@article{2019:reimers:transparen,
title = {Transparent Price Labelling for Sustainable Products: A Boost for Consumers' Willingness to Buy?},
year = {2019},
note = {Although past research confirmed that consumers are aware of the
ecological and social implications associated with their own
consumption choices, studies have frequently observed a discrepancy
between attitude and actual behaviour. This discrepancy, often
entitled as the attitude-behaviour-gap, can be partly explained by the
lack of sustainability information and trust deficits. In this
context, product labelling is considered a useful approach to foster
sustainable consumption behaviour. However, consumers often distrust
products with sustainability labels. This distrust may arise because
consumers lack information about whether or not price mark-ups are
warrantable. Arguably, the general lack of transparency regarding
pricing (or individual price components) of sustainable products
creates uncertainty, and hence, reduces consumers’ willingness to
pay a significantly higher price for the postulated sustainability
characteristics. Moreover, conventional labels are characterized by
aggregated information and symbols, which the consumer can fluently
process and easily understand. However, individually relevant
information, which is crucial in a specific buying situation, might be
lost. To overcome these obstacles, the paper marries the literature on
sustainability labelling and price partitioning and investigates the
effectiveness of an alternative labelling approach. This labelling
approach specifies both the sustainability measures and price
component consumers must pay for sustainability. Such kind of
price-transparent sustainability labelling could reduce information
asymmetries, and thus create information security. The paper reports a
2 (sustainability information) × 2 (price labelling scheme) × 2
(price level) experimental between subjects design. In sum, 362
respondents participated in the study, which was conducted in the
field of the clothing industry using a simple, white T-shirt as test
object. Sustainability is currently a relevant topic in the clothing
industry with regard to environmental impacts (e. g., excessive use
of chemical and natural resources, GHG emissions, air and water
pollution) and ethical standards (e. g., poor wages, long working
hours, worker’s right) in all stages of a products life cycle.
Firstly, a pre-test identified important sustainability
characteristics, which influence consumers’ purchase decision for
T-shirts. The pre-test also specifies price ranges of consumers’
willingness to pay for a sustainable T-shirt. A second pre-test
confirms the manipulation of all three experimental factors. The main
study then confirms that providing detailed sustainability information
increases the consumers’ WTB unconditionally. Using a transparent
price labelling scheme additionally raises the effect of
sustainability information if general willingness to pay for the
product exceeds the base price of the mainstream counterpart and if
only moderate levels of price mark-ups are used. The conceptual model
confirmed in this study outlines a series of moderating conditions,
which managers should consider when deciding on the price and
communication politics of their sustainable products. Hence, choosing
the most effective way to promote sustainable products is no simple
yes or no answer, but rather a contingency approach. Based on this
approach, the paper guides marketers in their endeavour to improve the
sustainability labelling.},
journal = {Marketing ZFP},
pages = {21--36},
author = {Reimers, Hanna and Hoffmann, Stefan},
volume = {41},
number = {2}
}