What if consumers saw the bigger picture? Systems thinking and the adoption of bio-based consumer products

Joana Wensing, Chad Baum (), Laura Carraresi and Stefanie Bröring

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2021, vol. 94, issue C

Abstract: Systems thinking (ST) represents an important cognitive paradigm for the transition towards a circular bio-economy, as greater awareness of the environmental impact of fossil-based products may lead to a switch to sustainable alternatives produced from secondary biomass which is not used as feed or food. However, the relationship between ST and the adoption of bio-based products, as well as the general mechanism of how ST affects environmental behavior, is not yet well-understood. The present study therefore aims to close these research gaps by conducting a survey-based experiment with a ST-motivated treatment, in which participants are asked to list as many consequences of their consumption behavior as possible (N=446 US consumers). Our findings suggest that the treatment is able to slightly activate a ST perspective, along with indirectly affecting consumer intentions to buy bio-based products by means of ST. Subsequent mediation analyses further reveal that an ecological worldview as well as variables from the norm-activation model function as mediators of the relationship between ST and purchase intention.

Keywords: Systems thinking; Bio-based products; Bioeconomy; Pro-environmental behavior; Mediation analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:94:y:2021:i:c:s2214804321000926

DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2021.101752

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