Do Up-Displayed Eco-Friendly Products Always Perform Better? The Moderating Role of Psychological Distance

15 Pages Posted: 13 Apr 2020 Last revised: 7 May 2020

See all articles by Haizhong Wang

Haizhong Wang

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Manqiong Shen

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Yiping (Amy) Song

NEOMA Business School

Ian Phau

Curtin University

Date Written: March 22, 2020

Abstract

With the deterioration of the human living environment, the consumption of eco-friendly products has received increasing attention, specifically with regard to morality. Given the positive metaphorical associations between morality and up-position, up-displayed eco-friendly products can enhance consumers’ positive responses to such products. More importantly, we find that the up-position enhancement effect depends on consumers’ psychological distance from environmental issues. The results from five studies (Studies 1a, 1b, 1c, 2, and 3) demonstrate that when consumers perceive a far psychological distance from environmental issues, up-displaying eco-friendly products can enhance their processing fluency for product information, resulting in more positive product evaluations and higher purchase intentions. However, the enhancement effect of up-displaying eco-friendly products is attenuated when consumers perceive environmental issues as proximal to them. The present findings theoretically contribute to dual-processing models and construal level theory and provide practical benefits to companies’ marketing strategies of eco-friendly products.

Keywords: eco-friendly products; environmental protection; Psychological Distance; metaphorical effect; heuristic processing

Suggested Citation

Wang, Haizhong and Shen, Manqiong and Song, Yiping and Phau, Ian, Do Up-Displayed Eco-Friendly Products Always Perform Better? The Moderating Role of Psychological Distance (March 22, 2020). Journal of Business Research, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3560572

Haizhong Wang

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Manqiong Shen

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Yiping Song (Contact Author)

NEOMA Business School ( email )

59 rue Pierre Taittinger
Reims, 51061
France

Ian Phau

Curtin University ( email )

Kent Street
Bentley
Perth, WA WA 6102
Australia

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