Practical implications

The results of the qualitative study have both theoretical and practical implications.

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a particular focus on the role of emotions, the latter were expressed in terms of the application of such findings in the realm of marketing communications, packaging, merchandising and segmentation. Some of the managerial implications resulted from the qualitative study were tested through the experimental design while others can only be presented here in the absence of further quantitative evidence.

The interview findings showed that both pride and guilt are salient emotions and

context of ethical consumption. Based on this, the experimental study has shown that adverts inducing pride or guilt about recycling behaviour can lead to ethical product choices (i.e. chocolate with full recyclable packaging versus chocolate with non-recyclable packaging). Since both types of adverts generated the expected effect i.e. increased the probability of ethical behaviour, this indicated that both approaches can be used in marketing communications. Given the fact that consumers respond differently to different emotions and that the data collected showed that the individual level of guilt and pride varied from one person to another

(i.e. the same advert generated a level of pride and guilt that varied from 1 to 5), it became clear that the use of each emotion would be appropriate for different types of consumers. The review of the existing literature indicated that marketing communications based on pride are limited in the area of ethical consumption/recycling. The findings of the experimental study also respond to the call of some researchers to investigate positive emotions as an alternative extant social marketing communications which over-rely on negative emotions such as fear, shame and guilt and which are largely ineffective in certain situations (e.g. Brennan and Binney, 2010). Thus the success of the experimental manipulation of pride can help practitioners to develop substitutes for marketing communications (beyond the context of recycling) particularly for consumers that do not respond to negative appeals/adverts due to the use of emotional management and coping strategies.

Positive emotions-loaded marketing communications can be seen as an effective solution because consumers described satisfaction, contentment and pride as

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compensatory behaviour, marketing communications could generate more frequent engagement in ethical behaviour.

The experimental study also indicated that an increased ability to recognise

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finding can F

message or collection of images could be carefully considered so that the feeling of pride is not too explicitly expressed because people could react in the opposite manner. A potential explanation for this could be the desire to avoid any links with hubristic pride.

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degree of intensity that consumers feel within each of the four categories. According to the desired outcome or context, marketers can design adverts that are aimed to prompt individual types of guilt or a combination.

The identification of guilt and regret management strategies are of relevance to

obliviousness to some marketing communications that employ negative emotions such as fear, guilt and shame (Brennan and Binney, 2010). Knowledge about how consumers manage their negative emotions could be also of use for marketers since counteracting strategies could be employed in other marketing communications i.e.

strategies aimed at neutralising the techniques that allow consumers to justify and sustain their less ethical behaviour. However, the findings also indicate how

the detriment of the consumer.

Beyond the marketing communications implications, the represent findings entail implications of merchandising, particularly in terms of packaging and product displays. With regards to packaging, in the pre-testing phases of the present research it was found that consumers can much easily distinguish the recyclable packaging if this includes some type of logo that states the recyclable feature. So logos not only speed up the identification of the products/services but they also facilitate ethical choice by offering additional information in a simplified form. Logos have been scarcely adopted in some areas of ethical consumption such as fair-trade, air miles, animal testing, but they have not been used to signal the recyclable feature of product packaging. While some information is provided on the back of the product packaging this is minimal and in a rather confusing form for consumers (i.e. who cannot distinguish polymer id codes⁴¹). Furthermore, the symbols do not necessarily mean that the plastic product can be recycled and thus they often cause confusion.

This implication is of particular interest to managers. Packaging and corresponding logos can be used to better position their products and take advantage of the

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when searching for environmentally-friendly products. Such a packaging strategy

search for such features.

41 Polymer id codes are known as: 1=PET, 2=HDPE, 3=PVC, 4=LDPE, 5=PP, 6=PS, 7-19= other types of plastic. Source: http://www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/environment/2550.asp

Product packaging should be coupled, when possible, with enhanced physical product presentation in retail environments. A clear identification of the products with recyclable packing could be improved by using special section displays and end-of-aisle displays. Overall, the practical implications would relate to marketing strategy, particularly in terms of packaging, new product development and promotion.

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such as time, convenience, and price for their unethical choices and thus show signs T t research demonstrates that dissonant and

This has implications in relation to market segmentation. Since all consumers, irrespective of the strength of their ethical orientation, show signs of compensatory behaviour and use of emotional management strategies, a segmentation according

communications that target different segments would not be required.