Consumer Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Products

ABSTRACT

This study examines consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable products based on message framing. Results indicate that message frame and construal level influence WTP through cost–benefit perceptions. Eco-friendly frames are associated with higher perceived benefits and instill in participants a sense of hope. Abstract frames, on the other hand, are associated with higher perceived costs and induce anger and sadness among participants. This research has important practical implications for communication and marketing professionals who use strategic messaging to influence purchasing behaviors.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable products
• framing
• benefit perception
• cost perception
• willingness to pay

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 The experimental stimuli were pilot tested in a sample of undergraduate participants. Results indicated that participants clearly distinguished the eco-friendly frame and the fair-trade frame as highlighting these specific issues (i.e., they selected the correct response option), and reported different mental construal as either abstract or concrete (manipulation check). For the manipulation check, independent-sample t-test confirmed a significant mean difference between the conditions, t (1, 183) = 2.97, p = .003, Cohen’s d = 1.38. Participants in the abstract condition perceived the ad as more abstract (M = 4.02, SD = 1.41) than participants in the concrete condition (M = 3.37, SD = 1.57).

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.