Project done on green calendars that was presented at a conference March 2010.

1. Bela Florenthal, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Marketing & Priscilla A. Arling, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of MIS College of Business Butler University Do Consumers with Green Lifestyles Appreciate Green Attributes of Low Involvement Products?

2. Research Purpose Are all green products valued equally by consumers? Do low involvement green products appeal to consumers with green lifestyle? Are green attributes important to consumers with green lifestyles when choosing a low involvement product? Is the relationship between green lifestyle and behavior mediated by green attitude toward the product? Why calendar purchases were chosen as the product category? Recently consumers have looked more for calendars that reflect their personal preferences

3. Proposed Framework Relates four concepts in the context of low involvement product category (a calendar): Green Lifestyle Green Attitude Green Behavior Demographics Importance of green attributes when buying a calendar Importance of green attributes in a gift calendar Green activities in everyday life Gender Income

4. Theoretical Background & Hypotheses Demographics & Green Lifestyle: Studies show that women are more likely to consume healthier products, pay more attention to nutrition, and practice healthier diets (Divine and Lepisto 2005). H1: Women are more inclined to practice every day green activities than men. Consumption of healthier food (e.g., fruits and vegetables) has been positively associated with a higher income segment (Divine and Lepisto 2005). H2: Higher income consumers are more inclined to practice every day green activities than lower income consumers.

5. Theoretical Background & Hypotheses Green lifestyle & Green Attitude: Green lifestyle has been conceptualized in several ways: health-related and/or environment-related activities, values, and perceptions (Divine and Lepisto 2005; Fraj and Martinez 2006). Green lifestyle can be also viewed as everyday green activities (Divine and Lepisto 2005). Green lifestyle has been related to product specific attitudes (Dembkowski and Hanmer-Lloyd 1994; Laroche et al. 2001) H3: Consumers who practice every day green activities will value green attributes in a gift calendar.

6. Theoretical Background & Hypotheses Green Attitude & Green Behavior: Positive attitudes toward green attributes are also strengthened when individuals exhibit willingness for personal sacrifice and perceive an ecological relevance to their individual actions (Dembkowski and Hanmer-Lloyd 1994). Product specific green attitudes will influence environmentally conscious purchases and consumptions (Dembkowski and Hanmer-Lloyd, 1994) H4: Consumers that value green attributes in a gift calendar will perceive green attributes as important when buying a calendar.

7. Methodology Questionnaires was designed based on exploratory research and were administered in-person via paper and pencil. Green Lifestyle: ‘actual commitment’ dimension of Maloney and Ward’s (1973) ecological scale was used Green Attitude: singe-item measured the importance of receiving a gift calendar printed on environmentally friendly paper Green Behavior: singe-item measured choosing a calendar with green or environmental features

8. Sample Characteristics Survey data were collected from 101 college graduates from both private (33%) and public (67%) universities. Demographics: 49% married 48% live in a two member household 46% earn between $60,000 and $120,000

9. Analysis and Results Two-step structural equation model was used (Anderson and Gerbing 1988): Nested model tested the fit of the hypothesized framework RSMEA = 0.00, GFI = 0.94, AGFI = 0.90, NFI = 0.90 0.36 (3.29) Green Lifestyle Green Behavior 0.24 (2.23) 0.67 (5.64) 0.48 (4.49) Green Attitude Income 0.20 (2.49) Gender

10. Analysis and Results

11. Conclusions Green lifestyle varies by income: Higher income was related to greener lifestyle Green attitude varied by gender: Females were more prone to care about green attributes of a gift calendar than males Probably based on product category Green attitude partially mediated the relationship between green lifestyle and green behavior May result from using a low involvement products domain (calendars)

12. Managerial Implications Developing promotions to strengthen attitudes of green lifestyle consumers toward these products will help in the purchasing decision Companies with low involvement products should target high income green lifestyle consumers These companies should also target their promotions more attentively toward the female segment in particular, with decorative low involvement products

13. Limitations Sampling: Non-probability convenience method Geographic areas were not controlled Measures: Two single-item measures Product category: Only one low-involvement was tested Demographic variables: Only two variables were tested

14. Thank you