How regulatory focus shapes pro-environmental behaviour: evidence from Portugal

ABSTRACT

This study predicts an indirect relationship between regulatory focus and pro-environmental behaviour. In doing so we advance the incipient and conflicting literature on the relationship between regulatory focus and pro-environmental behaviour, predicting both positive and negative channels for the dissemination of regulatory focus effects on environmentally-friendly behaviour. The results, based on data collected from 925 individuals, show that the effects of both regulatory orientations on pro-environmental behaviour are completely mediated by the predicted mechanisms. Both promotion and prevention show an indirect positive relationship with environmentally-friendly behaviour, but this depends on the specific type of environmental behaviour. Moreover, the results suggest that both promotion and prevention affect pro-environmental behaviour through positive and negative channels.

KEYWORDS:

• Regulatory focus
• materialism
• perceived consumer effectiveness
• perceived financial strain
• pro-environmental behavior

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. [Project UIDB/05037/2020].

Notes on contributors

Filipe Coelho

Filipe Coelho is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra and researcher at CeBER, Portugal. His areas of interest include consumer attitudes and behavior and frontline service employees. He has published in journals such as the Journal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Marketing Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Industrial Marketing Management, European Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Human Resources Management, Journal of Consumer Affairs, among others.

Luís Cruz

Luis Cruz holds a PhD in Environmental Social Sciences (Keele University, UK). He is Tenured Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Faculty of Economics and researcher at CeBER, of the University of Coimbra. He is (co)coordinator of the Master’s in Energy for Sustainability and of the PhD in Sustainable Energy Systems. His research interests include the modelling and analysis of environmental and socio-economic interactions, with a policy-oriented focus. He has been (co)author and reviewer of articles in peer-reviewed international journals such as Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Environmental Management, J. of Environmental Psychology, Water Policy, Sustainable Cities and Society, J. of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, British Food Journal, European Review of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Forest Economics, Cities, Ecological Indicators, Utilities Policy, and Economic Systems Research.

Maria C. Pereira

Maria Pereira holds a PhD in Economics from the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester (UK). She is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra, and a researcher at the Centre for Business and Economics Research – CeBER. Her current research areas include the well-being of individuals, the psychological determinants of consumer economic attitudes and behaviors and, more generally, behavioral economics. She has authored articles published in international peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Environmental Psychology, Journal of Consumer Affairs, The Manchester School, Journal of Consumer Behavior, and Social Indicators Research.

Paula Simões

Paula Simões holds a PhD in Economics (University of Coimbra, Portugal). She is an Assistant Professor in Management and Economics at School of Technology and Management of the Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal, and a researcher at the Centre for Business and Economics Research (CeBER) of the University of Coimbra. Her areas of interest include the economic evaluation of non-market environmental goods and services and the ecological attitudes and behavior of consumers. She has published in journals such as the Journal of Environmental Psychology, Journal of Forest Economics, and Environmental Management.

Eduardo Barata

Eduardo Barata holds a PhD in Environmental Social Sciences from Keele University (UK), a degree in Economics and a Master’s in Financial Economics from the University of Coimbra (Portugal). He is Tenured Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra. His research interests have focused on modelling the interactions between the economy and the environment. He has authored publications in peer-review international scientific journals and has participated in various research and knowledge transfer projects. He is a researcher at the Centre for Business and Economics Research – CeBER.