Should I Care for the Environment or Myself? Ads for Green Products: An Abstract

Both consumers and marketers have realized that natural resources are not endless, and firms’ actions can have a major impact on the environment (Kotler 2011). Consumers are more aware of the impact of the products on themselves and the environment. Consequently, firms have put more effort into green marketing strategies by producing environmentally friendly products. Consumers engage in green consumption behavior typically for two reasons: the product provides a benefit to the environment (a chance to protect the environment) or directly to the consumer (White and Simpson 2013; Green and Peloza 2014). Therefore, marketers have been using green advertising appeals while stressing the benefit to the consumer such as less chemical exposure or financial benefits (self-appeal) or the benefit to the environment such as less environmental waste (other-appeal). The notion of influencing consumers by framing the message to highlight the benefit to self and benefit to others has been investigated in other contexts such as donation intentions (e.g., Brunel and Nelson 2000; Nelson and Viela 2009; White and Peloza 2009). However, extant literature stated mixed results in the benefit of using self vs. other appeals. How consumers perceive the green appeals and their associated brand evaluations might depend on individual differences (Ellen et al. 1991). These individual differences can lead to different levels of perceived social responsibility (PSR) of the brand/company which in turn can lead to different consumer outcomes. The current research aims to extend prior research by examining the role of how consumers’ belief on whether their efforts can make a difference influences the ad appeal effectiveness. The current study focuses on the effect of using different types of green message framing (self-benefit vs. other-benefit) on consumers’ perception of the company’s social responsibility, which is known as perceived social responsibility, which then reflects on consumer response (i.e., attitude toward brand and purchase intentions). The results show that different PCE levels influence how consumers perceive green ad appeals and accordingly company’s PSR and responses towards the brand.