HOW PROMOTIONAL MESSAGES GO GREEN. A quantitative research on how activating motives in promotional messages about wall insulation can influence households’ intentions to implement this measure

Energy consumption is the main contributor to climate change and environmental issues. According to statistics, poorly insulated homes can significantly increase energy consumption in the residential sector. Therefore, households can substantially contribute to energy consumption by upgrading the insulation of homes. As this issue is rooted in human behaviors, it is essential to recognize the factors influencing households’ attitudes and intention to contribute to pro-environmental behaviors. Studies have shown that people's behaviors are predicted by different motives. Extending previous studies, this research examines how various motives in the promotional messages about wall insulation can influence households’ attitudes and intention to implement this measure. By focusing on goal-framing theory, this research aims to analyze the effect of activating different motives in promotional messages on consumers’ attitudes and intentions to implement efficiency behaviors like external wall insulation. Furthermore, the current study examines greater/lesser involvement with sustainable consumption and its effects on households’ attitudes and intentions toward pro-environmental behaviors in response to different motives. To answer the research question, an online experiment was conducted with a unifactorial between-subject design with five activated motives: normative vs. hedonic vs. gain vs. mixed normative and gain vs. mixed normative and hedonic. The extent that the addition of these motives in promotional messages affects households’ attitudes and intentions was analyzed. Data were collected from 219 households owning a house in the Netherlands between March and May 2021. The results show that the inclusion of different motives in the promotional messages about wall insulation has no direct effect on individuals’ attitudes and intentions. Yet, the interaction effects of sustainable consumption involvement and different motives on attitude and implementation intention are recognized. In essence, households with greater involvement in sustainable consumption show a positive change in attitudes in response to a single normative motive compared to the other motives. Moreover, more involved households have less intention to implement external wall insulation in response to single gain motives. In general, the inclusion of single gain motives in the promotional messages adversely influences the attitude and implementation intention of more involved households in sustainable consumption. The current findings have practical implications for energy efficiency suppliers and marketers. It can help companies optimize the communication strategies, mainly the promotional messages, and market their sustainable products effectively. In essence, tailored promotional messages can motivate particular consumers to adopt pro-environmental behaviors. Hence, it is essential to include certain motives in the promotional messages targeting a specified group of consumers to promote efficiency behaviors in a compatible way. This study also suggests companies do regular market research and target the customers based on factors influencing their attitudes and intention to efficiency behaviors.