IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i22p15007-d971477.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can Climate Change Awaken Ecological Consciousness? A Neuroethical Approach to Green Consumption

Author

Listed:
  • Meiling Yin

    (Business School, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 03063, Korea)

  • Hanna Choi

    (Business School, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 03063, Korea)

  • Eun-Ju Lee

    (Business School, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 03063, Korea
    Neuro Intelligence Center, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 03063, Korea)

Abstract

Climate change is a major threat to humanity and endangers our way of life. If a critical mass of consumers can consider the consequences of the daily consumption choices they make, we could hope for a better future. From a neuroethical viewpoint, we examined how a consumer’s ecological consciousness can be awakened, leading to eco-friendly consumption. This study used the neuroscientific method of event-related potentials (ERP) to explore the neural mechanisms underlying climate change. Both frontal N300 and posterior P300 ERP components occur under climate change conditions which is a neural representation of ecological consciousness. Consumers who exhibited simultaneous frontal N300 and posterior P300 activation were more likely than those who did not to make eco-friendly product choices during the consumption tasks. Using these neurobehavioral findings, marketers can promote eco-friendly consumption based on ecological consciousness.

Suggested Citation

  • Meiling Yin & Hanna Choi & Eun-Ju Lee, 2022. "Can Climate Change Awaken Ecological Consciousness? A Neuroethical Approach to Green Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15007-:d:971477
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15007/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15007/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lisa Melander, 2017. "Achieving Sustainable Development by Collaborating in Green Product Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1095-1109, December.
    2. Amr ElAlfy & Nicholas Palaschuk & Dina El-Bassiouny & Jeffrey Wilson & Olaf Weber, 2020. "Scoping the Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Research in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-21, July.
    3. Eun-Ju Lee & Gusang Kwon & Hyun Shin & Seungeun Yang & Sukhan Lee & Minah Suh, 2014. "The Spell of Green: Can Frontal EEG Activations Identify Green Consumers?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 511-521, July.
    4. Ahmed H. Alsharif & Nor Zafir Md Salleh & Rohaizat Baharun & Alharthi Rami Hashem E & Aida Azlina Mansor & Javed Ali & Alhamzah F. Abbas, 2021. "Neuroimaging Techniques in Advertising Research: Main Applications, Development, and Brain Regions and Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, June.
    5. Christopher H. Trisos & Cory Merow & Alex L. Pigot, 2020. "The projected timing of abrupt ecological disruption from climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 580(7804), pages 496-501, April.
    6. Robert E. O'Connor & Richard J. Bard & Ann Fisher, 1999. "Risk Perceptions, General Environmental Beliefs, and Willingness to Address Climate Change," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 461-471, June.
    7. Camilla Barbarossa & Patrick Pelsmacker, 2016. "Positive and Negative Antecedents of Purchasing Eco-friendly Products: A Comparison Between Green and Non-green Consumers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(2), pages 229-247, March.
    8. Ivan Bolis & Sandra Naomi Morioka & Wilza Karla dos Santos Leite & Paulo César Zambroni-de-Souza, 2021. "Sustainability Is All about Values: The Challenges of Considering Moral and Benefit Values in Business Model Decisions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Cesare Amatulli & Matteo Angelis & Alessandro M. Peluso & Isabella Soscia & Gianluigi Guido, 2019. "The Effect of Negative Message Framing on Green Consumption: An Investigation of the Role of Shame," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1111-1132, July.
    10. Chamila R. Perera & Hassan Kalantari & Lester W. Johnson, 2022. "Climate Change Beliefs, Personal Environmental Norms and Environmentally Conscious Behaviour Intention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Elizabeth Emperatriz García-Salirrosas & Rafael Fernando Rondon-Eusebio, 2022. "Green Marketing Practices Related to Key Variables of Consumer Purchasing Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.
    12. Yanyan Chen & Dirk C. Moosmayer, 2020. "When Guilt is Not Enough: Interdependent Self-Construal as Moderator of the Relationship Between Guilt and Ethical Consumption in a Confucian Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 551-572, January.
    13. Harro Maat & Dina Balabanova & Esther Mokuwa & Paul Richards & Vik Mohan & Freddie Ssengooba & Revocatus Twinomuhangi & Mirkuzie Woldie & Susannah Mayhew, 2021. "Towards Sustainable Community-Based Systems for Infectious Disease and Disaster Response; Lessons from Local Initiatives in Four African Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Xixiang Sun & Weihuan Su & Xiaodong Guo & Ziyuan Tian, 2021. "The Impact of Awe Induced by COVID-19 Pandemic on Green Consumption Behavior in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-14, January.
    15. Ali Eldesouky & Francisco J. Mesias & Miguel Escribano, 2020. "Consumer Assessment of Sustainability Traits in Meat Production. A Choice Experiment Study in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-16, May.
    16. Jin Ho Yun & Yaeri Kim & Eun-Ju Lee, 2022. "ERP Study of Liberals’ and Conservatives’ Moral Reasoning Processes: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 723-739, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serena Mastria & Alessandro Vezzil & Andrea De Cesarei, 2023. "Going Green: A Review on the Role of Motivation in Sustainable Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-15, October.
    2. Li Yan & Hean Tat Keh & Xiaoyu Wang, 2021. "Powering Sustainable Consumption: The Roles of Green Consumption Values and Power Distance Belief," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 499-516, March.
    3. Mohammad Nurul Alam & Osarodion Ogiemwonyi & Ibrahim. E. Hago & Noor Azlinna Azizan & Fariza Hashim & Md Sazzad Hossain, 2023. "Understanding Consumer Environmental Ethics and the Willingness to Use Green Products," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440221, January.
    4. Jaeyoung Lim & Kuk-Kyoung Moon, 2021. "Can Political Trust Weaken the Relationship between Perceived Environmental Threats and Perceived Nuclear Threats? Evidence from South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Asif Khan & Chih-Cheng Chen & Kwanrat Suanpong & Athapol Ruangkanjanases & Santhaya Kittikowit & Shih-Chih Chen, 2021. "The Impact of CSR on Sustainable Innovation Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Second-Order Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, November.
    6. Elena Kossmann & Mónica Gómez-Suárez, 2018. "Decision-making processes for purchases of ethical products: gaps between academic research and needs of marketing practitioners," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 15(3), pages 353-370, September.
    7. Rahul Singh Gautam & Venkata Mrudula Bhimavarapu & Shailesh Rastogi & Jyoti Mehndiratta Kappal & Hitesh Patole & Aman Pushp, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility Funding and Its Impact on India’s Sustainable Development: Using the Poverty Score as a Moderator," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-12, February.
    8. Gabriele Paolinelli & Marco Cei & Nicoletta Cristiani & Ludovica Marinaro & Flavia Veronesi, 2022. "Don’t Split Them Up! Landscape Design of Multifunctional Open Spaces Suitable for Coping with Flash Floods and River Floods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    10. Veysel Yilmaz & Pınar Guleç & Erkan Ari, 2023. "Impact of climate change information of university students in Turkey on responsibility and environmental behavior through awareness and perceived risk," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 7281-7297, July.
    11. Lea Primožič & Andreja Kutnar, 2022. "Sustainability Communication in Global Consumer Brands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    12. Ganesh Dash & Chetan Sharma & Shamneesh Sharma, 2023. "Sustainable Marketing and the Role of Social Media: An Experimental Study Using Natural Language Processing (NLP)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, March.
    13. Chih-Ching Yu & Ching Lu, 2023. "Reassessing the Impact of Fear Appeals in Sustainable Consumption Communication: An Investigation into Message Types and Message Foci," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-18, November.
    14. A. G. Olabi & Khaled Obaideen & Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem & Maryam Nooman AlMallahi & Nabila Shehata & Abdul Hai Alami & Ayman Mdallal & Asma Ali Murah Hassan & Enas Taha Sayed, 2023. "Wind Energy Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals: Case Study on London Array," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, March.
    15. Lopez, Belen & Rangel, Celia & Fernández, Manuel, 2022. "The impact of corporate social responsibility strategy on the management and governance axis for sustainable growth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 690-698.
    16. R. V. ShabbirHusain, 2022. "Green offering: more the centrality, greater the scepticism," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(4), pages 819-834, December.
    17. Yuliya G. Leskova & Irina K. Kuzmina & Tahir E. Rakhmatullin & Natalia V. Dzhagaryan & Denis A. Popyrkin & Vera N. Kolodkina, 2020. "Economic and Legal Aspects for Construction Business to Ensure Environmental Safety by Self-Regulating Organizations: The Case of Russia," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 20-29.
    18. Jiuchang Wei & Weiwei Zhu & Dora Marinova & Fei Wang, 2017. "Household adoption of smog protective behavior: a comparison between two Chinese cities," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7), pages 846-867, July.
    19. Pierre‐Xavier Meschi & Anne Norheim‐Hansen, 2020. "Partner‐diversity effects on alliance termination in the early stage of green alliance formation: Empirical evidence from carbon‐emission reduction projects in Latin America," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 250-261, January.
    20. Beck, Donizete & Ferasso, Marcos, 2023. "How can Stakeholder Capitalism contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? A Cross-network Literature Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15007-:d:971477. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.