Download Motivational complexity of green consumerism

Motivational complexity of
green consumerism
Johanna Moisander
International Journal of Consumer
Studies 31/4 (2007) 404-409
Johanna Moisander
• Professor of
Organizational
Communication at
Aalto University,
Helsinki
• Research interests:
corporate responsibility
and strategic change
(Aalto University, undated)
Green consumerism
What is green consumerism?
“the purchasing and non-purchasing
decisions made by consumers, based
at least partly on environmental or
social criteria”
(Peattie cited in Muldoon 2006:1)
Central idea of the article
Green consumerism is a responsibility too
heavy and too complex for being the
project of an individual consumer.
Communities of consumers or rather
social grass roots movements can deal
with it better.
Key concepts
Utilitarian perspective
“places the locus of right and wrong solely
on the outcomes (consequences) of
choosing one action/policy over other
actions/policies”
(Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy 2002)
Key concepts
Motivation
“the problem of accounting for direction, vigour
and persistence of behaviour”
(Atkinson in Moisander 2007:404; original emphasis)
Motive
“something (as a need or desire) that causes a
person to act”
(Merriam Webster, undated)
Key concepts
Behavioural category
“the set of acts that have a common goal
or valued end state”
(Ajzen and Fishbein cited in Verhallen and van Raaij
1986:24)
Key concepts
Free rider problem
• n-prisoner’s-dilemma
• Logic of collective action
Captured in the popular slogan:
“Let George do it.”
(Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy:2003)
Line of reasoning
Moisander’s analytical framework is a
simple model of motivation.
She employs it to provide new insights in
the motivational challenges of green
consumerism.
Simple model of motivation
Primary motives
overt – hidden
Selective Motives
overt – hidden
Resources
personal
Motivation
BEHAVIOUR
Ability
Opportunity
external
see Moisander 2007:405
1. Motivational challenges
Diversity of primary motives
“the basic strategies and areas of
environmental concern are many and there is
little agreement upon what qualifies for
environmentally sound behaviour with respect
to the general goal of protecting environment”
(Moisander 2007:406)
Which are the appropriate
consumption strategies?
Disagreement on:
• Basic objectives and strategies of green
consumerism
Radical versus liberal
• Criteria for ecologically sound products/
services
• Areas of environmental concern
Moisander’s first point
1.Green consumerism involves
difficult value judgements.
2. Multiple selective motives
Ecologically responsible consumption =
behavioural category
But:
• Relevant elements?
• Weight of each behaviour?
• Extent of behaviour?
Moisander’s second point
2. Most green consumers perform only
what they interpret as their “fair share of
the things that they know and come to
think of as environmental-friendly
behaviours that can be done” (Moisander
2007:406).
3. Personal resource
constraints
Green consumerism requires careful
deliberation
and often even:
• Specialist knowledge
• Practical skills, task knowledge.
But: “controversial and dubious nature of
ecological information” (Moisander 2007:407)
Moisander’s third point
3. For green consumers it is often difficult
to decide what is the correct thing to do.
They need knowledge, skills and
information – information that is often
confusing.
This may either demotivate or serve as
an excuse.
4. Motivational conflicts and
moral complexity
Question of both normative ethics and
philosophy
• Commitment problem
• Need for understanding of ethical
issues involved
• Utilitarian perspective of consumer’s
decision-making problematic
Moisander’s fourth point
4. There are many alternative ways of
reflecting on the ethical issues of green
consumerism.
Conclusion
Ecologically responsible behaviour:
1. Involves difficult value judgements
2. Differs significantly from consumer to
consumer
3. Depends on information that is often
confusing rather than helpful
4. Includes moral deliberation that can
be based on different concepts
Conclusion
Problematic:
• Public discourse expecting too much of
green consumers
• Framing consumers only as powerful
market actors bringing about social
change by their purchasing power
• Environmental policy focusing only on
individual consumer
Future directions
• Consumer research focused on groups,
communities and cultures
• Challenge of “dominant individualistic
techno-economic discourse” (Moisander
2007:409)
• Introduction of new perspectives on
human dimensions of environmental
policy, new possibilities “for consumers
as citizens” (ibid.)
References
•
Moisander, Johanna (2007): Motivational complexity of green consumerism. In:
International Journal of Consumer Studies 31 (4): 404-409.
• Muldoon, Annie (2006): Where the Green Is: Examining the Paradox of
Environmentally Conscious Consumption. In: Electronic Green Journal 1 (23): 118.
• Verhallen, Theo M.M. and van Raaij, W. Fred (1986): How Consumers Trade Off
Behavioural Costs and Benefits. In: European Journal of Marketing 20 (3/4): 1934.
Online References:
• Aalto University (undated): Johanna Moisander. Internet:
https://people.aalto.fi/index.html?profilepage=isfor#!johanna_moisander
(15/06/2013).
• Merriam Webster (undated): Motive. Internet: http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/motive (15/10/2013).
• Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy (2002):
http://www.phil.cmu.edu/cavalier/80130/part2/sect9.html (15/10/2013).
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2003): The Free Rider Problem. Internet:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/free-rider/ (15/10/2013).