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OCR for page 83
Promoting "Green" Consumer Behavior
with Eco-Labels
John Th0gersen*
Eco-labeling is one among a number of policy tools that are used in what
has been termed an Integrated Product Policy (Nordic Council of Minis-
ters, 2001~. The increasing popularity of product-oriented environmen-
tal policy in Europe and elsewhere is based on the perception that the abatement
of pollution from industrial and other large sources is now within reach. Hence,
the relative importance of pollution from "nonpoint" sources (Milj0styrelsen,
1996), particularly pollution (and resource use) associated with private consump-
tion (Geyer-Allely and Eppel, 1997; Norwegian Ministry of Environment, 1994;
Organization for Economic Co-operation [OECD], 1997b; Sitarz, 1994), has
increased. However, not only the composition, but also the volume of con-
sumption in the industrialized countries is increasingly acknowledged to be un-
sustainable. If widely accepted prognoses for the growth in global consumption
are realized, a factor 4 or greater reduction in the environmental impact per
produced unit is needed in the next 40 to 50 years just to keep the total environ-
mental impact at the current level (Milj0styrelsen, 1996~.
As a means to reduce the pollution and resource use following from con-
sumption, attempts are made to motivate consumers to switch to less environ-
mentally harmful and resource-consuming products. One of the increasingly
popular tools is to label the least harmful products in such a way that consumers
can distinguish them from others (OECD, 1991, 1997a; U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency [EPA], 1998~. The hope is that consumers' choices will give
producers of (relatively) environment-friendly products a competitive advan-
*The author would like to express gratitude to Doug McKenzie-Mohr and Paul Stern for helpful
comments on an earlier draft of this chapter.
83
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84
PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
sage, allowing them to gradually push less environment-friendly products out of
the market (Milj0- og Energiministeriet, 1995; OECD, 1991~. In addition, it is
hoped that the anticipated competitive advantage gives companies an incentive
to develop new products that are more friendly to the environment (Beckman et
al., 1995; Milj0styrelsen, 1996; OECD, 1991; EPA, 1998~.
Other tools in the Integrated Product Policy toolbox are mandatory stan-
dards, taxes and subsidies, and voluntary agreements. These means are not
necessarily alternatives to labeling, of course. They may be and have been-
used in combination. An important advantage of voluntary means is that they
make it possible to proceed faster than is politically feasible by means of legal
restrictions and taxes. Eco-labeling is unique in that it rewards proactive compa-
nies and thereby has the capacity to harness their innovative creativity to the
environmental policy carriage, instead of directing it toward ways of avoiding
the consequences of regulation (e.g., Tenbrunsel et al., 1997~. In addition, it is
hoped that eco-labeling will help increase consumer attention toward, and knowl-
edge about, the environmental risks associated with consumption (Beckman et
al., 1995; Milj0- og Energiministeriet, 1999; Nordic Council of Ministers, 2001;
OECD, 1991, 1997a; EPA, 1998~.
Others have expressed fear that environmental claims on products may le-
gitimize continued consumerism (e.g., Davis, 1992; Durning, 1992) and that the
possible environmental gain from a shift to less harmful products may be more
than offset by the continued rapid growth in the volume of consumption (e.g.,
Matthews et al., 2000; United Nations Environment Program, 1994~. For exam-
ple, many serious environmental impacts from traffic are still increasing in spite
of more energy-efficient engines and catalytic converters (Mackenzie, 1997;
Noorman and Uiterkamp, 1998), and the volume of waste is still growing in spite
of increased recycling (Milj0- og Energiministeriet, 1999; Waller-Hunter,2000~.
Whether eco-labeling contributes to consumer ignorance concerning such devel-
opments or, on the contrary, makes them more attentive to the problems associ-
ated with growing consumption is a question still not settled by research, to my
knowledge.
The effectiveness of eco-labeling, in a narrow sense, is reflected in the re-
duction in pollution and resource use that can be attributed to the labeling. To
calculate its efficiency, the costs of using this measure also should be included
(Morris, 1996~. However, the full picture of eco-labeling's effectiveness and
efficiency includes positive and negative effects on consumer/citizens' percep-
tions about, attentiveness toward, and readiness to act to solve environmental
problems in general. To complicate the issue further, the effectiveness of eco-
labels, both in a narrow and in a wider sense, may depend on the mutual imple-
mentation of other policy measures (e.g., Gardner and Stern, 1996), notably
environmental education and information about the labels.)
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JOHN TH~GERSEN
85
EGO-LABELS AND CONSUMER DECISION MAKING
Consumer decision making concerning eco-labeled products involves con-
siderations about the label as well as about the specific product itself. To reduce
the analytical complexity, I consider the decision making as consisting of two
interwoven, but partly independent decision and learning processes: one con-
cerning a specific product and one concerning a specific label.
At least in the eyes of the consumer, a product that suddenly comes with an
eco-label is an innovation, that is, a new product that differs more or less from
the nonlabeled product that it may have replaced and from other nonlabeled
products in the same category. The eco-label documents and communicates that
the product has certain characteristics leading to outstanding eco-performance.
Innovation adoption theory describes the decision to buy such a product as a
learning process, consisting of a number of successive phases, where the con-
sumer obtains, accumulates, and integrates knowledge about the product and
evaluates its self-relevance (e.g., Peter et al., 1999; Rogers, 1995~. Communica-
tionwise, the process may be conceived as a hierarchy of stages (or effects) that
the consumer needs to go through before making a decision to buy the new
product. What these stages are, as well as their succession, depends on a number
of circumstances, notably how risky the decision is perceived to be (e.g., Hoyer
and MacInnis, 1997~. Because the decision making process may be lengthy,
and can be interrupted anywhere in the process, the evaluation of an eco-labeling
scheme's success should be based not only on its eventual environmental out-
comes, but also on its influence on the move from one stage in the decision
process to the next (Abt Associates Inc., 1994; Nordic Council of Ministers,
2001~.
An eco-label is an innovation in itself. Hence, the process through which
the consumer learns about and adopts the eco-label also may be described as an
innovation adoption process in which the final adoption is reflected in the pur-
chase of products carrying the label.
The purchase of "x-labeled" (an eco-label) products is a behavioral category
consisting of many independent actions, rather than just a single action (Ajzen
and Fishbein, 1980~. An important question, which to my knowledge remains to
be answered, is whether consumers form mental categories based on eco-labels,
as they have been known to do based on (some) other product characteristics
(e.g., Cohen, 1982; Sujan, 1985~. Because eco-labels typically are not restricted
to one established product category, new mental categories based on eco-labels
may cross established boundaries. The formation of such new mental categories
is not likely unless consumers perceive environment friendliness as an important
product attribute, both in an absolute sense and relative to other salient attributes
(Gutman,1982~. Therefore, new cross-boundary eco-categories seem more like-
ly to emerge in traditional low-involvement areas, such as groceries, than in
traditional high-involvement areas, such as furniture, white goods, and electron-
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PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
ic equipment. For example, it seems more likely that consumers will form a new
cross-boundary product category for organic food products carrying a third-party
eco-label, such as the Danish 0-label, than for energy-efficient white goods
carrying, say, European Union's (EU's) mandatory energy labeling's A-classifi-
cation. If consumers form such categories, they may use them as the basis for
category-based decision making in future choice situations when encountering
labeled products of the same or different kindest (Cohen, 1982; Fiske and Pavel-
chak, 1986; Sujan, 1985~. This would increase the likelihood of repeat purchase
of eco-labeled products and speed up the adoption process for other new prod-
ucts wearing the same label. There is evidence that mental categories carry
affect, which is used when evaluating entities that fit the category (Cohen, 1982;
Fiske and Pavelchak, 1986~. Because environmental attitudes seem to have
acquired a moral basis for many people in modern society (e.g., Harland et al.,
1999; Heberlein, 1972; Th0gersen, 1996b, 1999), the affect associated with eco-
categories may be more charged than usual product-related attitudes (e.g., Peter
et al., 1999~. Strong category-based affect further increases the likelihood that
eco-categories have behavioral implications (Verplanken et al., 1998~.
RESEARCH ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EGO-LABELS
Of course, environmental labels are useful from an environmental policy
perspective only if consumers use them in their decision making. However,
there are still few published studies of the effectiveness of labeling schemes in
this respect (OECD, 1997a). Most of the published studies focus on consumers'
recognition of or knowledge about labels and/or their trust in them (Bekholm
and Sejersen, 1997; Tufte and Lavik, 1997), implicitly or explicitly assuming
that these are fundamental prerequisites for the use of a label in decision making.
However, practically all studies are purely descriptive, leaving the question of
why consumers know, notice, and use labels only sporadically answered. With
few exceptions (e.g., Verplanken and Weenig, 1993), it is not systematically
considered how the decisions that the labels are meant to influence are made
and/or the implications of the decision making process for the functioning and
effectiveness of labeling. For example, plenty of evidence shows that how and
how much consumers attend to information in a buying situation depends on
their involvement (e.g., Celsi and Olson, 1988; Herr and Fazio, 1993; Kokkina-
ki, 1997~. In general, one cannot count on information about environmental
consequences, in the form of a label or otherwise, producing high involvement in
itself. Theisolated consequences environmental as well es persona! of each
individual decision are simply too small in most cases (Th0gersen,1998~. If this
is the case, and if other self-relevant information competes for the consumer's
attention sometimes to a degree to which the consumer experiences informa-
tion overload (Jacoby, 1984) consumers may easily fail to notice relevant la-
bels in the buying situation.
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JOHN TH~GERSEN
87
In a recent publication, I have reasoned at length about how and why con-
sumers attend to eco-labels (Th0gersen, 2000b). It is emphasized that "paying
attention to eco-labels" is hardly a goal in itself, but rather a means to a goal:
buying environment-friendly products, which is a means to a more abstract goal
about protecting the environment. Thus, it is unlikely that a consumer will pay
attention to an environmental label unless he or she values protecting the envi-
ronment, perceives that buying (more) environment-friendly products is an ef-
fective means to achieve this goal, and finds that the information the label con-
veys is useful for this purpose. In addition, the availability of eco-labeled
products in the shops and the consumer's ability to recognize and understand the
labels undoubtedly influence attention toward this type of label.
Empirically, I find that a large majority of the consumers in four analyzed
countries pay attention to eco-labels at least sometimes. As predicted, paying
attention to eco-labels is strongly influenced by the belief in considerate buying
as a means to protect the environment and by the trust in the labels. The person-
al importance of environmental protection (proenvironmental attitude) and per-
ceived effectiveness regarding the solving of environmental problems also influ-
ence paying attention to eco-labels, but this influence is mediated through the
former two concepts (belief and trust). In three of the analyzed cases, there is
also an interaction effect between proenvironmental attitude and trust, meaning
that the influence of proenvironmental attitude on paying attention is higher
when the consumer trusts the label (and the influence of trust higher when the
consumer holds a proenvironmental attitude).
Environmental Outcomes
Only a few studies have attempted to estimate the environmental impact of
eco-labels. The most thoroughly evaluated schemes the Swedish Society for
Nature Conservation's "Good Environmental Choice" label, the Nordic Council
of Ministers' Swan label, and the German Blue Angel label are presumably
also the most successful ones. For example, the Blue Angel has been credited
for a reduction in emissions of sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen
oxides from oil and gas heating appliances by more than 30 percent and for a
reduction in the amount of solvents emitted from paints and varnishes into the
environment by some 40,000 tons (United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development, 1995~. In Sweden, the Good Environmental Choice and the Nordic
Swan labels have been credited for a considerable reduction in (1) chlorinated
compounds, acids, and other pollutants from the Swedish forest industry (paper
products) (Naturvardsverket, 1997), and (2) the volume and toxicity of house-
hold chemical emissions, particularly laundry detergents, down the drains (Beckerus
and RosanderHB, 1999; Scandia Consult Sverige AB, 1999; The Swedish Soci-
ety for Nature Conservation, 1999~. I will elaborate on the latter case.
Laundry detergents represent 70 percent of the annual consumption of house-
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PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
hold chemicals in Sweden,2 which makes it a particularly environmentally sig-
nificant product category. Since the Good Environmental Choice and the Nordic
Swan labels were introduced in the late 1980s, Swedish consumers have changed
their demand from less to more concentrated products and have rejected the most
environmentally harmful chemicals, a development that has been largely attrib-
uted to the two labels (Beckman et al., 1995~. Specifically, the sales volume of
household chemicals for cleaning and personal care decreased by 15 percent
between 1988 and 1996. Furthermore, in 1996, 60 percent of the chemical
ingredients used in soap, shampoo, detergents, and cleaners in 1988 had been
removed or replaced by less harmful substances. In 1997, eco-labeled detergents
had a market share of more than 90 percent in Sweden.
As already mentioned, these are undoubtedly some of the most successful
eco-labeling schemes. But still, they encouragingly demonstrate that under the
right circumstances, eco-labeling has the power to produce a substantial reduc-
tion in the environmental pressure from serious sources of household pollution.
Important prerequisites are consumer receptiveness to information about prod-
ucts' environmental attributes (i.e., environmental concern and belief in respon-
sible consumer behavior as a means to solve the problem), company willingness
to adopt eco-labeling schemes, and sufficient effort in promoting the schemes to
consumers. Together, these conditions decisively influence the speed by which
consumers become aware of eco-labels and of new eco-labeled products and by
which they pass through the subsequent stages in the decision making process.
The Eco-Label Hierarchy of Effects
Awareness
Knowing that a label exists is a prerequisite for using it in decision making.
This basic type of knowledge is typically measured as (aided and/or unaided)
recall in surveys (e.g., Dyer and Maronick, 1988; OECD, 1997a). The results
vary widely, reflecting the presence of labels in the stores, the efforts put into
promoting a label, the clarity of the label's profile, and its perceived self-rele-
vance for consumers (Van Dam and Reuvekamp, 1995~. A 1999 survey in the
Nordic countries found that between 61 and 75 percent of random samples in
Norway, Sweden, and Finland were able to recall the Swan label unaided when
asked about which eco-labels could be found on products in their country (Palm
and Jarlbro, l999~. Recurrent surveys show that awareness about the Swan label
was built gradually in these countries since its introduction in the early 1990s
(Beckman et al., 1995~. In Denmark the unaided recall in 1999 was a much
lower 18 percent. Although the Swan label was introduced in the other Nordic
countries in 1989, Denmark only became a full member of this labeling scheme
in the beginning of 1998, which undoubtedly explains the difference. Between
1997 and 1999, aided recall of the Swan label in Denmark rose from 37 to 51
OCR for page 89
JOHN TH~GERSEN
89
percent. During that time, the label was promoted through newspaper and mag-
azine ads, leaflets in shops, and public relations work and the number of Swan-
labeled products in the shops rose from 1,000 to 1,300 (Kampmann, 2000~. In
Denmark, 31 percent of the respondents mentioned the national organic food
label (the 0-label) unaided, which is substantially higher than in the other Nor-
dic countries.3 The unaided recall of EU's Flower label was below 2 percent in
all four countries, and most other environment-related labels also achieved low
unaided recall (Palm and Jarlbro, 1999~.
An indicator of label awareness with particularly high face validity is the
recognition of visual images of the label. A Dutch study found a wide variation
in the recognition of 11 environment-related labels from 11.5 percent recogni-
tion of the Society of Plastic Industry Symbol to 92.7 percent recognition of the
chasing-arrows recycling symbol (Van Dam and Reuvekamp, 1995~. The length
of time a label was on the market generally correlated with an increase in recog-
nition. Recognition also depended on the type and amount of promotion backing
the label. A similar study in Denmark in 1997 investigated the recognition of
five environment-related and five safety and/or health-related labels (Bekholm
and Sejersen, 1997~. On average, the environment-related labels were better
known, but as in the Netherlands, recognition varied widely, from 18 percent
recognizing EU's Flower label to 89 percent recognizing the chasing-arrows
recycling symbol. This study was conducted a few months before Denmark
joined the Nordic Swan labeling scheme. Hence, with few Swan-labeled prod-
ucts in the shops and no official promotion of the label, it is no wonder that the
Swan label was recognized by only 29 percent of respondents. The promotion
campaign and increased presence of Swan-labeled products boosted the recogni-
tion of the label to just over 40 percent in June 1998 and 52 percent in October
1999 (Palm and Jarlbro, 1999~. Also reflecting promotion activities and pres-
ence in the shops, the Danish 0-label ("State Controlled Organic" label for or-
ganic food products) was recognized by 43 percent of a broad sample of con-
sumers in 1995, 5 years after its introduction (Th0gersen and Andersen, 1996),
and by 79 percent in 1997 (Bekholm and Sejersen, 1997~.4
Even consumers who know a relevant environmental label will not use it if
they fail to notice it because of information overload (Jacoby, 1984) or for other
reasons. For example, in 1992 it was estimated that 400 to 600 private labels, in
addition to 36 labeling schemes issued by public authorities, targeted Danish con-
sumers (Forbrugerstyrelsen, 1993~. In 1996, a study found environmental claims
on 63 percent of the packaged goods within 16 product categories in the major
supermarkets in Oslo (Enger, 1998~. A minority of 8 percent of the goods carried
a third-party environmental label. The study was a partial replication of a 1994
U.S. study that found environmental claims on 65 percent of the packaged goods
in 16 product categories in major supermarkets in five large population centers
throughout the United States (Mayer and Gray-Lee, 1995~. Only 0.3 percent of
the American packages carried an environmental label issued by a third party.
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9o
Comprehension
PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
Recognizing a label is not the same as understanding the exact, or even the
approximate, meaning of it. It is well known from other areas that consumers
often have a hard time understanding labels (e.g., Laric and Sarel, 1981; Parkin-
son, 1975~. Van Dam and Reuvekamp (1995) suggest that eco-labels suffer
from a double confusion: the "generic" confusion from the limited meaning of
seals and certifications and a remarkable amount of uncertainty and misunder-
standing concerning environmental claims and terminology. Confirming this,
one study found that only about 5 percent of a representative sample of U.S.
consumers exhibited a thorough understanding of the terms "recycled" and "re-
cyclable" (Hastak et al., 1994; see also Morris et al., 1995~. Hence, campaigns
that effectively target the confusion may lead to a substantial increase in the sale
of labeled products, as illustrated by the "Get in the Loop, Buy Recycled" cam-
paign in the state of Washington in 1994-1995.5 Through a focused effort to
increase awareness of products with recycled content and comprehension of the
claim, the campaign produced a 58-percent increase in sales of recycled products
in participating grocery stores. The campaign included prompts placed below
products, which served to highlight product availability and substantiate manu-
facturer recycled content claims. In addition, posters, employee buttons, and
door decals served as reminders for consumers.
Of course, less than a thorough understanding may be sufficient for decision
making, particularly under low-risk circumstances. Van Dam and Reuvekamp
(1995) classified respondents' understanding of 11 seals found on Dutch packag-
es in three groups: adequate, underestimation, and overestimation of environ-
mental implications. Among those recognizing a label, from 9 to 95 percent,
depending on the label, had an adequate understanding of its environmental
implications. Misunderstandings more often were in the direction of underesti-
mation than overestimation. The higher the recognition of a label, the more
likely it was also understood accurately (see also Bekholm and Sejersen, 1997),
attention seemingly shading off into comprehension (e.g., Peter et al., l999~. As
with recognition, there was a positive relationship between understanding and
the length of time the label had been on the market. Understanding also depend-
ed on the type and extent of promotion, on the label's self-relevance, and on the
clarity of its environmental profile. For example, two labels that particularly few
understood were the German "Green Dot" and the Dutch Union of Housewives'
seal. The former appears on many Dutch packages, but it has no relevance
outside Germany. With regard to the latter, the environmental assessment is
drowning in the long range of criteria influencing whether the Union endorses
the product.
Uncertainty about what a label means often is accompanied by mistrust. A
consumer only will use a label (as intended) in decision making if he or she
trusts the message it conveys (Hansen and Kull, 1994~. A large number of
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JOHN TH~GERSEN
91
studies have found that consumers tend to be skeptical towards "green" product
claims (see Peattie, 1995~. One study cited by Peattie (1995) found that 71
percent of British consumers thought that companies were using green issues as
an excuse to charge higher prices. However, many studies find that third-party
labels and environmental information are trusted more than information provid-
ed by producers or retailers (e.g., Bekholm and Sejersen, 1997; Eden, 1994/95;
Enger and Lavik, 1995; Tufte and Lavik, 1997~. Unfortunately, and perhaps
because they are outnumbered so many times by private labels and other types of
environmental information, consumers often are uncertain or hold outright erro-
neous beliefs about who issues third-party labels (e.g., Bekholm and Sejersen,
1997; Tufte and Lavik, 1997~. A Norwegian study found that such mistakes
reduce the trust in the Nordic Swan label (Tufte and Lavik, 1997~.
Attitude
Consumers generally welcome informative product labeling (Bekholm and
Sejersen, 1997; Forbrugerstyrelsen, 1993~. Specifically regarding eco-labels, a
previously mentioned study found that from 64 to 91 percent of representative
samples in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland agreed that eco-labels are
needed (Palm and Jarlbro, 1999~. A positive attitude toward eco-labels depends
on the consumer believing that he or she can help attain a valued goal (e.g.,
Forbrugerstyrelsen, 1993; Nilsson et al., 1999; Palm and Windahl, 1998~. Just
as unit pricing helps the consumer obtain the goal of value for money and nutri-
tion declarations facilitate health-related goals, environmental labeling helps con-
sumers obtain environmental goals. Hence, a positive attitude toward eco-labels
is only likely if consumers desire environment-friendly products.6
Intention and Behavior
The intention to buy eco-labeled products is reflected most clearly in con-
sumers' search for and attention to this kind of information. Based on survey
data collected by the European Consortium for Comparative Social Surveys
(COMPASS) in 1993, I analyzed the frequency of paying attention to eco-labels
in Britain, Ireland, Italy, and (two samples from) Germany (Th0gersen, 2000b).
A large majority of consumers in these countries seem to pay attention to eco-
labels when they shop, at least sometimes. Only from 8 percent (Great Britain)
to 15 percent (Ireland) never do that. Other more recent studies find a similar
attentiveness to environmental information. For example, a survey in 1997 found
that 61 to 71 percent of random samples of consumers in the Nordic countries
claimed that they "sometimes" or "always" check out the environment friendli-
ness of the products they buy (Lindberg, 1998~.
The Swedish Consumer Agency monitored the self-reported purchase of
eco-labeled products yearly between 1993 and 1997. In this period, the share of
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92
PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
respondents claiming that they bought eco-labeled products regularly rose from
37 to 51 percent (Konsumentverket, 1993, 1995/96, 1998~. These numbers are
supported by market data. For example, in 1994 eco-labeled products already
had captured more than 60 percent of the detergent market and more than 80
percent of the copying and printing paper market in Sweden (Beckman et al.,
1995).
Repeat Purchase
There is a lack of studies of repeat purchase of eco-labeled products. It
seems that most researchers implicitly assume that all decisions to purchase such
products are the same, independent of the consumer' s buying history. That this
is hardly true is indicated by some of my own research (Th0gersen, 1998~. Not
unexpectedly, I found that a person's beliefs about product attributes and conse-
quences of buying 0-labeled products depend on the length of his or her experi-
ence with buying such products. Beliefs are changed or strengthened based on
experience. I also found that experience has a direct and positive influence on
the attitude toward buying organic products (after controlling for salient beliefs).
Therefore, it seems that the longer a person has bought (labeled) organic prod-
ucts, the more positive the person's attitude is toward buying such products and
the less it is based on thorough consideration of the pros and cons of doing so.
A followup study by two of my master students7 investigated consumer
purchase of 16 different food products (Andersen and Vestergaard,1998~. Based
on their data set, I have made the calculations presented in Table 5-1.
Table 5-1 indicates that once consumers have started to buy 0-labeled prod-
ucts, they tend to do so increasingly over time, and their propensity to choose
labeled products is extended to an increasing number of product categories. Both
tendencies are highly significant. In the beginning of this chapter, it was suggest-
ed that eco-labels may lead consumers to form new mental categories and that
affect related to such a category can have a strong influence on their subsequent
behavior. The results presented in Table 5-1 are consistent with this suggestion.
TABLE 5-1 Breadth and Depth of Organic Buying Within 16 Product
Categories and Length of Buying Experience, Aarhus, Denmark, 1998
(N=232)
< 1 1-3
Year Years
3-5 > 5
Years Years F test
Pot. of food products organic*
Number of organic foods bought
2.3 2.6
6 8 9
2.8 3.5 13.0
13.8
*1=0%, 2=10%, 3=25%, 4=50%, 5=75%, 6=100%.
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JOHN TH~GERSEN
93
The Environment-Friendly Product Hierarchy of Effects
Studies have found that large segments of Western European and North
American consumers demand environment-friendly products in diverse areas
such as packaging (Bach-Larsen, 1996; Th0gersen, 1996a), food products (Bier
and Dahlstrand, 1997; Grunert and Juhl, 1995; Sparks and Shepherd, 1992;
Th0gersen, 1998), paint (Buchtele and Holzmuller, 1990), and heating systems
(Berger et al., 1994~. Few products are acquired with the sole (or main) purpose
of protecting the environment, however. Typically, consumers buy goods for
the private utility they provide. Still, many consumers are willing to make an
effort to diminish the negative environmental impact of their consumption, and
environmental labels are welcomed as a tool for this purpose. Given that envi-
ronmental attributes as long as they do not represent any personal threat are
peripheral to what the consumer wants to achieve through their purchase, the
issue usually should not be expected to be a high-involvement one. It is well
documented in the cited studies that proenvironmental attitudes increase con-
sumers' propensity to buy environment-friendly products. Less researched in
this connection is Fazio's (1986; Roskos-Ewoldsen and Fazio, 1992) proposition
that attitudes also influence which information about a product a consumer pays
attention to, including information about the product's environmentally relevant
characteristics (but see Th0gersen, 1999~.
The limited space available here makes it impossible to thoroughly review
the huge literature on environment-friendly consumer behavior. Thus, I concen-
trate on the two areas where I believe that eco-labels have the greatest potential
impact: (1) increasing consumer confidence in green claims, and (2) helping
consumers carry out intentions to choose environment-friendly products.
Confidence in Green Claims
Basically green purchase behavior depends on the compromise consumers
have to make in the form of higher price and/or lower quality and on the confi-
dence they have in their choice leading to desirable environmental consequences
(Peattie, 1999~. The toughest green products to sell are those that require a large
compromise and where consumers' confidence in it making any environmental
difference is low. Successful green products typically enjoy high confidence
and demand no or low compromise from consumers. Thus, by increasing con-
sumer confidence in the credibility and the significance of green claims, third-
party eco-labels may greatly improve the market prospects of environment-
friendly products. Calculations based on data collected for a master thesis that I
supervised may serve as an illustration (Andersen, 1995~.
Respondents were a broad sample of individuals8 responsible for their
household's food shopping. One sample was interviewed about their purchase
of organic milk, another about organic carrots. The most important environmen-
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94
PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
Milk, N=202
5- ,
4.5 - ~'
4-
3.5 - ..
3-
2- f
1.5 -
1- <
0.5 - ~
2.5 -
o
High Low
compromise
Carrots, N=195
5
4.5
4 -
3.5
3 -
2.5
2 -
1.5 -
1 -
0.5
o
~ High confidence
High Low
compromise
Low confidence
FIGURE 5-1 The purchase of organic milk and carrots in groups differing in confidence
in environmental consequences and perceived compromise, Denmark 1995.
tat benefit from organic production is that it leads to less groundwater pollution
than chemically based agriculture. Hence, agreement with the statement that by
buying the organic product in question the consumer contributes to groundwater
protection is used as an indicator of confidence in it making an environmental
difference. In Denmark, the only real compromise when buying organic food
products is higher price. Thus, agreement with the statement that the organic
product in question is expensive is used as an indicator of perceived compro-
mise. The average number of times the respondent reportedly chose organic out
of the last 10 purchases of the product is shown graphically in Figure 5-1, using
the confidence and perceived compromise indicators (split at the scale's mid-
point) as grouping variables. In both cases, both grouping variables make a
highly significant difference (F-test), the lowest F-value being 5.664. There are
no significant interactions.
It is obvious from Figure 5-1 that consumers with a high confidence and
who perceive the compromise as low are also most likely to buy organic prod-
ucts, and that the reverse combination of beliefs is much less facilitating. It is
also apparent that even consumers who perceive the compromise to be high are
much more likely to buy organic products if they also have a high confidence in
OCR for page 95
JOHN TH~GERSEN
95
the contribution's environmental implications. Therefore, if an eco-label in-
creases consumer confidence in the implied green claim, the impact on the pur-
chase of an environment-friendly product may be substantial. In fact, in the
present case an eco-label had exactly this effect. In Denmark, organic food
products carry the 0-label (with the text "State Controlled Organic". Respon-
dents in this study were asked to point out the correct 0-label among three
alternative designs. Forty-three percent of both samples were able to do that.
Those who knew the label (i.e., who picked the right one) had a significantly
higher confidence in the choice making an environmental difference than those
who did not it,, = 3.467, p < .001; tca,~o~S = 3.488, p < .001~.
The Implementation of Decisions to Buy Green
Several studies have demonstrated that environment-friendly behavior often
depends on specific, task-related information (e.g., Bell et al., 1996; Kearney
and De Young, 1995; Pieters, 1991; Th0gersen, 2000a). Consumers need specif-
ic and reliable information in order to be able to choose the most environmental-
ly friendly alternative when competing options are offered or to do the right
thing when asked to change a behavioral routine.
Figure 5-2 illustrates the importance of (knowing) an environmental label,
the Danish 0-label for organic products, for transforming environment-friendly
Milk
9
8
7-
6
c) 5
cr 4
If 3
._
~ 2
m
1
o
-1
,
-2
9 ~
8-
Label / 7-
recognized, / , 6-
/ /1; 32-
/~ recognized,, 1-
0 39
Carrots
Label
recognized,
r2 = 0.60
_~ ~ =
2 3 4 5 6 7 -1- ~ 2 3 4 5 6 7
-2 -
Intention Intention
FIGURE 5-2 The influence of knowing the 0-label on the relationship between buying
intention and buying frequency regarding organic milk and organic carrots, Denmark,
1995.
OCR for page 96
96
PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
buying intentions into action. The data set is the same as that used in Figure 5-1,
but in this case I analyze whether the respondent's ability to point out the true 0-
label among three alternative designs influences the relationship between buying
intentions and buying frequency (number of organic out of the last 1O literlkilo).
Separate regression analyses were made for split samples concerning each prod-
uct: those choosing the correct design (43 percent of the sample in each case)
and the rest. The lines are regression lines.
The results are in principle identical in the two cases, but the effect of
knowing the 0-label is somewhat stronger for milk than for carrots.9 The differ-
ence may be due to some organic carrots being grown in one's own garden or
bought at open markets, where there are other means to identify an organic
product than the 0-label, while organic milk can only be bought only from retail
outlets.
The regression analyses illustrate that knowing the 0-label has a substantial
effect on buying frequency among those with a high buying intention, but no
effect among those with a low buying intention. They also show that the rela-
tionship between buying intentions and buying frequency is stronger among con-
sumers who are able to identify the correct 0-label than among consumers who
are not.~° Hence, the study shows that by increasing consumers' ability to distin-
guish environment-friendly products, eco-labels can facilitate the implementa-
tion of environment-friendly intentions.
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS
Eco-labeling is aimed at reducing pollution and resource use associated with
consumption by influencing consumer choices and, through these, companies'
product policies. In the past couple of decades, eco-labeling has become a popular
environment policy instrument in countries all over the world. Few schemes have
been sufficiently thoroughly evaluated to be able to draw conclusions about their
success. From those that have, it seems that, under the right conditions, eco-
labeling can indeed lead to a substantial reduction in pollution and resource use.
However, it takes time and a committed effort to build eco-labeling success. In
particular, consumers have to go through an often time-consuming decision mak-
ing process through which they first become aware of the label, and of labeled
products, and then acquire sufficient knowledge to use it as a guide in decision
making and to trust the message it conveys. A positive attitude toward eco-labels
probably follows more or less automatically from knowledge and trust, but form-
ing a positive attitude toward buying a specific eco-labeled product may take
longer because time-consuming tradeoffs need to be made. Therefore, decision
making about eco-labels is a gradual process and one that consumers go through at
an uneven pace. Among other things, consumer receptiveness toward this kind of
information and, hence, the pace depends on their environmental concern. The
speed of diffusion of eco-labels also depends on the clarity of the label's profile,
OCR for page 97
JOHN TH~GERSEN
97
the intensity of its promotion, and its presence in the shops. The latter is particu-
larly crucial for the outcome of the decision making.
There are, of course, a variety of other means that governments can use in
their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of consumption. Labeling is
obviously no substitute for legal restrictions and standards regulating, for example,
the flow of harmful substances through the household, and taxes and subsidies-
attempting to secure that nonmarket environmental impacts are reflected in the
relative prices may effectively influence consumer choices (e.g., Andersen and
Sprenger, 2000; Von Weizsacker and Jesinghaus, 1992~. There is no reason to
believe that eco-labeling renders any of these means obsolete on the contrary.
Just keeping the environmental impact of consumption from increasing is an ambi-
tious goal that will demand the effective use of all available means. In addition,
there may be important synergies to be obtained from the coordinated implementa-
tion of several means (see, e.g., Gardner and Stern, 1996; Stern, 1999~.
The fact that eco-labels compete with many other types of information in the
shopping situation, including other informative labels and producers' noncerti-
fied green claims, acts as a noise wall that third-party eco-labels need to break
through. Studies have shown that many consumers are uncertain about who
issues third-party eco-labels and that this uncertainty reduces the trust in such
labels. On the other hand, it has been shown that third-party eco-labels can
increase the confidence in green claims and help distinguish environment-friend-
ly products, thus increasing the likelihood of such products being bought. There
is also evidence that experience with buying a product with an eco-label facili-
tates future decisions about buying this product, as well as other products wear-
ing the same label. I suggested that the latter effect might be due to consumers
forming new mental categories based on eco-labels and that such categories may
carry affect. Research on the commitment approach to behavior change is infor-
mative regarding the type of affect in question (see, e.g., McKenzie-Mohr and
Smith, 1999~. According to this line of research, the purchase of an eco-labeled
product can alter a person's self-perception to that as the type of person who
buys eco-labeled products (cf., e.g., Hutton, 1982~. There is plenty of evidence
indicating that many people perceive a strong internal pressure to behave consis-
tently with such a self-perception. Expressions of commitment seem to have
stronger impacts on future behavior when they are voluntary (e.g., Shippee and
Gregory, 1982) and public (e.g., Pallak et al., 1980), both of which typically
characterize individual purchase acts.
The mentioned conclusions are based on scattered evidence and the evalua-
tion of few schemes. There is a need for more, and more thorough and systemat-
ic, evaluations of eco-labeling schemes, particularly with a view to better identi-
fy manageable conditions for success. Special attention should be directed
toward design characteristics that influence how consumers use labeling schemes
in their decision making, including characteristics that facilitate and amplify the
use of eco-labels as a basis for category-based decision making. Other more
OCR for page 98
98
PROMOTING "GREEN" CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH EGO-LABELS
basic questions about eco-labeling remain unanswered, such as whether it con-
tnbutes to consumer ignorance or makes them more attentive toward the prob-
lems associated with the continued rapid growth in private consumption. Hope-
fully this chapter will inspire future research on these topics.
NOTES
1 In this volume, Chapter 6, Valente and Schuster, make a similar point with regard to public
health communication.
2 Dry weight.
3 The national organic food label was mentioned by 16 percent in Sweden, 5 percent in Fin-
land, and 1.4 percent in Norway.
4 The two studies used different ways to measure recognition, meaning they are not strictly
comparable.
5 More information about this case can be found at http://www.toolsofchange.com/English/
CaseStudies/default.asp?ID=8 and at McKenzie-Mohr's Web site, http://www.cbsm.com. I am grate-
ful to him for bringing the case to my attention.
6 Unless they believe other advantages are associated with environmental friendliness (Th0gers-
en, 1998). A recent Danish study found that "quality conscious" consumers use the Danish 0-label as
one among several cues indicating high product quality (Juhl et al., 2000).
7 A mall-intercept survey carried out in three shopping centers in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1998.
8 Fourteen acquaintances of the master students all over Denmark distributed questionnaires to
some of their acquaintances, with the instruction to cover age groups (above 20 years) as broadly as
possible. The data were collected in 1995.
9 The interaction between buying intention and knowing the 0-label is statistically significant
(p < than 0.05) in both cases. The hierarchical regression analysis used to test for the interaction
effect is reported in Th0gersen and Andersen (1996).
1O The somewhat surprising positive correlation between intention and behavior among those
who are not able to identify the correct design may be because only one label design is available in
the supermarket or because consumers in some cases correct or mistakenly use other cues to
identify organic products. Of course, it also may be caused by a tendency to exaggerate organic
buying that is correlated with stated buying intentions.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
green consumer
