THE ‘GREENCONSUMPTION’ EFFECT IN AVIATION

A study published in a September 2019 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research found that consumers enjoy a product more, if they find out that it is in some way sustainable.

That’s a finding with real significance for airlines currently developing sustainability programmes.

According to the study authors:

“Merely using a green product makes consumers perceive an increase in the extent to which they are valued as individuals by society, which leads to warm glow feelings, and consequently enhances the enjoyment of the accompanying consumption experience.”

The authors (H Onur Bodur professor of marketing from John Molson School of Business in Montreal and Ali Tezer, assistant professor of marketing at HEC Montréal) carried out five experiments to test their hypothesis.

The first involved sustainable headphones.

In the experiment, participants were asked to listen to 45 second excerpts from three songs via a pair of Sony headphones.

One group of participants was told that Sony uses recycled materials in the headphone production process. The second group was not given this information.

The results showed that “participants in the green product condition enjoyed listening to the songs more than those in the conventional product condition.”

Remember both groups had the same product and listened to the same songs.