Symbolic Sustainable Attributes Improve Attitude Toward Low-Quality Products: A Warm-Glow Feelings Account

Firms are investing considerable amounts of money to develop sustainable offerings that respond to an important global consumer trend (Olsen, Slotegraaf, and Chandukala 2014). However, sustainable attributes can have either positive, neutral or negative effects on product evaluation (e.g. Bodur, Gao...

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Main Authors: Bezençon, Valéry, Girardin, Florent, Lunardo, Renaud
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Consumer attitudes
Product quality
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Firms are investing considerable amounts of money to develop sustainable offerings that respond to an important global consumer trend (Olsen, Slotegraaf, and Chandukala 2014). However, sustainable attributes can have either positive, neutral or negative effects on product evaluation (e.g. Bodur, Gao, and Grohmann 2013; Luchs, Naylor, Irwin, and Raghunathan 2010). In this research, we report on three experiments to demonstrate that sustainable attributes have a positive effect on consumer attitudes for low-quality (versus medium-) products or services. We also identify the mediating role of warm-glow feelings and of the relative weight of the sustainable attribute (vs utilitarian attribute) in forming product attitude. When external cues signal that the overall quality of a product is low, it discredits performance-related product attributes in a process of quality disconfirmation (Golder et al. 2012). Therefore, in the case of a low-quality product, attributes that do not relate to product performance are likely to gain additional weight in consumers' formation of product attitudes. Accordingly, symbolic sustainable attributes, which do not relate to product performance (vs utilitarian attributes) should improve product or service attitude when external cues signal low quality (Hypothesis 1). Research shows that sustainable attributes induce warm-glow feelings (Chernev and Blair 2015). Given our prediction that symbolic sustainable attributes may gain additional weight when consumers evaluate low-quality products, this change in weighting should in turn lead to an increase in warm-glow feelings. Hence, we expect that warm-glow feelings mediate the effect of a symbolic sustainable attribute on product attitude when external cues signal low product quality (Hypothesis 2). We also propose that this mediating effect is explained by the relative weight of the symbolic sustainable attribute in forming an overall evaluation (i.e. there is a serial mediation; Hypothesis 3). Study 1 used a 2 (product quality: low vs. medium) × 3 (sustainable attribute vs. utilitarian attribute vs. no attribute) be tween-subjecls design to lest H1 and H2. We manipulated product quality with Consumer Reports ratings of a sunscreen product, which was presented as either "Ec°Conscious" (sustainable attribute), "Very Water Resistant" (utilitarian attribute), or without text (no attribute). A sample of 615 US citizens (52% women) completed a survey on MTurk. An ANOVA revealed main effect
ISSN:0098-9258