IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v31y2022i4p1275-1291.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The importance of product lifetime labelling for purchase decisions: Strategic implications for corporate sustainability based on a conjoint analysis in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Kathleen Jacobs
  • Jacob Hörisch

Abstract

This article studies the influence of product lifetime labelling on purchase decisions. Based on consumer theory of Lancaster, experimental survey data are collected from a population representative sample of 499 German consumers, using choice‐based conjoint analysis. Hierarchical Bayes utility modelling suggests a substantial positive effect of product lifetime labelling on purchase decisions. However, the effect is not linear but decreasing with higher levels of product lifetime. The relative importance of the product lifetime label is found to be higher than that of the product's energy consumption or brand. Additionally, we show that the introduction of product lifetime labelling renders the positive influence of existing brands on purchase decisions less impactful. Therefore, strategic implications for companies differ substantially, depending on companies' current brand‐building. Besides implications for business strategy, the study informs marketers and policymakers about the potential of product lifetime labelling to stimulate the supply of, and demand for, more durable products.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathleen Jacobs & Jacob Hörisch, 2022. "The importance of product lifetime labelling for purchase decisions: Strategic implications for corporate sustainability based on a conjoint analysis in Germany," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1275-1291, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:4:p:1275-1291
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2954
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2954
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2954?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huber, Joel & Train, Kenneth, 2000. "On the Similarity of Classical and Bayesian Estimates of Individual Mean Partworths," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt7zm4f51b, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    2. Fabrice Larceneux & Florence Benoît-Moreau & Valérie Renaudin, 2012. "Why Might Organic Labels Fail to Influence Consumer Choices? Marginal Labelling and Brand Equity Effects," Post-Print hal-00656485, HAL.
    3. Robert Caruana & Michal J. Carrington & Andreas Chatzidakis, 2016. "“Beyond the Attitude-Behaviour Gap: Novel Perspectives in Consumer Ethics”: Introduction to the Thematic Symposium," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 215-218, June.
    4. Tim Cooper, 2005. "Slower Consumption Reflections on Product Life Spans and the “Throwaway Society”," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 9(1‐2), pages 51-67, January.
    5. Vithala R. Rao, 2014. "Applied Conjoint Analysis," Springer Books, Springer, edition 127, number 978-3-540-87753-0, December.
    6. Nelson, Phillip, 1970. "Information and Consumer Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(2), pages 311-329, March-Apr.
    7. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7842 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Kathleen Krause & Dirk Battenfeld, 2019. "Coming Out of the Niche? Social Banking in Germany: An Empirical Analysis of Consumer Characteristics and Market Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 889-911, March.
    9. Hennies, Laura & Stamminger, Rainer, 2016. "An empirical survey on the obsolescence of appliances in German households," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 73-82.
    10. Kelvin J. Lancaster, 1966. "A New Approach to Consumer Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(2), pages 132-132.
    11. Emine Sarigöllü & Chenxuan Hou & Myriam Ertz, 2021. "Sustainable product disposal: Consumer redistributing behaviors versus hoarding and throwing away," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 340-356, January.
    12. Francesco Testa & Silvia Sarti & Marco Frey, 2019. "Are green consumers really green? Exploring the factors behind the actual consumption of organic food products," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 327-338, February.
    13. Scott, Anthony, 2002. "Identifying and analysing dominant preferences in discrete choice experiments: An application in health care," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 383-398, June.
    14. Lucie L. Sirieix & Marion M. Delanchy & Hervé H. Remaud & Lydia L. Zepeda & Patricia P. Gurviez, 2013. "Consumers' perceptions of individual and combined sustainable food labels: a UK pilot investigation," Post-Print hal-01000413, HAL.
    15. Lars Petersen & Jacob Hörisch & Kathleen Jacobs, 2021. "Worse is worse and better doesn't matter?: The effects of favorable and unfavorable environmental information on consumers’ willingness to pay," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1338-1356, October.
    16. Peter E. Rossi & Greg M. Allenby, 2003. "Bayesian Statistics and Marketing," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 304-328, July.
    17. Huber, Joel & Train, Kenneth, 2000. "On the Similarity of Classical and Bayesian Estimates of Individual Mean Partworths," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt7zm4f51b, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    18. Florence Benoît-Moreau & Fabrice Larceneux & Valérie Renaudin, 2012. "Why Might Organic Labels Fail to Influence Consumer Choices? Marginal Labelling and Brand Equity Effects," Post-Print halshs-00673075, HAL.
    19. Hensher,David A. & Rose,John M. & Greene,William H., 2015. "Applied Choice Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107465923, September.
    20. Krittinee Nuttavuthisit & John Thøgersen, 2017. "The Importance of Consumer Trust for the Emergence of a Market for Green Products: The Case of Organic Food," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 323-337, January.
    21. Cox, Jayne & Griffith, Sarah & Giorgi, Sara & King, Geoff, 2013. "Consumer understanding of product lifetimes," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 21-29.
    22. Fabrice Larceneux & Florence Benoit-Moreau & Valérie Renaudin, 2012. "Why Might Organic Labels Fail to Influence Consumer Choices? Marginal Labelling and Brand Equity Effects," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 85-104, March.
    23. Sue Hornibrook & Claire May & Andrew Fearne, 2015. "Sustainable Development and the Consumer: Exploring the Role of Carbon Labelling in Retail Supply Chains," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 266-276, May.
    24. Matjaž Denac & Matevž Obrecht & Gregor Radonjič, 2018. "Current and potential ecodesign integration in small and medium enterprises: Construction and related industries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 825-837, November.
    25. Schumacher, Ingmar, 2010. "Ecolabeling, consumers' preferences and taxation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 2202-2212, September.
    26. Nicole van Nes & Jacqueline Cramer, 2005. "Influencing product lifetime through product design," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(5), pages 286-299, September.
    27. Lamberto Zollo, 2021. "The Consumers’ Emotional Dog Learns to Persuade Its Rational Tail: Toward a Social Intuitionist Framework of Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 295-313, January.
    28. Darby, Michael R & Karni, Edi, 1973. "Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 67-88, April.
    29. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    30. Jerome Vanclay & John Shortiss & Scott Aulsebrook & Angus Gillespie & Ben Howell & Rhoda Johanni & Michael Maher & Kelly Mitchell & Mark Stewart & Jim Yates, 2011. "Customer Response to Carbon Labelling of Groceries," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 153-160, March.
    31. Brécard, Dorothée & Hlaimi, Boubaker & Lucas, Sterenn & Perraudeau, Yves & Salladarré, Frédéric, 2009. "Determinants of demand for green products: An application to eco-label demand for fish in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 115-125, November.
    32. Jaffry, Shabbar & Pickering, Helen & Ghulam, Yaseen & Whitmarsh, David & Wattage, Prem, 2004. "Consumer choices for quality and sustainability labelled seafood products in the UK," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 215-228, June.
    33. Ynte Dam & Janneke Jonge, 2015. "The Positive Side of Negative Labelling," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 19-38, March.
    34. Francesco Testa & Roberta Iovino & Fabio Iraldo, 2020. "The circular economy and consumer behaviour: The mediating role of information seeking in buying circular packaging," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3435-3448, December.
    35. Francisco José Torres‐Ruiz & Manuela Vega‐Zamora & Manuel Parras‐Rosa, 2018. "Sustainable Consumption: Proposal of a Multistage Model to Analyse Consumer Behaviour for Organic Foods," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 588-602, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jeanette Carlsson Hauff, 2022. "The impact of knowledge on labeling schemes promoting sustainable investing," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2839-2853, November.
    2. Gabriele Torma & John Thøgersen, 2024. "Can a meta sustainability label facilitate more sustainable consumer choices?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 283-306, February.
    3. Karen Page Winterich & Rebecca Walker Reczek & Tamar Makov, 2024. "How lack of knowledge on emissions and psychological biases deter consumers from taking effective action to mitigate climate change," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 1475-1494, October.
    4. Makiko Nakano, 2023. "Examining Preference for Energy-Related Information through a Choice Experiment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guzhen Zhou & Wuyang Hu & Wenchao Huang, 2016. "Are Consumers Willing to Pay More for Sustainable Products? A Study of Eco-Labeled Tuna Steak," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Van Asselt, Joanna & Nian, Yefan & Soh, Moonwon & Gao, Zhifeng & Morgan, Stephen N, 2020. "Do Plastic Warning Labels Reduce Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plastic Packaging?," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304503, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. A. Saidi & G. Sacchi & C. Cavallo & G. Cicia & R. Di Monaco & S. Puleo & T. Del Giudice, 2022. "Drivers of fish choice: an exploratory analysis in Mediterranean countries," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, December.
    4. Hwang, Jiyoung & Chung, Jae-Eun, 2019. "What drives consumers to certain retailers for organic food purchase: The role of fit for consumers’ retail store preference," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 293-306.
    5. Coderre, François & Sirieix, Lucie & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2022. "The facets of consumer-based food label equity: Measurement, structure and managerial relevance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Eva Tebbe & Korbinian von Blanckenburg, 2018. "Does willingness to pay increase with the number and strictness of sustainability labels?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 41-53, January.
    7. Rizzi, Francesco & Gigliotti, Marina & Runfola, Andrea & Ferrucci, Luca, 2022. "Don't miss the boat when consumers are in-store! Exploring the use of point-of-purchase displays to promote green and non-green products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    8. Cosmina Bradu & Jacob Orquin & John Thøgersen, 2014. "The Mediated Influence of a Traceability Label on Consumer’s Willingness to Buy the Labelled Product," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 283-295, October.
    9. Wei, Wei & Kim, Gaeul & Miao, Li & Behnke, Carl & Almanza, Barbara, 2018. "Consumer inferences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims on packaged foods," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 186-201.
    10. Hoyos, David, 2010. "The state of the art of environmental valuation with discrete choice experiments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1595-1603, June.
    11. András István Kun & Marietta Kiss, 2021. "On the Mechanics of the Organic Label Effect: How Does Organic Labeling Change Consumer Evaluation of Food Products?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-25, January.
    12. Aysegul Kanay & Denis Hilton & Laetitia Charalambides & Jean-Baptiste Corrégé & Eva Inaudi & Laurent Waroquier & Stéphane Cézéra, 2021. "Making the carbon basket count: Goal setting promotes sustainable consumption in a simulated online supermarket," Post-Print hal-03403040, HAL.
    13. Giray, Caner & Yon, Belma & Alniacik, Umit & Girisken, Yener, 2022. "How does mothers’ mood matter on their choice of organic food? Controlled eye-tracking study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1175-1185.
    14. Chen, Xianwen & Alfnes , Frode & Rickertsen , Kyrre, 2015. "Labeling Farmed Seafood," Working Paper Series 10-2015, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, School of Economics and Business.
    15. Jessica Bosseaux & Philippe Aurier & Alain François-Heude, 2019. "The official quality signs influence on prices and volumes: the case of organic fresh eggs [L’influence du label Bio sur les prix et les ventes : Le cas des oeufs]," Post-Print hal-03079779, HAL.
    16. Renske van den Berge & Lise Magnier & Ruth Mugge, 2023. "Until death do us part? In‐depth insights into Dutch consumers’ considerations about product lifetimes and lifetime extension," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 908-922, June.
    17. Bronnmann, Julia & Asche, Frank, 2017. "Sustainable Seafood From Aquaculture and Wild Fisheries: Insights From a Discrete Choice Experiment in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 113-119.
    18. Frédéric Salladarré & Patrice Guillotreau & Claire-Marine Lesage & Pierrick Ollivier, 2013. "Les préférences des consommateurs pour un écolabel. Le cas des produits de la mer en France," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 94(3), pages 369-363.
    19. Kassie, Girma T. & Zeleke, Fresenbet & Birhanu, Mulugeta Y. & Scarpa, Riccardo, 2020. "Reminder Nudge, Attribute Nonattendance, and Willingness to Pay in a Discrete Choice Experiment," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304208, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Hoyos Ramos, David, 2010. "Using discrete choice experiments for environmental valuation," BILTOKI 1134-8984, Universidad del País Vasco - Departamento de Economía Aplicada III (Econometría y Estadística).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:4:p:1275-1291. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.