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What if consumers saw the bigger picture? Systems thinking and the adoption of bio-based consumer products

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  • Wensing, Joana
  • Baum, Chad
  • Carraresi, Laura
  • Bröring, Stefanie

Abstract

Systems thinking (ST) represents an important cognitive paradigm for the transition towards a circular bio-economy, as greater awareness of the environmental impact of fossil-based products may lead to a switch to sustainable alternatives produced from secondary biomass which is not used as feed or food. However, the relationship between ST and the adoption of bio-based products, as well as the general mechanism of how ST affects environmental behavior, is not yet well-understood. The present study therefore aims to close these research gaps by conducting a survey-based experiment with a ST-motivated treatment, in which participants are asked to list as many consequences of their consumption behavior as possible (N=446 US consumers). Our findings suggest that the treatment is able to slightly activate a ST perspective, along with indirectly affecting consumer intentions to buy bio-based products by means of ST. Subsequent mediation analyses further reveal that an ecological worldview as well as variables from the norm-activation model function as mediators of the relationship between ST and purchase intention.

Suggested Citation

  • Wensing, Joana & Baum, Chad & Carraresi, Laura & Bröring, Stefanie, 2021. "What if consumers saw the bigger picture? Systems thinking and the adoption of bio-based consumer products," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:94:y:2021:i:c:s2214804321000926
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2021.101752
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    1. Sebastian Hinderer & Andreas Kuckertz, 2022. "The bioeconomy transformation as an external enabler of sustainable entrepreneurship," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2947-2963, November.

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