“Behavioral targeting” is an Internet-based targeting strategy that delivers digital ads to individuals based on their online behavior (e.g., search, shopping). This research explores the unique ways in which consumers respond to ads using this type of targeting (vs. to ads that use more traditional forms of targeting), demonstrating that a behaviorally targeted ad can act as a social label even when it contains no explicit labeling information. Instead, when consumers recognize that the marketer has made an inference about their identity in order to serve them the ad, the ad itself functions as an implied social label. Across four studies, behaviorally targeted ads lead consumers to make adjustments to their self-perceptions to match the implied label; these self-perceptions then impact behavior including purchase intentions for the advertised product and other behaviors related to the implied label. Importantly, these effects only hold when the label is plausibly connected to consumers’ prior behavior (i.e., when the targeting is at least moderately accurate).

An Audience of One: Behaviorally Targeted Ads as Implied Social Labels

With an increasing pressure of environmental deterioration, many firms have started to be socially responsible by developing green products to meet the demand of environmentally conscious consumers. These firms are interested in finding the determinants of green purchase behaviour in order to develop effective communication messages and derive green purchase commitments. The effects of environmental knowledge, environmental threat and perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) in motivating one’s behavioural change to engage in pro-environmental behaviour have been tested in the past, but they have not been tested together in the context of green purchase behaviour in Malaysia. Therefore, this paper reviews the conceptual and empirical literatures of the aforementioned variables in explaining the environmental attitude and behaviour, and proposes a conceptual model to be considered for future green purchase behavioural studies. The finding is expected to provide guidance for firms to profile the green buyers and position its green product more effectively.

/pdf/the-roles-of-knowledge-threat-and-pce-on-green-purchase-lkwvk1qihk.pdf

The Roles of Knowledge, Threat, and PCE on Green Purchase Behaviour

Who are the most pro-environmental in their purchasing behaviour? Is it the young, middle-aged or older consumers? The answer to this question has important implications for the marketing of pro-environmental products.

/pdf/consumption-and-environmental-awareness-demographics-of-the-w455am9qym.pdf

Consumption and Environmental Awareness: Demographics of the European Experience

Capital expenditures comprise one of the largest and riskiest accounts in corporate financial statements. An understanding of motivators for capital investment decisions is valuable for investors, regulators, auditors, and the public at large. I provide empirical evidence of environmental activities as one such motivator. This analysis is participatory important given the unprecedented attention to environmental accountability in today’s business world. Using a sample of 2,474 observations from US firms from 2004 to 2006, I find that firms engaged in environmental activities report significantly higher capital expenditures than those that do not. I also independently examine various types of environmental activities and find consistent results. My findings support environmental initiative participation as a driver of firm capital investment, and I discuss the implications of these findings for various stakeholders.

/pdf/why-do-firms-invest-in-capital-expenditures-evidence-from-2xbrnrbxhk.pdf

Why Do Firms Invest in Capital Expenditures? Evidence from Environmental Activities

This paper aims to examine the influence of environmental values on green purchase behaviour through environmental attitude only, green purchase attitude only, or a combination of both from Malaysian consumers’ perspectives. The result shows that the unidimensional structure of environmental values from the combination of altruistic and biospheric values does not directly influence green purchase behaviour. It demonstrated an indirect effect on green purchase behaviour via environmental attitude (two-path mediated effect) as well as through a combination of both environmental attitude and green purchase attitude (three-path mediated effect). A specific attitude towards green purchases acts as a better predictor of green purchase behaviour, as compared to the general attitude towards the environment. This offers a useful insight to the practitioners in better formulating and implementing marketing strategy to go green in Malaysia.

/pdf/the-influence-of-environmental-values-on-green-purchase-951e3mo56l.pdf

The Influence of Environmental Values on Green Purchase Behaviour: Direct, Indirect, or Both?

Concerns related to the environment are evident in the increasingly ecologically conscious marketplace and have become a source of competitive advantage in marketing. The objective of this study is to identify a profile of Malaysian consumers who are likely to purchase environmentally friendly products through the 5 identified key antecedents namely ecoliteracy, demographics, attitudes, behaviors and value orientation which are proposed to have strong correlations towards environmentally friendly products. A quantitative research model is developed together with an agenda of five hypotheses and a questionnaire survey is conducted. The data suggests that there are positive correlations between the willingness to buy and the independent variables in the model, namely consumerâ€™s perceived level of responsibility of corporations, perceived importance and inconvenience of being environmentally friendly, collectivism and security. The segment of consumers who are likely to buy environmentally friendly products reported that todayâ€™s ecological problems are severe, that corporations do not act responsibly toward the environment and that behaving in an ecologically favorable manner is important and convenient. Collectivism and security are important principles guiding their lives. They care about their relationships with others and concern for the welfare of others, and often consider ecological issues when buying something. Managerial implications for green marketers and suggestions for future research are discussed. Future research could, for example, be conducted across different cultural group, in a specific industry and for a particular type of clientele. Additional variables related to the firms and products, such as prices, brand image, advertisement or product quality, may be integrated into future research.

Yin Lee Ng

Papers

Environmentally friendly products and Malaysian consumers