IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i12p6966-d579073.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Message Framing on Consumers’ Intentions to Purchase Recycling-Aiding Products in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yang Li

    (Business School, Beijing Technology and Business University, 33 Fucheng Road, Beijing 100048, China)

  • Dandan Yang

    (Business School, Beijing Technology and Business University, 33 Fucheng Road, Beijing 100048, China)

  • Yingying Liu

    (Business School, Beijing Technology and Business University, 33 Fucheng Road, Beijing 100048, China)

Abstract

Recycling can benefit our community and the environment to a considerable degree through the link between collection and processing. Governments and companies make substantive efforts to develop effective communication strategies that encourage people to conduct recycling behaviors by using recycling-aiding products. Across three lab experiments, this research finds that negative frames are more effective in convincing consumers to purchase recycling-aiding products than positive frames. The results can be explained through perceived value and pro-environmental personal norms. Furthermore, negative frames are more effective for consumers with lower environmental involvement. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to examine the framing effect as it applies to communicating messages about recycling-aiding products. Finally, our conclusions provide solid theoretical support and suggestions for policymakers and marketers, such as designing specific advertisements tailored to different demographics.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Li & Dandan Yang & Yingying Liu, 2021. "The Effect of Message Framing on Consumers’ Intentions to Purchase Recycling-Aiding Products in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6966-:d:579073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6966/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6966/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cesare Amatulli & Matteo Angelis & Alessandro M. Peluso & Isabella Soscia & Gianluigi Guido, 2019. "The Effect of Negative Message Framing on Green Consumption: An Investigation of the Role of Shame," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1111-1132, July.
    2. Kalamas, Maria & Cleveland, Mark & Laroche, Michel, 2014. "Pro-environmental behaviors for thee but not for me: Green giants, green Gods, and external environmental locus of control," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 12-22.
    3. Maria Lagomarsino & Linda Lemarie & Michael Puntiroli, 2020. "When saving the planet is worth more than avoiding destruction: The importance of message framing when speaking to egoistic individuals," Post-Print hal-02930264, HAL.
    4. Shailendra Pratap Jain & Charles Lindsey & Nidhi Agrawal & Durairaj Maheswaran, 2007. "For Better or For Worse? Valenced Comparative Frames and Regulatory Focus," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(1), pages 57-65, April.
    5. Levin, Irwin P. & Gaeth, Gary J. & Schreiber, Judy & Lauriola, Marco, 2002. "A New Look at Framing Effects: Distribution of Effect Sizes, Individual Differences, and Independence of Types of Effects," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 411-429, May.
    6. Park, Hyun Jung & Lin, Li Min, 2020. "Exploring attitude–behavior gap in sustainable consumption: comparison of recycled and upcycled fashion products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 623-628.
    7. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Lagomarsino, Maria & Lemarié, Linda & Puntiroli, Michael, 2020. "When saving the planet is worth more than avoiding destruction: The importance of message framing when speaking to egoistic individuals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 162-176.
    9. Jian Wang & Yen Hsu, 2019. "Does Sustainable Perceived Value Play a Key Role in the Purchase Intention Driven by Product Aesthetics? Taking Smartwatch as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-24, November.
    10. Levin, Irwin P & Gaeth, Gary J, 1988. "How Consumers Are Affected by the Framing of Attribute Information before and after Consuming the Product," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(3), pages 374-378, December.
    11. Sheth, Jagdish N. & Newman, Bruce I. & Gross, Barbara L., 1991. "Why we buy what we buy: A theory of consumption values," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 159-170, March.
    12. Noah J. Goldstein & Robert B. Cialdini & Vladas Griskevicius, 2008. "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 472-482, March.
    13. Morwitz, Vicki G. & Steckel, Joel H. & Gupta, Alok, 2007. "When do purchase intentions predict sales?," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 347-364.
    14. Levin, Irwin P. & Schneider, Sandra L. & Gaeth, Gary J., 1998. "All Frames Are Not Created Equal: A Typology and Critical Analysis of Framing Effects," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 149-188, November.
    15. Han, Heesup, 2015. "Travelers' pro-environmental behavior in a green lodging context: Converging value-belief-norm theory and the theory of planned behavior," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 164-177.
    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. Nika Hein, 2022. "Factors Influencing the Purchase Intention for Recycled Products: Integrating Perceived Risk into Value-Belief-Norm Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Zhang, Jun & Shi, Hongxu & Sheng, Jiping, 2022. "The effects of message framing on novel food introduction: Evidence from the artificial meat products in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

    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. Freling, Traci H. & Vincent, Leslie H. & Henard, David H., 2014. "When not to accentuate the positive: Re-examining valence effects in attribute framing," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 95-109.
    2. Yi-Fen Chen & Shi-Han Chang, 2016. "The online framing effect: the moderating role of warning, brand familiarity, and product type," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 355-374, September.
    3. Mark J Hurlstone & Stephan Lewandowsky & Ben R Newell & Brittany Sewell, 2014. "The Effect of Framing and Normative Messages in Building Support for Climate Policies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Kim, Jungkeun & Kim, Jae-Eun & Marshall, Roger, 2014. "Search for the underlying mechanism of framing effects in multi-alternative and multi-attribute decision situations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 378-385.
    5. Rahman, Arifur & Crouch, Geoffrey I. & Laing, Jennifer H., 2018. "Tourists' temporal booking decisions: A study of the effect of contextual framing," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 55-68.
    6. Mathur, Pragya & Jain, Shailendra Pratap & Hsieh, Meng-Hua & Lindsey, Charles D. & Maheswaran, Durairaj, 2013. "The influence of implicit theories and message frame on the persuasiveness of disease prevention and detection advocacies," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 141-151.
    7. Todd McElroy & David L. Dickinson & Irwin P. Levin, 2019. "Thinking About Decisions: An Integrative Approach of Person and Task Factors," Working Papers 19-04, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    8. Van de Velde, Liesbeth & Verbeke, Wim & Popp, Michael & Van Huylenbroeck, Guido, 2010. "The importance of message framing for providing information about sustainability and environmental aspects of energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5541-5549, October.
    9. Idris Adjerid & Alessandro Acquisti & George Loewenstein, 2019. "Choice Architecture, Framing, and Cascaded Privacy Choices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 2267-2290, May.
    10. Katharina Dowling & Daniel Guhl & Daniel Klapper & Martin Spann & Lucas Stich & Narine Yegoryan, 2020. "Behavioral biases in marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 449-477, May.
    11. Krishnamoorthy, Ganesh & Maroney, James J. & Ó hÓgartaigh, Ciarán, 2008. "20-F reconciliations and investment recommendations by financial professionals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 355-362, April.
    12. Wong, Kin Fai Ellick & Kwong, Jessica Y.Y., 2005. "Comparing two tiny giants or two huge dwarfs? Preference reversals owing to number size framing," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 54-65, September.
    13. Kuvaas, Bard & Selart, Marcus, 2004. "Effects of attribute framing on cognitive processing and evaluation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 198-207, November.
    14. Klaus Abbink & Heike Hennig-Schmidt, 2006. "Neutral versus loaded instructions in a bribery experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 9(2), pages 103-121, June.
    15. Gelbrich, Katja & Schröder, Eva-Maria, 2008. "Werbewirkung von Furchtappellen: Stand der Forschung," Ilmenauer Schriften zur Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre, volume 2, number 22008, September.
    16. Carlos Andres Trujillo & Catalina Estrada-Mejia & Jose A Rosa, 2021. "Norm-focused nudges influence pro-environmental choices and moderate post-choice emotional responses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-23, March.
    17. Cesare Amatulli & Matteo Angelis & Alessandro M. Peluso & Isabella Soscia & Gianluigi Guido, 2019. "The Effect of Negative Message Framing on Green Consumption: An Investigation of the Role of Shame," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1111-1132, July.
    18. Nguyen, Stephanie & Nicod, Lionel & Llosa, Sylvie, 2024. "Preventing bypass on sharing economy platforms: The impact of message framing on users’ bypass intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    19. Robert C. Bird & Vivek Soundararajan, 2020. "The Role of Precontractual Signals in Creating Sustainable Global Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 81-94, June.
    20. van Buiten, Marc & Keren, Gideon, 2009. "Speaker-listener incompatibility: Joint and separate processing in risky choice framing," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 106-115, January.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6966-:d:579073. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.