AUTHOR=Kim Yaeri , Lee Seojin Stacey 

TITLE=How Can We Increase Pro-environmental Behavior During COVID-19 Pandemic? Focusing on the Altruistic (vs. Egoistic) Concerns

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.870630

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.870630

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Would the life-threatening pandemic impact pro-environmental behavior? The present study demonstrates the effects of COVID-19 on pro-environmental product consumption. Two experimental studies manipulated individuals’ COVID-19 concerns and the presence/absence of pro-environmental prompts. In Study 1, we found that consumers indicated lower purchase intention for a product with environmental prompts when recalling COVID-19 concerns compared to normal situations. In Study 2, we disentangled egoistic COVID-19 concerns (e.g., concerns about disadvantages to individuals’ work and finances) from altruistic COVID -19 concerns (e.g., concerns about damage to the country’s economy) and investigated the effects of both these concerns on pro-environmental product consumption. The results of Study 2 revealed that consumers reported increased purchase intention toward e-prompt products which manipulated altruistic COVID-19 concerns. However, the presence/absence of e-prompt products did not affect consumers’ purchase intentions when recalling egoistic COVID-19 concerns. Concerns regarding environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues mediated the interaction effect between the type of COVID-19 concerns and the presence/absence of e-prompts for the products.