ECON 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Emotional Contagion, The Need, Social Distance
Document Summary
Firms that are able not only to operate more sustainably but also to consider new models of business that offer and encourage sustainable consumption can potentially earn greater long-term profits. Shift framework can help address the attitude behavior gap that is commonly observed in sustainability contexts. Although consumers report favorable attitudes toward pro-environmental behaviors, they often do not subsequently display sustainable actions. Unlike typical consumer decision making, which classically focuses on maximizing immediate benefits for the self, sustainable choices involve longer-term benefits to other people and the natural world. Consumers are often impacted by the presence, behaviors, and expectations of others. Social factors are one of the most influential factors in terms of effecting sustainable consumer behavior change. Cialdini and his colleagues use the term descriptive norm to refer to information about what other people are doing or commonly do.
