Good people good planet: Investigating the interconnection between social and environmental sustainability

Stacie F. Waites, Adam Farmer and Joel Collier

Journal of Business Research, 2024, vol. 184, issue C

Abstract: Research investigating consumers’ responsiveness to sustainability from a corporate social responsibility perspective has traditionally focused on either the environmental or social dimensions while overlooking the possible link between the two. This manuscript explores consumers’ perception of the interconnection between these dimensions of sustainability. Four experiments demonstrate that the social and environmental dimensions of sustainability are interconnected in consumers’ minds, where a promise to be sustainable in one dimension enhances perceptions of the other dimension. Companies making social or environmental promises are evaluated differently depending on whether the company later delivers a sustainability success along the same dimension (paired success) or a separate dimension (complementary success). Positive attitudes towards the company were only heightened in the case of complementary successes. The underlying psychological mechanism of perceived ethical principles is also identified. Finally, the results are shown to not only impact consumer attitudes, but also their actual choice behavior.

Keywords: Environmental sustainability; Social sustainability; Ethical principles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:184:y:2024:i:c:s0148296324004016

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114897

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