Individual Values

The effect of personal values has also been explored in some depth. The Values-Beliefs-Norms (VBN) theory of environmental behaviour, for example, links Ecological Value Theory with the Norm Activation Model to posit that individual values are the driving force behind all behaviours (and specifically the willingness or not to accept the New Ecological Paradigm) (Stern 2000). Although they may not influence behaviours directly, the authors argue that it is their effect upon the formation of beliefs, feelings of power and control, attitude formation and (most significantly, from a predictive basis) personal norms that in turn determine action. Figure 20 represents this diagrammatically – the arrows are intentionally directional.

117

Kaiser, Hubner and Bogner (2005) compared the predictive power of the Values-Beliefs-Norm (VBN) model with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) in a study of German students’ environmental behaviours. Overall, the TPB proved a stronger predictor of behaviours but the norms in the VBN accounted for 64% of the behaviours. The inclusion of norms as a fourth variable in the TPB increased its predictive power by 5% but when it was included as an antecedent of attitude, the model’s predictive power increased to 9%. The authors therefore conclude that personal norms need not be a separate variable because, in the context of environmentally-responsible behaviour, it will already form an integral part of an individual’s attitude. It should be noted, however, that this study made use of both recalled (not actual) behaviours and that the study participants had all been primed through the questions they were asked such that their personal norms had been activated. It is unlikely that intentions would be as strong in an un-primed audience, in which case, it may be relevant to consider norms as a separate variable.

As with other pure values-based approaches, the weakness of the VBN theory is that it excludes consideration of other factors (extrinsic and intrinsic) that can influence behaviour. Consequently, a person’s value orientation may not always appear to be congruent with patterns of observed behaviour, wherein even self-declared ethical consumers make choices that go against their most important values. Young et al (2010), for example, explored the choices made by self-declared green consumers when buying large technology items such as fridges and washing machines. While also feeling obligated to consider the more environmentally-friendly options, on occasion these consumers made non-green choices that were in apparent conflict with both their knowledge and their values. Various situational factors – notably, time, information availability, price and personal effort were identified as the reasons behind these choices. Prior experience - of a brand, a particular type of product, was also a significant factor in guiding decision-making. The authors’ resulting model of green consumption builds these factors into a theoretical framework that reflects decision-making as a continuous and highly-changeable process (Figure 21).

118

Fig. 21 Young et al’s (2010) Green Consumer Purchasing Model

Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) building on Jager (2000), developed a more comprehensive values- based model, by considering the relationships between values, information, perceived personal effectiveness, involvement and perceived availability (of alternative products) upon young consumer attitudes and intentions towards sustainability. They found that individual values predicted the degree to which subjects were concerned about the environment. Involvement with sustainability issues, perceived control and certainty about product availability were also all positively associated with increased positive attitude and an increased intention to buy sustainable goods. For those with less positive attitudes, social norms (in the form of peer pressure) were able to influence intention. The authors subsequently built an additional component – product confidence – into a conceptual framework to explore the combined effect of values and confidence on young adults’ intention to purchase environmentally-friendly foods (Figure 22) (Vermeir and Verbeke 2008).

119

Fig. 22 Vermeir and Verbeke (2008) Conceptual framework

50% of the variation in intention to consume was explained by the combinations of attitudes, perceived social influences, perceived consumer effectiveness and availability of the green product. Confidence in the product was also highly correlated with intention to buy. Yet, while “Attitude” was the most significant predictor of intention, Values were the next most significant factor – having the effect of changing the relative importance of the model constructs based upon dominant value types. Thus, the intentions of individuals who scored highly in the value Universalism were shaped primarily by perceived effectiveness and product availability; whereas low-Universalism individuals were influenced by social norms and then perceived availability.

Guagnano, Dietz and Stern (1994) investigated willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental protection as a reflection of altruism and measures of personal cost. They also found that both altruism and self-interest (in terms of personal costs) could result in increases in WTP – depending upon the framing of the question. Similarly, Menzel and Bogeholz (2010) compared the values of German and Chilean schoolchildren and found that while Universalism and personal norms were important predictors of environmental behaviour, Self-direction and Stimulation also had a role to play. This is again suggestive of the need for careful packaging of messages to appeal to audience(s) who might vary in their value orientations.

Schwartz (1999) summarises research into the effect of individual values upon a variety of behaviours, including voting, political activism and opposition to immigration and found that all had clear and significant correlations with different value types, as hypothesised by the Schwartz Values Theory.

120

Cameron, Brown and Chapman (1998) explored the effect of pro-social and pro-self-values upon environmental behaviour (support for a planned environmentally-friendly public transport scheme). Pro-self individuals (characterised as being competitive and individualistic) were less supportive of the scheme and more concerned about the personal costs of the scheme than pro- social people (altruistic and cooperative) The pro-self people were more likely to send letters of complaint about the scheme than the pro-socials, who, in turn, were more likely to send letters of support. Interestingly, however, just over a third of all people in each social value group opted not to send any kind of letter – an indicator of indifference …or of the intention- behaviour gap again? In both groups, however, perceptions of personal cost – as opposed to benefits, were a better predictor of support for the scheme or not. The authors conclude that promotion of environmental behaviour would therefore benefit from a focus upon personal costs (and the alleviation of these) over the promotion of environmental benefits, i.e. appeal to the more dominant value type within the prevailing culture.

Lusk, Nilsson and Foster (2007) conducted an experimental study investigating the effect of the personality traits of altruism and free-riding on US residents willingness to pay for certified pork products (the three product attributes were animal welfare, effect upon the environment and the use of antibiotics.) They found that the more altruistic a person was, the less likely they were to actually want to buy pork; that highly altruistic people were willing to pay more; and that animal welfare and environmental concerns rated more highly in altruistic people than in free riders, with animal welfare concerns being paramount. In contrast, high-scoring free-riders were less concerned with animal welfare and the environment. However, altruism and egotism / free-riding only explained a small amount of the variation in consumer preferences for the different product attributes, indicating that other, unexplored, factors were also influencing behaviour. It is possible, for instance, that individuals with high free riding scores may also have low levels of perceived effectiveness, or confidence – factors known to influence behaviour (Verbeke et al 2007; Carrigan and Attalla 2001). It is also highly probable that other values, such as Universalism, Conformity and Hedonism influenced the consumers’ choices.

De Boer, Hoogland and Boersema (2007) mapped consumer values to motivational associations (promotion or prevention-oriented) and found that individuals with high levels of ‘Universalism’ were more likely to avoid meat or eat less meat and to score highly on measures of concern for animal welfare. Goal orientation is implicated as an additional important component affecting (or, in their words, mediating) consumer choices - in addition to values and attitude.

121

4.4.4.4.2 Cultural Values

Looking at the effect of cultural values, Thørgersen and Grunert-Beckmann (1997) found evidence for the values–attitude-behaviour hierarchy, as exemplified by the VBN theory, within their study of recycling and general waste reduction behaviour in Denmark. Values – particularly those contained within the subset “biospheric altruism” had the most effect upon attitude formation and subsequent behaviours, although perceived personal costs also had an observable effect (suggestive of an interplay between self-interest and altruism.) Interestingly, the authors were also able to confirm the presence of a biospheric altruism-orientation within the Danish population, which is deemed to be a pre-requisite for pro-environmental behaviour. This finding distinguished Denmark from the other studied nation of the time, the United States, and is arguably a driving force behind Denmark’s superior performance on environmental issues in the prevailing 15 years (Gunton and Calbick 2010).

Schwartz (2007) explicitly explored the effect of cultural values on policy creation and enactment by comparing the extent of state interventions in capitalist economies in the World. Using comparative cultural values data to compare those with high / low intervention scores, he found that those with lowest intervention levels had the higher scores for mastery, hierarchy and embedded-ness vs the more liberal values of harmony, egalitarianism and intellectual autonomy. Kasser (2011) also found a strong correlation between the countries that scored highly on the values of egalitarianism and harmony and the degree to which they had invested in activities for the current and future well-being of children.

There is therefore a clear link between values and behaviour but a shortage of research that explores the full inter-relationships of the universal, individual values; and, no research into the combined effects of culture and individual values upon consumer decision-making. A significant draw-back of values–based approaches, however, is that situational or contextual factors are often poorly explained or ignored, with all decisions attributed to values. In this context it is perhaps not surprising that consumers have often been found to make decisions at odds with their stated values-simply because other factors have not been adequately taken into account.