Spillover of Environment-Friendly Consumer Behaviour

Investigated whether environmental-friendly behaviors spread to more and more areas of the consumption pattern in a virtuous circle and whether it is a necessary prerequisite for a virtuous circle to emerge and to continue to work that the individual possesses certain general values or ethical norms. The data material is a three-wave panel study with a large random sample of 300 adult Danish consumers. The data were analyzed by means of structural equation modelling and other techniques. Cases of transfer of environment-friendly conduct between behavioral categories are found, but only in a few of the possible instances and only of a modest size. The panel analysis also identifies a few negative cross-lagged effects. Such effects may indicate that the performance of an environment-friendly behavior reduces the propensity to behave environmentally friendly in other areas. However, they may also be the result of the two involved behaviors correlating positively from the outset. Multigroup SEM analyses indicate that the likelihood of spillover is marginally but significantly higher when respondents give high priority to the value domain that Shalom H. Schwartz termed universalism or hold strong personal norms for environment-friendly behavior.