Date
2019
Dewey
Gestion des entreprises
Sujet
Consumer behavior; Ethical dilemma; OverpackagingEnvironmental consciousness; Context effects; Attribution
JEL code
M.M3.M31; Q.Q5.Q51
Journal issue
Journal of Business Ethics
Volume
154
Number
2
Publication date
2019
Article pages
355-370
Publisher
Springer
Author
Monnot, Elisa
Reniou, Fanny
Parguel, Béatrice
Elgaaied-Gambier, Leila
Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publié
Abstract (EN)
Governmental policies are encouraging companies to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging and particularly overpackaging, which raises a broad range of ethical considerations. However, experiments comparing an overpackaged product with a non-overpackaged product have shown that eliminating overpackaging may have a negative influence on brand image and consumer purchase intention. In this paper, we draw on attribution theory to examine the influence of the absence (vs. presence) of overpackaging on consumers’ response, depending on their environmental consciousness and the absence (vs. presence) of overpackaging on the competing product. An experiment conducted on 218 consumers demonstrates that non-overpackaging for a target product only adversely affects purchase intention among non-environmentally conscious consumers when competing products are overpackaged. These results lead to optimistic recommendations for marketing managers and public policy makers to help them solve the ethical dilemma linked to overpackaging.