The Neuromarketing Behind Sustainable Consumer Behavior

Many of us consumers consider ourselves to be eco-friendly and sustainably-minded, but most don’t ask too many questions about what we buy.

Sustainability in the fashion industry has become a crucial concept because the sourcing of textiles has severe environmental implications. As a result, there have been many attempts to alter consumer behavior and make people more sustainably conscious. However, there is still a big divide between consumer attitudes regarding sustainability, as many individuals support it, compared to their behavior towards sustainable fashion, as many consumers don’t choose sustainable options. So why is this the case?

Researchers at Sungkyunkwan University, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Yonsei University, and Changwon National University used neuromarketing techniques and applied psychological theories to uncover the consumer psychology of sustainable consumption.

Theoretical Background: The Psychology and Neuroscience of Sustainable Consumption

Psychological Theories

Past research indicates that consumers are wary of converting to sustainable fashion because they assume it will undermine other benefits, such as optimal prices and design quality. The inconsistency between consumer attitudes and behavior in regards to sustainability can be described using Heider’s psychological theory of imbalance. The theory states that in an imbalanced system, there will be forces pushing towards a more balanced system, producing tension. Thus, consumers are driven to resolve this tension by changing their attitudes or behaviors.

Conversely, the psychological reactance theory suggests that when individuals perceive a threat to their freedom, they try to go against it by resisting the pressure to confirm. Hence by pressuring consumers to be more eco-friendly, they may feel they have lost their freedom of product choice and try not to conform. Thus, the researchers predict that subtle priming sustainability messages will more effectively impact consumer behavior than explicit messages.

Neural Mechanisms

Consumers evaluate products using a range of complex criteria which require intense cognitive attention; hence, evaluating a green logo’s importance will be a substantial cognitive task. A brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in the attentional control regulating cognitive and emotional processing. Furthermore, pro-social spending has been associated with higher ACC activation.

Additionally, relational reasoning is the cognitive process of connecting distant pieces of information by finding something they have in common to generate holistic meanings. Thus, consumers will use relational reasoning to derive meaning from green logos and link it to their sustainability behavior. Neuroscience studies have found that the process of relational reasoning usually requires both the brain's linguistic system and the superior parietal lobule (SPL). Thus, the researchers predict that the ACC, SPL, and linguistic system activity will be higher when processing brands with green logos.

Methodology: The Distinction Between Sustainable Consumer Attitudes and Behavior

Sixteen participants were recruited and placed in either one of the following conditions before undergoing brain-imaging:

Priming = Participants were shown a video explaining the environmental problem generally
Explicit intervention = Participants were shown a video that explained sustainable fashion and why individuals should opt for sustainable consumption

The researchers used a technique named fMRI, which works by measuring momentary blood flow allowing for the measurement and localization of transient brain activity. During the fMRI scans, the participants were shown brand images with or without a green logo and were asked to express their preferences.

Firstly the researchers found that the participants significantly preferred the brands with the green logo since most individuals nowadays support environmentalism. Moreover, the participants in the priming condition had statistically higher preferences for brands with a green logo than participants in the intervention condition, suggesting that consumers are more likely to choose a sustainable product when given more freedom in their choice. Furthermore, a higher activation level in the ACC of participants was found when brands had the green logo compared to when they did not, indicating higher levels of attentional control and cognitive processing. Finally, not only was there more activity in the SPL and lingual gyri when a green logo was shown but there was also a higher activity in these brain areas in the priming condition compared to the explicit intervention condition. This finding suggests that more robust relational reasoning occurs when the consumers are primed to be more sustainable, indicating this may be a more effective marketing strategy to alter consumer behavior.

Results and Implications of Sustainable Consumption

The majority of consumers do not sacrifice their fashion needs and desires to become more sustainable, which leads to a stark difference between consumer attitudes and consumer behavior regarding sustainability. Therefore, companies should aim to encourage more sustainable consumption, and this study suggests that subtle persuasion tactics rather than aggressive explicit campaigns are a better fit to alter consumer behavior.

Using fMRI, the researchers found the following activity patterns when the participants were shown a green logo compared to when they were not.

Higher activity of the ACC
Higher activation in the SPL and lingual gyri

These activity patterns suggest that processing green logos means devoting more cognitive resources and time. In turn, increased cognitive attention may have a role in building an internal preference for sustainable products and driving sustainable consumption.

Your Pop Neuro Consumer Behavior Insights

Subtle priming marketing techniques are more likely to encourage relational reasoning and to provide consumers with the freedom of product choice

Sustainability campaigns should inform the public of the environmental threats to all species, including humans, rather than hazardly pressuring consumers to be more sustainable

Marketers should also highlight other benefits of sustainable products so that they can also fill the needs and desires of customers

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References

Lee, E. J., Choi, H., Han, J., Kim, D. H., Ko, E., & Kim, K. H. (2020). How to “Nudge” your consumers toward sustainable fashion consumption: An fMRI investigation. Journal of Business Research, 117, 642–651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.050