To be or not to be green:Exploring individualism and collectivism as antecedents of environmental behavior

PSYC 515Frances, Bailey & Jenna

● Sustainability & environmental initiatives are increasingly receiving attention by corporations, consumers, and individuals in general. o World Business Council for Sustainable Development

(WBCSD) o Japan, China, and South Korea have made efforts o Eco-minded individuals have changed lifestyles &

consumer behavior

Literature Review

● To increase understanding of sustainability by examining different cultures.● Looks to find how culture affects environmental behaviors.

Study’s Aims

● Individuals’ beliefs affect their values and actions.● Researchers explain attitude formation about environmental concerns and issues using their

beliefs.● Values individuals hold are represented by their cultural orientation.

Value-belief norm theory (VBN)

● Specific types of cultural variables used:o Horizontal-vertical (H-V)

Horizontal → self and others Vertical → self over others

o Individualism-collectivism (I-C) Individualism → independent, personal goals Collectivism → interdependent, group interests

Cultural Orientation

● Individualism emphasizes uniqueness and self-reliance, but vertical individualists compete to be the “best”

● Collectivism consider interdependence important, but vertical collectivists are willing to sacrifice personal goals for group’s goals.

Cultural Orientation

● Criticso 4 types may not accurately capture all cultural valueso Some may fall in between categories

● Addition of Confucian collectivismo group behavior regulation, group conformity, interdependence, and face-saving

Cultural Orientation

● When a person believes they can make a difference in the solution to a problem, e.g., pollution or global warming

● Effectiveness of PCE depends on:o how much a person believes they have contributed to an issue, ando how much a person believes in their ability to make a difference

Perceived Consumer Effectiveness

● Pro-environmental behaviors may depend on cultural orientation, but there is limited research.● Kim & Choi (2005): Collectivism and PCE are positively related● Individualists do not perceive their efforts as making a difference

Perceived Consumer Effectiveness

● H1a - Horizontal individualism and vertical individualism negatively affect perceived consumer effectiveness

● H1b - Horizontal collectivism, vertical collectivism, and Confucian collectivism positively affect perceived consumer effectiveness.

Hypothesis 1

● The way one views the natural environmento either favor or disfavoro learned predisposition originating from culture and how one was raised

Environmental Attitude

● Past research:

o positive relationship with perceived consumer effectiveness → pro-environmental beliefs → ecologically conscious consumer behavior

o Individualists are eco-friendly to feel better about themselves

o Collectivists may have more enhanced attitudes toward the environment

Environmental Attitude

● H2a - Horizontal individualism and vertical individualism positively affect environmental attitude.

● H2b - Horizontal collectivism, vertical collectivism, and Confucian collectivism positively affect environmental attitude.

● H3 - Perceived consumer effectiveness positively affects environmental attitude.

Hypothesis 2 & 3

● Is what individuals actually do or have done in regards to environmental issues. o Just because people have concern for the

environment, does not mean they will take action● “Behavioral Greens”

o People who make environmentally-friendly changes to their behavior

o Have higher perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE)

Environmental Commitment

● H4 - Perceived consumer effectiveness positively affects environmental commitment

● H5 - Environmental attitude positively affects environmental commitment.

Hypothesis 4 & 5

● Data from South Korea & United Stateso maximize range of cultural breadth

● N = 726 (undergrad students, ages 18-33)o 50% Male, 50% Femaleo 55% US, 45% SK

● Voluntary participation● Survey given in respective languages

Materials and Methods

● PCE, environmental attitude, and environmental commitment were measured using a 1-7 Likert scaleo 1- strongly disagree; 7- strongly agree

● Horizontal individualism, horizontal collectivism, vertical individualism, and vertical collectivism were measured using a 5 item 1-7 Likert scaleo 1- “does not describe me at all” & 7-”describes me very

well”

Measures

● Negatively affected perceived consumer effectiveness: Vertical individualism

● Positively affected environmental attitude: Horizontal collectivism Horizontal individualism Confucian collectivism Perceived consumer effectiveness

Results

● Positively affected environmental commitment: Environmental attitude

● There was no relationship between PCE and environmental attitude

Results

● US & SK did not exhibit expected cultural differenceso “new consumers”, variation may come from personal differences rather than culturalo Westernization of South Koreao Future studies - Are cultural beliefs more important than personal beliefs?

Discussion

● Individualism aspect of culture only received empirical support in terms of influencing perceived consumer effectiveness and environmental attitude directly.

● Horizontal collectivism has a positive impact on both PCE and EA combined with the impact of Confucian collectivism on EA.

Discussion

● Vertical collectivism influenced environmental attitude in opposite direction of hypothesis● In addition, the scales used to measure cultural orientations need to be reassessed to improve

reliability and validity.

Discussion

● PCE did not directly influence environmental commitmento Individuals who believe they can make a difference have a positive attitude about

purchasing green products & believe that doing so is favorable.

● PCE had an influence on environmental attitudeo Positive EA → stronger action

Discussion

Discussion

● Companies have started to become aware that it is important to be sustainable

● Important to raise consumer awareness about the positive difference they can make

● Additional research could study:o A wider range of age groupso Other countries

Video: TED Talk Tim Jackson Economics of Climate Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp29wq5F4Fw

1. Given this info, do you think cultural orientation significantly affects people’s environmental behavior and attitude?2. Do you think there is a way to make individualistic culture more environmentally friendly?3. Do you think you’re influenced by your cultural orientation when it comes to environmental issues?

Discussion Questions

References

Cho, Y., Thyroff, A., Rapert, M. I., Park, S., & Lee, H. (2013). To be or not to be green: Exploring individualism and collectivism as antecedents of environmental behavior. Journal of Business Research, 66(8), 1052-1059.