Mental Representation Changes the Evaluation of Green Product Benefits

Although campaigns designed to promote pro-environmental behaviors increasingly highlight self-interest, recent research suggests that such appeals may not always be effective. For example, individuals are more likely to check their tire pressure when prompted with self-transcendent (i.e., benefits to the environment) versus economic motives; and, self-transcendent appeals are more likely to promote recycling behaviors than are self-interested appeals. The present experiments identify an important psychological factor that helps to explain when highlighting economic benefits will be more or less effective at encouraging pro-environmental behaviors. Specifically, we demonstrate that highlighting economic benefits (e.g., the money a consumer can save) reduces consumer interest in sustainable products when individuals are in more abstract mindsets compared to when the evaluation is more immediate (i.e., their mindset is more concrete). Further, we provide evidence that this shift interest is driven by the lack of “fit” between abstract thinking and economic motivations, in the context of pro-environmental behavior.