions. Our study provides new and additional insights in the drivers of complaining by also taking dispositional personality differences into consideration. The results demonstrate that boundary conditions for main‐effect models like the theory of trying can be fruitfully addressed through the notion of individual differences. The research documented that customers' propensity to complain systematically differed as a function of their level of self‐referencing. This is both good and bad news to managers. The good news is that a proportion of the customers rely less on their previous experiences in the complaining domain when they form intentions to complain. The bad news is that some others do. The obstacle is that managers cannot tell by the look if they are talking to an individual with high or low propensity to self‐reference. As the customer base contains both types case could be taken in designing marketing communication campaigns that target the groups differently.     

Online shopping among Chinese consumers: an exploratory investigation of demographics and value orientation

The current study examined the relationship between Chinese consumers' personal value orientations and their Internet usage and online shopping behaviour. The study was based on responses from a sample of 1620 respondents in five cities in China. Based on Schwartz's value structure, four value orientations were identified and named as ‘openness to change orientation’, ‘self‐enhancement orientation’, ‘conservation orientation’ and ‘self‐transcendence orientation.’ Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between respondents' demographics, socio‐economic characteristics, value orientations and their Internet usage and online shopping behaviour. Also, a structural equation modelling analysis was employed. ‘Openness to change orientation’ and ‘self‐enhancement orientation’ were found to have direct or indirect positive effect on respondents' online shopping behaviour; whereas ‘conservation orientation’ and ‘self‐transcendence orientation’ were not significant in the equation estimation.     

The Role of Beneficiaries’ Group Identity in Determining Successful Appeal Strategies for Charitable Giving

What types of message appeals in charity advertisements are most likely to convince people to donate? Using university rivalry (Studies 1 and 2), nationality (Study 3), and freely chosen groups (Study 4), this research proposes that the beneficiaries’ group identity moderates the relative effectiveness of three benefit foci of message appeals in charity advertisements. The results indicate that other‐benefit appeals produce greater donation intentions than external self‐benefit appeals for in‐group beneficiaries, whereas external self‐benefit appeals produce greater donation intentions than other‐benefit appeals for rival (Studies 1–3), dissociative (Study 4), and neutral (Study 4) out‐group beneficiaries. Emotional‐benefit appeals are more effective than external self‐benefit appeals for in‐group beneficiaries, and are more effective than other‐benefit appeals for neutral out‐group beneficiaries, whereas they are less effective than external self‐benefit appeals for dissociative out‐group beneficiaries (Study 4). Empathy and belief in personal benefits mediate the interaction effect of benefit focus and beneficiary group on donation intentions (Studies 3 and 4). Theoretical and managerial implications of the current findings are discussed.     

Why buy organic rice? genetic algorithm‐based fuzzy association mining rules for means‐end chain data

While empirical studies of organic food consumption have centred primarily on European and North American countries, the amount of research occurring in Asian countries is increasing. This article describes the attributes, consequences, and values influencing consumer perceptions and adoption of organic rice in Taiwan, where rice is the major food. Based on a means‐end chain (MEC) rationale, regulatory focus theory and self‐construal theory, this article describes the attributes, consequences and values influencing Taiwanese consumer perceptions and adoption of organic rice. Using a questionnaire and a sample of 300 organic food shoppers in Taiwan, we applied the MEC technique in a different fashion via the proposed genetic algorithm‐based fuzzy association mining rules (GFAMR) algorithm to depict the attribute‐consequence‐value links to purchasing organic rice. This study has at least two merits: (a) it is among the first integrating regulatory focus theory, self‐construal theory and MEC to explore the reason why Taiwanese consumers purchase organic rice and (b) it introduces a new method to quantitatively deal with MEC analysis. The results show that the most important ultimate values are fun and enjoyment in life and security, which are in line with the promotion focus and prevention focus, respectively, of regulatory focus theory. Furthermore, we found three consumer segments related to organic rice: prevention focused housekeepers, promotion‐focused egoists, and promotion‐focused (meta‐personal self) altruists. The different paths found in the results can also provide green companies and policy makers with more information about organic rice consumers, allowing them to craft better marketing and communication strategies by which to promote organic food.     

Personality,Personal Values,and Consumer Participation in Self‐Production: The Case of Home Meal Preparation

This study investigates the simultaneous influence of personality and personal values on attitude toward self‐production, and how self‐production attitude influences use of time and depth of self‐production behavior in home meal preparation. The results show that self‐control and agreeableness personality traits positively influence attitude toward self‐production, while the resultant self‐enhancement value dimension has a negative effect. Moreover, self‐control negatively moderates the influence of resultant self‐enhancement on self‐production attitude. Attitude toward self‐production has positive influences on both dimensions of self‐production behavior, with a stronger effect on the depth dimension than on the time use dimension. The results support the proposed hierarchical model that personality and personal values relate to more specific self‐production attitude and behavior in a food preparation context.     

“To thine own self(ves) be true”: Reflexive insights for etic self theory from consumers’ emic constructions of the self

The self and related multiple self constructs while widely applied in many guises in consumption‐focused research may be surprisingly underdetermined or misconstrued. What has been missing in particular is a critical perspective assessing an emic view of consumers’ personal theories and narratives of the self. A study using written protocols was conducted to investigate these consumer perspectives and a hermeneutic thematic analysis was developed. Varying accounts of the self in terms of its definition, multiplicity, and related dialectical and reflexive consumption processes were found, suggesting that prior etic self theories ignored many nuances of consumers’ constructions of the self. Building on these accounts, an enhanced theoretical framework of the self emerges involving multiple personal constructions of the self, the reflexivity of the narrative of the self (theory of the self as a construct) with the narrative of oneself (identity construction) and a critical perspective on the discourses of self reflexively involving etic–researcher and emic–consumer cultures.