IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v178y2024ics0148296324001462.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Goal proximity effect on collective action: The mediating role of perceived behavioral impact and collective outcome expectancy

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, Kihyon
  • Jhang, Jihoon
  • Song, Sangyoung
  • Shin, Hyun
  • Song, Sujin

Abstract

Although it is imperative to act collectively for the environment, people are often reluctant to do so, partly because they perceive the impact of their behavior to be limited. This research explores the effect of goal proximity to examine perceptual contingencies in collective action. Drawing on the collective effort model, it examines how pro-environmental behavior can be affected by perceived behavioral impact (i.e., how individuals perceive their behaviors on collective performance) and collective outcome expectancy (i.e., how individuals expect collective performance to lead to desirable collective outcomes). Results from two field experiments and three controlled experiments revealed an effect of goal proximity on collective action intention (H1). This effect was mediated by perceived behavioral impact (H2) and collective outcome expectancy (H3). Interestingly, perceived behavioral impact affected collective outcome expectancy (H4); thus, the goal proximity effect was sequentially mediated (H5). However, these effects dissipated when individuals compared the impact of their own behavior to that of others and perceived it as having less impact. In sum, this research suggests that individuals’ perception of the impact of their own behavior on collective performance is the key factor in promoting collective action for the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Kihyon & Jhang, Jihoon & Song, Sangyoung & Shin, Hyun & Song, Sujin, 2024. "Goal proximity effect on collective action: The mediating role of perceived behavioral impact and collective outcome expectancy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:178:y:2024:i:c:s0148296324001462
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114642
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296324001462
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114642?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wei, Shuqin & Ang, Tyson & Liou, Ru-Shiun, 2020. "Does the global vs. local scope matter? Contingencies of cause-related marketing in a developed market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 201-212.
    2. Katherine White & Rishad Habib & Darren W. Dahl, 2020. "A Review and Framework for Thinking about the Drivers of Prosocial Consumer Behavior," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(1), pages 2-18.
    3. Ayelet Fishbach & Ravi Dhar, 2005. "Goals as Excuses or Guides: The Liberating Effect of Perceived Goal Progress on Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 370-377, December.
    4. Dean Karlan & John A. List, 2007. "Does Price Matter in Charitable Giving? Evidence from a Large-Scale Natural Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1774-1793, December.
    5. Lucia S. G. Barros & Cesar Zucco Jr. & Eduardo B. Andrade & Marcelo Salhab Brogliato, 2020. "From Visitors to Donors: How and Why Funding Rates Vary over Time in All-or-Nothing Noninvestment Crowdfunding Projects," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(1), pages 117-127.
    6. Sen, Sankar & Gurhan-Canli, Zeynep & Morwitz, Vicki, 2001. "Withholding Consumption: A Social Dilemma Perspective on Consumer Boycotts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(3), pages 399-417, December.
    7. Lalin Anik & Michael I. Norton, 2020. "On Being the Tipping Point: Social Threshold Incentives Motivate Behavior," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(1), pages 19-33.
    8. Roberts, James A., 1996. "Green Consumers in the 1990s: Profile and Implications for Advertising," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 217-231, July.
    9. Phipps, Marcus & Ozanne, Lucie K. & Luchs, Michael G. & Subrahmanyan, Saroja & Kapitan, Sommer & Catlin, Jesse R. & Gau, Roland & Naylor, Rebecca Walker & Rose, Randall L. & Simpson, Bonnie & Weaver, , 2013. "Understanding the inherent complexity of sustainable consumption: A social cognitive framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1227-1234.
    10. Bret Leary, R. & Vann, Richard J. & Mittelstaedt, John D., 2017. "Leading the way: Motivating environmental action through perceived marketplace influence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 79-89.
    11. Grant, Adam M. & Campbell, Elizabeth M. & Chen, Grace & Cottone, Keenan & Lapedis, David & Lee, Karen, 2007. "Impact and the art of motivation maintenance: The effects of contact with beneficiaries on persistence behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 53-67, May.
    12. Eric J. Arnould & Adam Arvidsson & Giana M. Eckhardt, 2021. "Consumer Collectives: A History and Reflections on Their Future," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(4), pages 415-428.
    13. Martina Olbert, 2021. "Reimagining Consumerism as a Force for Good: The Future of Consumer Collectives Is a Human Collective," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(4), pages 522-529.
    14. Ji Hoon Jhang & John G. Lynch Jr., 2015. "Pardon the Interruption: Goal Proximity, Perceived Spare Time, and Impatience," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(5), pages 1267-1283.
    15. Ran Kivetz & Oleg Urminsky & Yuhuang Zheng, 2006. "The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention," Natural Field Experiments 00658, The Field Experiments Website.
    16. Cryder, Cynthia E. & Loewenstein, George & Scheines, Richard, 2013. "The donor is in the details," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 15-23.
    17. Duncan, Brian, 2004. "A theory of impact philanthropy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2159-2180, August.
    18. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    19. Kuppuswamy, Venkat & Bayus, Barry L., 2017. "Does my contribution to your crowdfunding project matter?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 72-89.
    20. Huang, Szu-chi & Jin, Liyin & Zhang, Ying, 2017. "Step by step: Sub-goals as a source of motivation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1-15.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Kuppuswamy, Venkat & Bayus, Barry L., 2017. "Does my contribution to your crowdfunding project matter?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 72-89.
    2. Gee, Laura K. & Kiyawat, Anoushka & Meer, Jonathan & Schreck, Michael J., 2024. "Pivotal or popular: The effects of social information and feeling pivotal on civic actions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 404-413.
    3. Diederich, Johannes & Epperson, Raphael & Goeschl, Timo, 2021. "How to Design the Ask? Funding Units vs. Giving Money," Working Papers 0698, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    4. Li, Meng-Ran & Yin, Cheng-Yue, 2022. "Facial expressions of beneficiaries and donation intentions of potential donors: Effects of the number of beneficiaries in charity advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Erlandsson, Arvid & Björklund, Fredrik & Bäckström, Martin, 2015. "Emotional reactions, perceived impact and perceived responsibility mediate the identifiable victim effect, proportion dominance effect and in-group effect respectively," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 1-14.
    6. Cryder, Cynthia E. & Loewenstein, George & Scheines, Richard, 2013. "The donor is in the details," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 15-23.
    7. Silverman, Jackie & Barasch, Alixandra P. & Small, Deborah A., 2023. "Hot streak! Inferences and predictions about goal adherence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    8. Anja Buerke & Tammo Straatmann & Nick Lin-Hi & Karsten Müller, 2017. "Consumer awareness and sustainability-focused value orientation as motivating factors of responsible consumer behavior," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 959-991, October.
    9. Zvilichovsky, David & Danziger, Shai & Steinhart, Yael, 2018. "Making-the-Product-Happen: A Driver of Crowdfunding Participation," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 81-93.
    10. Becchetti, Leonardo & Pelligra, Vittorio, 2014. "Information & belief elicitation effects on charitable giving: An artefactual field experiment," AICCON Working Papers 132-2014, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    11. Maria Rodrigues & João F. Proença & Rita Macedo, 2023. "Determinants of the Purchase of Secondhand Products: An Approach by the Theory of Planned Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    12. Fong, Cher-Min & Chang, Hsing-Hua Stella & Lin, Mong-Ching & Chen, I-Hung, 2022. "Reexamining emerging market animosity toward western developed countries: A social dilemma in physical retailing consumption under normative influence," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    13. Zhiwei Wang & Qiang Liu & Bo Hou, 2022. "How Does Government Information Service Quality Influence Public Environmental Awareness?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, December.
    14. Christian Hopp & Stefan Rose & Jermain Kaminski, 2022. "The Pervasive Role of Campaign and Product-Related Uncertainties in Inhibiting Crowdfunding Success," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, August.
    15. Park, Sohyeon & Kim, Kacy & Park, Seolwoo & Choi, Yung Kyun & Yoon, Sukki, 2023. "Cancel anytime!: How easy cancellation options enhance purchase intentions for services that require long-term commitments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Fan-Osuala, Onochie & Zantedeschi, Daniel & Jank, Wolfgang, 2018. "Using past contribution patterns to forecast fundraising outcomes in crowdfunding," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 30-44.
    17. Balderjahn, Ingo & Peyer, Mathias & Seegebarth, Barbara & Wiedmann, Klaus-Peter & Weber, Anja, 2018. "The many faces of sustainability-conscious consumers: A category-independent typology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 83-93.
    18. Daniel M. Hungerman & Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm, 2021. "Impure Impact Giving: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(5), pages 1553-1614.
    19. Bullard, Olya & Penner, Sara, 2017. "A regulatory-focused perspective on philanthropy: Promotion focus motivates giving to prevention-framed causes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 173-180.
    20. Nadine Chlaß & Lata Gangadharan & Kristy Jones, 2015. "Charitable giving and intermediation," Jena Economics Research Papers 2015-021, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.

    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:eee:jbrese:v:178:y:2024:i:c:s0148296324001462. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    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.