Communicating sustainable benefits: effects of mental representation and psychological distance perceptions.

Government and not-for-profit agencies frequently encourage adoption of ecologically friendly packaging. In addition, encouraging sustainable consumer behavior, such as adoption of eco-friendly packaging, is a growing topic of interest in marketing literature (Karmarkar & Bollinger 2015) and it has been identified as one of the more pressing research topics (Mick 2006). This paper reports on a two-method study using implicit attitude theory and construal level theory to provide insights to evaluation processes that may encourage/inhibit consumers’ sustainable food packaging choices. We measure implicit versus explicit attitudes and response to advertising messages framed as environmental-centered versus self-benefit centered, matching these with respondents’ abstract versus concrete mind-sets. The findings confirmed positive implicit and explicit attitudes towards compostable packaging across two different food categories. Study 1 also showed dissociation between implicit and explicit associations, which informs approaches to nudging changes in consumers’ behavior towards packaging choice. Study 2 confirms that a message framed as environmental-centered matched with a more abstract mind-set produces more positive attitudes and intentions toward sustainable packaging.