Paradoxical side effects of green advertising: how purchasing green products may instigate licensing effects for consumers with a weak environmental identity

Marijn H C Meijers,Marret K Noordewier,Peeter W J Verlegh,Winne Willems,Edith G Smit

doi:10.1080/02650487.2019.1607450

Marijn H C Meijers, Marret K Noordewier + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2019.1607450

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Abstract

Research into green advertising has mainly investigated how green appeals can enhance product attitudes, sales, and brand image. But what happens after people have purchased a ‘green’ product advertised in a green ad? In two experiments, we show that purchasing a green product may have paradoxical post-purchase effects, such that it may lower intentions to engage in subsequent environmentally friendly behaviour (a so-called licensing effect). Importantly, our results show that these post-purchase effects are moderated by environmental identity: only people with a weak environmental identity show these paradoxical post-purchase licensing effects, people with a strong environmental identity are more likely to continue behaving in an environmentally friendly way.

Highlights

As a result of the increased interest in environmental friendliness by companies and consumers, the use of green advertising has increased (Leonidou et al 2011)
We show that green advertising may have negative post-purchase effects when people purchase a product advertised in such a green advertisement as people may subsequently report lower environmental concerns and behavioural intentions – but only for those consumers with a weak environmental identity
To test our hypothesis that green advertising could have negative post-purchase effects when people with a weak environmental identity purchased green apparel, we performed a moderation analysis using a bootstrapping analysis with 5000 samples

Summary

Introduction

As a result of the increased interest in environmental friendliness by companies and consumers, the use of green advertising has increased (Leonidou et al 2011). The licensing effect has been demonstrated in countries such as the US (Monin and Miller 2001), France (Clot et al 2013), Canada (Mazar and Zhong 2010), Madagascar (Clot et al 2014), Uruguay (Bran~as-Garza et al 2013), and, in this case, the Netherlands These findings, that purchasing a product advertised as green may instigate licensing effects (e.g., has negative post-purchase effects), are likely to arise in countries around the globe as it constitutes a general mechanism.

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