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When is Sustainability a Liability, and When Is It an Asset? Quality Inferences for Core and Peripheral Attributes

Author

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  • Siv Skard

    (NHH Norwegian School of Economics)

  • Sveinung Jørgensen

    (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences)

  • Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen

    (NHH Norwegian School of Economics)

Abstract

Sustainable products offered in today’s marketplace are labelled with product-related green attributes (i.e. green core attributes) or non-product-related green attributes (i.e. green peripheral attributes). The current research investigates consumers’ inferences about a product’s functional quality when its core attributes are green (e.g. the ingredients) and when its peripheral attributes are green (e.g. the product packaging). Four experimental studies and an internal meta-analysis show that there is a sustainability liability effect in strength-dependent categories (for both core and peripheral attributes), and a sustainability asset effect in gentleness-dependent categories (for core attributes only). Our research contributes to the current understanding of how consumers make inferences about product quality when contemplating different types of green attributes. The findings have implications for how strength-dependent and gentleness-dependent products should be labelled as green.

Suggested Citation

  • Siv Skard & Sveinung Jørgensen & Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen, 2021. "When is Sustainability a Liability, and When Is It an Asset? Quality Inferences for Core and Peripheral Attributes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 109-132, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:173:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-019-04415-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04415-1
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