I understand that finding coincidental correlations among a wide variety of random socio-cultural traits and shopping behavior is the essence of marketing "research" - but I do not think very highly of this kind of analysis.
Wojtek
On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:59 PM, Jeffrey Fisher <jeff.jfisher at gmail.com>wrote:
> That's a good point. One wonders how the authors would respond. But the
> thing I myself was wondering is whether one couldn't also demonstrate the
> converse. That is, being nice and not cheating makes you feel less bad
> about
> not buying good produced in sustainable/eco-ethical/whatever ways . . .
> Maybe not, but it was the first thing that came to mind, and it's an
> application of essentially the same "ethical balancing" principle, isn't
> it?
>
> Of course, it presumes that one thinks there's any actual good to be done
> in
> buying certain kinds of products . . .
>
> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:42 PM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > [WS:] It could well be that this is a spurious connection. People who
> can
> > afford to be "green consumers" tend to be more of upper middle class or
> > "yuppie" background than people who buy conventional products (which are
> > far
> > less expensive.) So what the authors attribute to be a "going green"
> effect
> > is in fact an effect of upper class arrogance.
> >
> > Wojtek
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 9:12 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > Guardian - March 15, 2010
> > > <
> > >
> >
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/15/green-consumers-more-likely-steal
> > > >
> > >
> > > How going green may make you mean
> > > Ethical consumers less likely to be kind and more likely to steal,
> study
> > > finds
> > >
> > > Kate Connolly in Berlin
> > >
> > > When Al Gore was caught running up huge energy bills at home at the
> same
> > > time as lecturing on the need to save electricity, it turns out that he
> > was
> > > only reverting to "green" type.
> > >
> > > According to a study, when people feel they have been morally virtuous
> by
> > > saving the planet through their purchases of organic baby food, for
> > example,
> > > it leads to the "licensing [of] selfish and morally questionable
> > behaviour",
> > > otherwise known as "moral balancing" or "compensatory ethics".
> > >
> > > Do Green Products Make Us Better People is published in the latest
> > edition
> > > of the journal Psychological Science. Its authors, Canadian
> psychologists
> > > Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong, argue that people who wear what they call
> > the
> > > "halo of green consumerism" are less likely to be kind to others, and
> > more
> > > likely to cheat and steal. "Virtuous acts can license subsequent
> asocial
> > and
> > > unethical behaviours," they write.
> > >
> > > The pair found that those in their study who bought green products
> > appeared
> > > less willing to share with others a set amount of money than those who
> > > bought conventional products. When the green consumers were given the
> > chance
> > > to boost their money by cheating on a computer game and then given the
> > > opportunity to lie about it – in other words, steal – they did, while
> the
> > > conventional consumers did not. Later, in an honour system in which
> > > participants were asked to take money from an envelope to pay
> themselves
> > > their spoils, the greens were six times more likely to steal than the
> > > conventionals.
> > >
> > > Mazar and Zhong said their study showed that just as exposure to
> pictures
> > > of exclusive restaurants can improve table manners but may not lead to
> an
> > > overall improvement in behaviour, "green products do not necessarily
> make
> > > for better people". They added that one motivation for carrying out the
> > > study was that, despite the "stream of research focusing on identifying
> > the
> > > 'green consumer'", there was a lack of understanding into "how green
> > > consumption fits into people's global sense of responsibility and
> > morality
> > > and [how it] affects behaviours outside the consumption domain".
> > >
> > > The pair said their findings surprised them, having thought that just
> as
> > > "exposure to the Apple logo increased creativity", according to a
> recent
> > > study, "given that green products are manifestations of high ethical
> > > standards and humanitarian considerations, mere exposure" to them would
> > > "activate norms of social responsibility and ethical conduct".
> > >
> > > Dieter Frey, a social psychologist at the University of Munich, said
> the
> > > findings fitted patterns of human behaviour. "At the moment in which
> you
> > > have proven your credentials in a particular area, you tend to allow
> > > yourself to stray elsewhere," he said.
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