The Role of Social Norms and Personal Costs on Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Mediating Role of Personal Norms

Figures & data

Table 1 Product Attribute Specifications in the Product Choice Task

Product	Common Product Price	Green Product Price
Keyring	$0.46 (¥ 3.14)	The price was set as 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150%, and 175% higher than that of corresponding common products
Paper towels	$0.75 (¥ 5.15)
Notebook	$1.16 (¥ 8)
Phone holders	$1.46 (¥ 10)
Glass	$1.75 (¥ 12)
Shampoo	$2.20 (¥ 15.12)
Umbrella	$2.49 (¥ 17.1)
Laundry detergent	$2.91 (¥ 20)

Figure 1 An illustration of a single trial in the product choice task. Each trial consisted of fixation, product name, a black screen and decision-making. After fixation appeared, the product name was presented for 1000ms. Then, the black screen was randomly displayed for 600–800ms. Subsequently, participants were instructed to make choices between buying green (eco-friendly) products or cheaper (self-interest) common products in green consumption decision-making, which was presented for 5000ms. Finally, the black screen was displayed for 1000ms.

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics and Results of Planned Contrasts

Condition	N	Personal Norms		The Proportion of Green Products Purchase
		M	SD	M	SD
1. Control condition	52	5.10	0.13	0.34	0.02
2. Social norms	52	5.47	0.13	0.47	0.03
Planned contrast
1 vs 2		t(51) = 4.75, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 2.85		t(51) = 8.05, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 5.10

Table 3 The Proportion of Green Products Purchase at Different Personal Costs

The Price of Green Products Higher than Common Products	M	SD
25%	76%	0.03
50%	61%	0.03
75%	46%	0.04
100%	32%	0.03
125%	29%	0.03
150%	24%	0.03
175%	19%	0.03

Figure 2 The proportion of green products purchase in different situations. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Table 4 Results of Mediating Analysis of Personal Norms at Different Personal Costs

The Price of Green Products Higher than Common Products	Type	Effect	SE	95% CI
25%	Indirect effect	0.013	0.02	[−0.01, 0.05]
	Direct effect	0.11	0.05	[0.01, 0.21]
50%	Indirect effect	0.03	0.02	[−0.00 0.07]
	Direct effect	0.15	0.05	[0.05, 0.25]
75%	Indirect effect	0.04	0.02	[0.00, 0.09]
	Direct effect	0.14	0.05	[0.03, 0.24]
100%	Indirect effect	0.03	0.02	[0.00, 0.07]
	Direct effect	0.11	0.05	[0.02, 0.21]
125%	Indirect effect	0.03	0.02	[0.00, 0.06]
	Direct effect	0.13	0.04	[0.04, 0.21]
150%	Indirect effect	0.02	0.01	[0.00, 0.05]
	Direct effect	0.07	0.04	[−0.02, 0.15]
175%	Indirect effect	0.02	0.01	[0.00, 0.05]
	Direct effect	0.06	0.04	[−0.02, 0.14]