Can Companies Induce Sustainable Consumption? The Impact of Knowledge and Social Embeddedness on Airline Sustainability Programs in the U.S

Yohan Kim, Sunyoung Yun and Joosung Lee
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Yohan Kim: Department of Business and Technology Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Korea
Sunyoung Yun: Department of Business and Technology Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Korea
Joosung Lee: Department of Business and Technology Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Korea

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 6, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: This paper investigates how consumers’ level of knowledge and social embeddedness can influence sustainable consumption. An extended model of goal-directed behavior (MGB) is tested by U.S. airline consumers who have participated in UNICEF’s Change for Good (CFG) and voluntary carbon offsetting (VCO) programs. Results show that consumers’ knowledge positively influenced their subjective norms and attitudes towards participation of VCO and CFG. Increasing consumers’ sense of social embeddedness is also found to be crucial in forming their subjective norms for both CFG and VCO. Moreover, positive anticipated emotion is found to influence consumers’ desire to participate in VCO, while negative anticipated emotion influences desire towards CFG participation. The findings of this research provide a practical implication on strategies for the airline industry to induce sustainable consumption behavior, as well as demonstrate the need for different emotional elicitation strategies for different sustainability programs.

Keywords: sustainable consumption; model of goal-directed behavior; knowledge; social embeddedness; voluntary carbon offsets; Change for Good (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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