Doing nothing “green” versus doing something “green”

Research has found that the motivational and practical complexity of green consumerism can result in attitude behaviour inconsistencies (Moisander, 2007).

Interestingly, the findings reveal new insights relating to how consumers differ in their opinion of whether attitude-behaviour inconsistency is acceptable. Cameron (Case 5) has an “all or nothing” outlook to green consumerism, whereby he feels that

“green” consumers should practice green consumption behaviour consistently and comprehensively. An “all of nothing” attitude validates his non-environmental actions, as Cameron maintains a stance that you cannot make a tangible difference unless you commit to “green” 100 percent.

Cameron: “If you‟re green you should be better than everyone else, you should be totally legit with everything. Looking at your whole input – what you are doing. Not just „oh sweet I eat really organic food‟, or „I vote green‟. It needs to be everything. I wouldn‟t be able to do it half-assed.”

Cameron feels that in order to be legitimately “green”, a person must be green across their entire consumption behaviour. Cameron has high expectations of green consumers, yet he does not buy any green products because he “wouldn‟t be able to do it half-assed”. Many consumers share Cameron‟s view of being “green” - that it is an unrealistic goal and not within the reach of a typical person (discussed earlier in section 4.2. p. 79-81). This outlook represents the “green syndrome” that drives an

“all or nothing” attitude and results in a lack of commitment to green consumption behaviour.

Stephanie Hooper 87 Meanwhile Bruce (Case 6), a participant who is particularly green, dislikes the idea of prescribing people into boxes and labelling people as “green” or “mainstream/not-so-green” based on their consumption behaviour. Bruce proposes that being ““mainstream/not-so-green” is a positive act that should be encouraged, and that “doing something „green‟ is better than doing nothing „green‟”.

Bruce: “We are all individuals. I don‟t believe you can prescribe a particular way people should act in order to be „green‟. It‟s more the case of in a general sense, that being „green‟ in society is a positive thing, so people want to try to be green.”

A comparison could be made between green consumption behaviour and other activities that are not deemed enjoyable. The challenge is changing consumer perceptions such in the way that people make vegetables more appealing to children and make exercise fun. If vegetables are not appealing and exercise is not fun people would not eat/do it. Bruce explains how the social desirability of “green” is encouraged by society and citizens have started to view being “green” as a “positive thing” that we should be doing. Bruce also felt that it was important to find being

“green” enjoyable, even if this means compromising on green values for certain situations.

Bruce: “If being green is not enjoyable, you can‟t live in a way that brings you joy - then you won‟t do it. You will not carry on doing it. So you can‟t be a monk about it.”

Bruce is a realist, who explains that being “green” all of the time is unrealistic and even if it were possible, it would not be enjoyable. If something is not enjoyable, then an individual may become de-motivated and discontinue practising the green behaviour. Making green consumption behaviour fun, enjoyable or socially desirable can alter perceptions, as well as ensuring individuals “feel good” as a result. Bruce suggests that sometimes you must break the rules in order to be happy, and therefore people need to allow for “green” attitude-behaviour inconsistencies. Justifications

Stephanie Hooper 88 such as this, act to neutralise feelings of guilt and allow consumers to maintain their self-concept and self-esteem (Chatzidakis, et al., 2004; Chatzidakis, et al., 2007).

Bruce: “There is no such thing as perfection. You‟re aiming for the „perfect green‟ but you accept that you have days where things clash and coincide and you have good days and bad days and days where it just is too bloody hard! But for me the important thing it‟s like trying to say to somebody who is trying to stop smoking – „Oh you‟ve had a cigarette might as well just carry on.‟ No. Of course you don‟t, you say „No it was just a cigarette. Don‟t worry about it.

Continue on your quest, you can stop.‟ So it‟s continuous striving and being easy on yourself.”

The comparison between “green consumption behaviour” and “smoking” reveals a new concept termed “consumption addiction”. To view consumption as an addiction is one way of looking at overconsumption and materialism, as this could be deemed addictive in a way similar to smoking. In today‟s mainstream culture, there is a compulsion to consume and over-consume products which harm the environment yet bring consumers satisfaction, joy and happiness. When a consumer adopts greener consumption behaviour, a period of behaviour adjustment is required. Adjusting from

“mainstream” (i.e., not-so-green) consumption behaviour to “green” consumption behaviour is associated with certain disadvantages, including time, effort and added stress spent learning and adapting to different behaviour (Pettit & Sheppard, 1992).

When breaking any addiction or habit, a person may encounter barriers and obstacles that make it difficult to change behaviour (Pettit & Sheppard, 1992). Bruce proposes that people should continuously strive to be greener but accept that attitude-behaviour inconsistencies are inevitable.

The contrasting views of Cameron and Bruce illustrate how different participants feel about consistency and inconsistency in green consumption behaviour. While Cameron acknowledges that he is not “green”, he expects “green” consumers to be consistent throughout their consumption behaviour. It is possible that Cameron represents a large group of “mainstream” (i.e., not-so-green) consumers who view

“green” as an unachievable goal and have developed an “all or nothing” attitude,

Stephanie Hooper 89 which acts as a justification for not practising green consumption behaviour.

Meanwhile, as a “green” consumer, Bruce allows for inconsistencies in his consumption principles in order to find being “green” enjoyable. Again, these examples reiterate the idea that different consumer groups in society perceive “green”

differently, especially with regard to an acceptable level of consistency and inconsistency in green consumerism.