Implications of money priming on sustainable consumption

2023-6
Koruk, Uygar
Sustainability has risen to become one of the most important issues facing humanity during the last few decades, associated with many negative consequences such as global warming, destruction of natural environment and poor living conditions of vulnerable communities. Unsustainable consumption behavior is seen as a major driver of these negative consequences, therefore fostering more sustainable consumption has become an urgent imperative. Many factors affect sustainable consumption, but the implications of money priming, the behavioral change of individuals by non-conscious exposure to the stimulus of money, has not been examined by researchers. It is important to study this relationship because money is a ubiquitous influence in human life, and prior research shows that money priming affects attitudes and behaviors that may be relevant to sustainable consumption. Hence, this thesis aims to explore the effects of money priming on sustainable consumption, specifically on sustainable consumption attitudes (SCAs). A literature review is conducted to identify possible factors that may affect consumers as variables associating money priming and sustainable consumption. Materialism and altruism values were demonstrated as variables that may act as a bridge linking the effects of money priming and SCAs. Two experiments were conducted to reveal how money priming influences these values and how they impact SCAs. The results of Experiment 1 showed money priming increased materialism, which decreased SCAs. The findings of Experiment 2 indicated money priming decreased altruism, and decreased SCAs. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of these results are discussed for the future research.
Citation Formats
U. Koruk, “Implications of money priming on sustainable consumption,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2023.