IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jcopol/v46y2023i2d10.1007_s10603-023-09539-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“I should” Does Not Mean “I can.” Introducing Efficacy, Normative, and General Compensatory Green Beliefs

Author

Listed:
  • M. Penker

    (University of Graz)

  • S. Seebauer

    (JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft Mbh)

Abstract

Compensatory green beliefs (CGBs) denote beliefs that unsustainable behaviours can be compensated for by performing other sustainable behaviours. We propose to differentiate between efficacy, normative, and general beliefs (ECGBs, NCGBs, GCGBs). ECGBs refer to effectively offsetting previous lapses. NCGBs denote feeling morally obliged to make amends. GCGBs refer to trading off unspecified efforts in overall consumption. Employing survey data from n = 502 high school graduates and an n = 145 longitudinal subsample, we find a three-factor structure of CGBs. ECGBs, NCGBs, and GCGBs intercorrelate moderately, indicating their status as different constructs. NCGBs are positively associated with pro-environmental values, self-identity, and social norms, whereas GCGBs are negatively associated with these constructs. CGBs, in particular NCGBs, have unique explanatory power for sustainable behaviours. NCGBs show substantial temporal stability over one year. CGBs need not be destructive, as NCGBs may encourage sustainable action. Persuasive messages could be tailored to specific CGBs in specific behavioural domains.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Penker & S. Seebauer, 2023. "“I should” Does Not Mean “I can.” Introducing Efficacy, Normative, and General Compensatory Green Beliefs," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 223-251, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:46:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10603-023-09539-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10603-023-09539-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10603-023-09539-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10603-023-09539-6?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. Douglas MacCutcheon & Mattias Holmgren & Andreas Haga, 2020. "Assuming the Best: Individual Differences in Compensatory “Green” Beliefs Predict Susceptibility to the Negative Footprint Illusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-10, April.
    2. Dolan, Paul & Galizzi, Matteo M., 2015. "Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-16.
    3. Elizabeth Gabe-Thomas & Ian Walker & Bas Verplanken & Gavin Shaddick, 2016. "Householders’ Mental Models of Domestic Energy Consumption: Using a Sort-And-Cluster Method to Identify Shared Concepts of Appliance Similarity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Sigrun Beige & Kay Axhausen, 2012. "Interdependencies between turning points in life and long-term mobility decisions," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 857-872, July.
    5. Martina Schäfer & Melanie Jaeger-Erben & Sebastian Bamberg, 2012. "Life Events as Windows of Opportunity for Changing Towards Sustainable Consumption Patterns?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 65-84, March.
    6. Welsch, Heinz & Kühling, Jan, 2009. "Determinants of pro-environmental consumption: The role of reference groups and routine behavior," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 166-176, November.
    7. Alexander Maki & Amanda R. Carrico & Kaitlin T. Raimi & Heather Barnes Truelove & Brandon Araujo & Kam Leung Yeung, 2019. "Meta-analysis of pro-environmental behaviour spillover," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 307-315, April.
    8. Fanghella, Valeria & Thøgersen, John, 2022. "Experimental evidence of moral cleansing in the interpersonal and environmental domains," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Wolf, Angelika & Seebauer, Sebastian, 2014. "Technology adoption of electric bicycles: A survey among early adopters," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 196-211.
    10. Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E M & Baumgartner, Hans, 1998. "Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross-National Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(1), pages 78-90, June.
    11. Sebastian Bamberg & Daniel Rölle & Christoph Weber, 2003. "Does habitual car use not lead to more resistance to change of travel mode?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 97-108, February.
    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. Müggenburg, Hannah & Busch-Geertsema, Annika & Lanzendorf, Martin, 2015. "Mobility biographies: A review of achievements and challenges of the mobility biographies approach and a framework for further research," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 151-163.
    2. Bonan, J. & Cattaneo, C. & d’Adda, G. & Galliera, A. & Tavoni, M., 2024. "Widening the scope: The direct and spillover effects of nudging water efficiency in the presence of other behavioral interventions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    3. Alacevich, Caterina & Bonev, Petyo & Söderberg, Magnus, 2021. "Pro-environmental interventions and behavioral spillovers: Evidence from organic waste sorting in Sweden," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A., 2013. "The “green” side of materialism in emerging BRIC and developed markets: The moderating role of global cultural identity," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 69-82.
    5. Babutsidze, Zakaria & Chai, Andreas, 2018. "Look at me Saving the Planet! The Imitation of Visible Green Behavior and its Impact on the Climate Value-Action Gap," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 290-303.
    6. Wang, Feiyang & Shreedhar, Ganga & Galizzi, Matteo M & Mourato, Susana, 2022. "A take-home message: workplace food waste interventions influence household pro-environmental behaviors," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115762, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Monteiro, Mayara Moraes & de Abreu e Silva, João & Haustein, Sonja & Pinho de Sousa, Jorge, 2021. "Urban travel behavior adaptation of temporary transnational residents," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Seebauer, Sebastian, 2017. "Individual Drivers for Direct and Indirect Rebound Effects: A Survey Study of Electric Vehicles and Building Insulation in Austria," FCN Working Papers 17/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    9. Banerjee, Sanchayan & Galizzi, Matteo M. & John, Peter & Mourato, Susana, 2022. "What works best in promoting climate citizenship? A randomised, systematic evaluation of nudge, think, boost and nudge+," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115032, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Bonev, Petyo, 2023. "Behavioral Spillovers," Economics Working Paper Series 2303, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    11. Egner, Lars Even & Klöckner, Christian A., 2021. "Temporal spillover of private housing energy retrofitting: Distribution of home energy retrofits and implications for subsidy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    12. de Haas, M.C. & Scheepers, C.E. & Harms, L.W.J. & Kroesen, M., 2018. "Travel pattern transitions: Applying latent transition analysis within the mobility biographies framework," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 140-151.
    13. Alt, Marius & Gallier, Carlo, 2022. "Incentives and intertemporal behavioral spillovers: A two-period experiment on charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 959-972.
    14. Knook, Jorie & Dorner, Zack & Stahlmann-Brown, Philip, 2022. "Priming for individual energy efficiency action crowds out support for national climate change policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    15. Seebauer, Sebastian, 2015. "Why early adopters engage in interpersonal diffusion of technological innovations: An empirical study on electric bicycles and electric scooters," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 146-160.
    16. Rau, Henrike & Manton, Richard, 2016. "Life events and mobility milestones: Advances in mobility biography theory and research," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 51-60.
    17. Dacko, Scott G. & Spalteholz, Carolin, 2014. "Upgrading the city: Enabling intermodal travel behaviour," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 222-235.
    18. Tsukasa Kato, 2021. "Measurement Invariance in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) Scale among English-Speaking Whites and Asians," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-10, May.
    19. Ziwen Ling & Christopher R. Cherry & John H. MacArthur & Jonathan X. Weinert, 2017. "Differences of Cycling Experiences and Perceptions between E-Bike and Bicycle Users in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-18, September.
    20. Toşa, Cristian & Sato, Hitomi & Morikawa, Takayuki & Miwa, Tomio, 2018. "Commuting behavior in emerging urban areas: Findings of a revealed-preferences and stated-intentions survey in Cluj-Napoca, Romania," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 78-93.

    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:kap:jcopol:v:46:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10603-023-09539-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.