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How Cultural Beliefs and the Response to Fear Appeals Shape Consumer’s Purchasing Behavior Toward Sustainable Products

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Sustainability in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Part of the book series: Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management ((ITKM))

Abstract

This study examines how cultural beliefs and other cognitive processes related with the response to fear appeals can contribute to explain why consumers choose to purchase goods produced by sustainable companies. For this purpose, it tested the Cultural Cognition Theory and the Protection Motivation Theory as determinants of consumers’ purchasing behavior. There are two independent ordered probit regression models that examine the relationships between the proposed independent variables and the behavior of respectively punishing non-sustainable companies and rewarding sustainable companies. Results show that the more egalitarian and the less hierarchical individuals are, the more they will reward sustainable companies. Besides, consumer’s behavior toward the companies is determined by their perception of environmental threat and their perceived response efficacy. These outcomes are relevant for companies seeking to differentiate their products and their image to improve the positioning in the market, and for governments aiming at increasing citizens’ awareness toward global climate change.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/.

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Acknowledgements

The Editors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their cooperation and useful comments and all authors, without whose support, it would not have been possible to produce this book. The views expressed in this article are purely those of the authors and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joint Research Centre – European Commission, Seville, Spain

    Nuria Rodríguez-Priego

  2. Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Francisco J. Montoro-Ríos

Authors
  1. Nuria Rodríguez-Priego
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  2. Francisco J. Montoro-Ríos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nuria Rodríguez-Priego .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Organización de Empresas, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

    Antonio Leal-Millan

  2. Department of Business Administration, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain

    Marta Peris-Ortiz

  3. Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Sevilla, Spain

    Antonio L. Leal-Rodríguez

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Rodríguez-Priego, N., Montoro-Ríos, F.J. (2018). How Cultural Beliefs and the Response to Fear Appeals Shape Consumer’s Purchasing Behavior Toward Sustainable Products. In: Leal-Millan, A., Peris-Ortiz, M., Leal-Rodríguez, A. (eds) Sustainability in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57318-2_4

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