Prior research has demonstrated the critical role of values in promoting sustainable consumption ... more Prior research has demonstrated the critical role of values in promoting sustainable consumption behaviors. However, research is needed to identify novel ways to influence these values so that consumers will act on them. The present research demonstrates a practical and underappreciated way to enhance the values that promote sustainable consumption behaviors. Specifically, we demonstrate that mindfulness has a positive relationship with biospheric and altruistic values (but not egoistic values), and that these values mediate the relationship between mindfulness and two distinct forms of sustainable consumption: socially conscious consumption and frugal (i.e., reduced) consumption. We employ a series of three studies with sample populations drawn from different countries, and we use multiple measures for each of our focal constructs to demonstrate the robustness of our findings. Our findings suggest that marketers and policy makers can integrate mindfulness into their promotion and e...
Contemporary consumers, societies, and ecologies face many challenges to well-being. Consumer res... more Contemporary consumers, societies, and ecologies face many challenges to well-being. Consumer researchers have responded with new attention to what engenders happiness and flourishing, particularly as a function of wiser consumption. Consumer wisdom has been conceptualized as the pursuit of well-being through the application of six interrelated dimensions: responsibility, purpose, flexibility, perspective, reasoning, and sustainability. However, up to now, the roles of marketing management and government policies with respect to enabling and supporting consumer wisdom have not been thoroughly and systematically considered. To do this, the authors adopt an integrative approach based on a range of theoretical and empirical insights from both consumer research and wisdom research in the social sciences. They weave these insights into the stages of an expanded version of the circular economy model of the value cycle, within which they also include the traditional four Ps of the marketin...
Develop a more systematic, human-centered, results-oriented thought process Design Thinking is th... more Develop a more systematic, human-centered, results-oriented thought process Design Thinking is the Product Development and Management Association's (PDMA) guide to better problem solving and decisionmaking in product development and beyond. The second in the New Product Development Essentials series, this book shows you how to bridge the gap between the strategic importance of design and the tactical approach of design thinking. You'll learn how to approach new product development from a fresh perspective, with a focus on systematic, targeted thinking that results in a repeatable, humancentered problem-solving process. Integrating high-level discussion with practical, actionable strategy, this book helps you re-tool your thought processes in a way that translates well beyond product development, giving you a new way to approach business strategy and more.
Corporate sustainability management encompasses multiple dimensions: environmental, social, and e... more Corporate sustainability management encompasses multiple dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Companies are increasingly evaluated within the public sphere, and within their own organizations, according to the degree to which they are perceived to simultaneously promote this nexus of virtues. This article seeks to explore the tensions frequently faced by organizations that strive to manage these dimensions and the role of public policy in that pursuit. A multiple–case study approach is utilized in which the authors selected case organizations according to whether they were attempting to manage the three dimensions of sustainability. The authors utilize paradox theory and a typology provided by previous research to understand the nature of the tensions that emerge in the selected case study organizations. They extend this previous work by examining the role of public policy in providing the situational conditions to make these paradoxical tensions salient, and they examin...
Abstract This article explores the potential of a theoretical framework, based on social cognitiv... more Abstract This article explores the potential of a theoretical framework, based on social cognitive theory (SCT), to inspire future research into sustainable consumption. The SCT framework provides a dynamic perspective on sustainable consumption through exploring the interactive nature of personal, environmental and behavioral factors of consumption. The SCT framework, which builds on prior theoretical models of sustainable consumption, incorporates the concept of reciprocal determinism, wherein personal, environmental and ...
This research seeks to demonstrate consumers' intuition that there is an inherent tradeoff b... more This research seeks to demonstrate consumers' intuition that there is an inherent tradeoff between a given product's "ethical attributes" and the product's effectiveness, or functional performance. Ethical attributes are those attributes that reflect a person's conscience and which may relate to a variety of environmental, individual and societal issues. We demonstrate in our first two studies, using toothpaste (Study 1) and laundry detergent (Study 2) as a product context, that the "ethical = less effective" intuition is moderated by the degree to which the consumer believes that the focal ethical issues are important overall. Those consumers who place the highest importance on these ethical issues infer that these products will actually be more effective. This halo effect, however, disappears and ultimately reverses such that the less importance the consumer places on the ethical issues, the less effective they believe the product will be, i...
While prior research has demonstrated the importance of product form and product function as inde... more While prior research has demonstrated the importance of product form and product function as independent antecedents of consumers' evaluations of products, the current research examines the effect of the interdependence between a product's form and function. Across three studies, we demonstrate that consumers prefer products whose form and function are perceived to be unified and provide evidence that this result obtains in part due to consumers' desire for order in the world around them. We also demonstrate that the effect is qualified by product knowledge and felt involvement such that when both are high, a relative preference for disunity emerges.
Historically, wisdom has been considered a leading character strength for guiding personal well-b... more Historically, wisdom has been considered a leading character strength for guiding personal well-being and the greater good. It has also been routinely considered domain-specific. Hence, consumer researchers should not just borrow conceptualizations or measures of general wisdom from the social sciences or measures of specific wisdom from nonconsumption contexts. Drawing from recent exploratory research on consumer wisdom by Luchs and Mick (Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2018, 28(3), 365-392), we use survey data to test and refine their multidimensional framework as we develop a Consumer Wisdom Scale (CWS). Across five studies, we demonstrate the discriminant, nomological, predictive, and incremental validity of our CWS. We show that it explains unique variance across a variety of indicators of well-being (e.g., satisfaction with life) in comparison to other measures previously associated with well-being (e.g., relationship support). Further, we show that our CWS, versus a general wisdom measure, is more associated with select behaviors relevant to personal well-being and the greater good (e.g., exercise, healthy eating, and financial savings). Closing discussion summarizes our findings and limitations, and suggests future research.
Prior research has demonstrated the critical role of values in promoting sustainable consumption ... more Prior research has demonstrated the critical role of values in promoting sustainable consumption behaviors. However, research is needed to identify novel ways to influence these values so that consumers will act on them. The present research demonstrates a practical and underappreciated way to enhance the values that promote sustainable consumption behaviors. Specifically, we demonstrate that mindfulness has a positive relationship with biospheric and altruistic values (but not egoistic values), and that these values mediate the relationship between mindfulness and two distinct forms of sustainable consumption: socially conscious consumption and frugal (i.e., reduced) consumption. We employ a series of three studies with sample populations drawn from different countries, and we use multiple measures for each of our focal constructs to demonstrate the robustness of our findings. Our findings suggest that marketers and policy makers can integrate mindfulness into their promotion and e...
Contemporary consumers, societies, and ecologies face many challenges to well-being. Consumer res... more Contemporary consumers, societies, and ecologies face many challenges to well-being. Consumer researchers have responded with new attention to what engenders happiness and flourishing, particularly as a function of wiser consumption. Consumer wisdom has been conceptualized as the pursuit of well-being through the application of six interrelated dimensions: responsibility, purpose, flexibility, perspective, reasoning, and sustainability. However, up to now, the roles of marketing management and government policies with respect to enabling and supporting consumer wisdom have not been thoroughly and systematically considered. To do this, the authors adopt an integrative approach based on a range of theoretical and empirical insights from both consumer research and wisdom research in the social sciences. They weave these insights into the stages of an expanded version of the circular economy model of the value cycle, within which they also include the traditional four Ps of the marketin...
Develop a more systematic, human-centered, results-oriented thought process Design Thinking is th... more Develop a more systematic, human-centered, results-oriented thought process Design Thinking is the Product Development and Management Association's (PDMA) guide to better problem solving and decisionmaking in product development and beyond. The second in the New Product Development Essentials series, this book shows you how to bridge the gap between the strategic importance of design and the tactical approach of design thinking. You'll learn how to approach new product development from a fresh perspective, with a focus on systematic, targeted thinking that results in a repeatable, humancentered problem-solving process. Integrating high-level discussion with practical, actionable strategy, this book helps you re-tool your thought processes in a way that translates well beyond product development, giving you a new way to approach business strategy and more.
Corporate sustainability management encompasses multiple dimensions: environmental, social, and e... more Corporate sustainability management encompasses multiple dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Companies are increasingly evaluated within the public sphere, and within their own organizations, according to the degree to which they are perceived to simultaneously promote this nexus of virtues. This article seeks to explore the tensions frequently faced by organizations that strive to manage these dimensions and the role of public policy in that pursuit. A multiple–case study approach is utilized in which the authors selected case organizations according to whether they were attempting to manage the three dimensions of sustainability. The authors utilize paradox theory and a typology provided by previous research to understand the nature of the tensions that emerge in the selected case study organizations. They extend this previous work by examining the role of public policy in providing the situational conditions to make these paradoxical tensions salient, and they examin...
Abstract This article explores the potential of a theoretical framework, based on social cognitiv... more Abstract This article explores the potential of a theoretical framework, based on social cognitive theory (SCT), to inspire future research into sustainable consumption. The SCT framework provides a dynamic perspective on sustainable consumption through exploring the interactive nature of personal, environmental and behavioral factors of consumption. The SCT framework, which builds on prior theoretical models of sustainable consumption, incorporates the concept of reciprocal determinism, wherein personal, environmental and ...
This research seeks to demonstrate consumers' intuition that there is an inherent tradeoff b... more This research seeks to demonstrate consumers' intuition that there is an inherent tradeoff between a given product's "ethical attributes" and the product's effectiveness, or functional performance. Ethical attributes are those attributes that reflect a person's conscience and which may relate to a variety of environmental, individual and societal issues. We demonstrate in our first two studies, using toothpaste (Study 1) and laundry detergent (Study 2) as a product context, that the "ethical = less effective" intuition is moderated by the degree to which the consumer believes that the focal ethical issues are important overall. Those consumers who place the highest importance on these ethical issues infer that these products will actually be more effective. This halo effect, however, disappears and ultimately reverses such that the less importance the consumer places on the ethical issues, the less effective they believe the product will be, i...
While prior research has demonstrated the importance of product form and product function as inde... more While prior research has demonstrated the importance of product form and product function as independent antecedents of consumers' evaluations of products, the current research examines the effect of the interdependence between a product's form and function. Across three studies, we demonstrate that consumers prefer products whose form and function are perceived to be unified and provide evidence that this result obtains in part due to consumers' desire for order in the world around them. We also demonstrate that the effect is qualified by product knowledge and felt involvement such that when both are high, a relative preference for disunity emerges.
Historically, wisdom has been considered a leading character strength for guiding personal well-b... more Historically, wisdom has been considered a leading character strength for guiding personal well-being and the greater good. It has also been routinely considered domain-specific. Hence, consumer researchers should not just borrow conceptualizations or measures of general wisdom from the social sciences or measures of specific wisdom from nonconsumption contexts. Drawing from recent exploratory research on consumer wisdom by Luchs and Mick (Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2018, 28(3), 365-392), we use survey data to test and refine their multidimensional framework as we develop a Consumer Wisdom Scale (CWS). Across five studies, we demonstrate the discriminant, nomological, predictive, and incremental validity of our CWS. We show that it explains unique variance across a variety of indicators of well-being (e.g., satisfaction with life) in comparison to other measures previously associated with well-being (e.g., relationship support). Further, we show that our CWS, versus a general wisdom measure, is more associated with select behaviors relevant to personal well-being and the greater good (e.g., exercise, healthy eating, and financial savings). Closing discussion summarizes our findings and limitations, and suggests future research.
Uploads