Top

International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing

06-11-2023 | Original Article

Advocating for mother nature: the roles of anthropomorphism, nature-evoked emotions and trust

Authors: Jhanghiz Syahrivar, Siska Purnama Manurung, Genoveva Genoveva, Sonny Sonny, Dani Lukman Hakim, Yuling Wei

Published in: International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

Green brand advocacy, a unique phenomenon wherein regular customers champion environmentally conscious businesses, constitutes a vital extension of pro-environmental goals. This research extends prior research in green marketing by investigating the interplay between environmental activists and brands. Specifically, this research delves into the influence of attributing human-like qualities to nature and specific emotions evoked by nature on green brand advocacy in the scope of environmental activism. The research adopts the Simulation Theory to frame five pivotal concepts: nature anthropomorphism, ecological injustice, nature love, green trust, and green brand advocacy. Employing purposive sampling, this research gathered data from 303 environmental activists in Indonesia. A two-step analysis, utilizing the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via SPSS and AMOS software, was conducted to interpret the data. This research yields several theoretical contributions: firstly, nature anthropomorphism indirectly affects green brand advocacy through its positive relationship with ecological injustice and nature love. Secondly, this research uncovers that green trust negatively moderates the relationship between ecological injustice and green brand advocacy, emphasizing the need to effectively manage green trust to foster pro-environmental behaviors. The findings also carry noteworthy managerial implications: Businesses targeting environmental activists should customize their marketing content to align with activists’ anthropomorphic perspective of nature. However, businesses must also consider the potential adverse effects of green trust in their green marketing campaigns. Therefore, a balanced approach is advised, focusing on cultivating customer trust while promoting eco-friendly products. Overall, this research sheds light on the determinants influencing green brand advocacy in the context of environmental activism.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Abdelrazek, N. A., & El-Bassiouny, N. (2023). Online brand advocacy for sustainable brands: A study in an emerging market. Management and Sustainability: An Arab Review, 2(1), 67–86. https://doi.org/10.1108/MSAR-06-2022-0029CrossRef

Agarwal, J., & Malhotra, N. K. (2019). Reflections on the state-of-the-art in ‘ethics and morality in customer-brand relationships’: Directions for future research. Journal of Business Research, 95, 392–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.10.057CrossRef

Aggarwal, P., & McGill, A. L. (2016). Anthropomorphism. In: Routledge International Handbook of Consumer Psychology, 1st edn., (pp. 618–636). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315727448

Ahmadi, A., & Ataei, A. (2022). Emotional attachment: A bridge between brand reputation and brand advocacy. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJBA-11-2021-0579

Armstrong, J. S., & Overton, T. S. (1977). Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. Journal of Marketing Research, 14(3), 396–402. https://doi.org/10.2307/3150783CrossRef

Bligh, M. C. (2017). Leadership and trust. In Leadership Today (pp. 21–42). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31036-7_2

Chairy, C., & Syahrivar, J. (2020). You reap what you sow: The role of karma in green purchase. Cogent Business and Management, 7(1), 1798066. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1798066CrossRef

Chan, A. A. H. (2012). Anthropomorphism as a conservation tool. Biodiversity and Conservation, 21(7), 1889–1892. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0274-6CrossRef

Chen, Y. S. (2010). The drivers of green brand equity: Green brand image, green satisfaction, and green trust. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(2), 307–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0223-9CrossRef

Chuah, S. H. W., El-Manstrly, D., Tseng, M. L., & Ramayah, T. (2020). Sustaining customer engagement behavior through corporate social responsibility: The roles of environmental concern and green trust. Journal of Cleaner Production, 262, 121348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121348CrossRef

D’Uggento, A. M., Piscitelli, A., Ribecco, N., & Scepi, G. (2023). Perceived climate change risk and global green activism among young people. Statistical Methods and Applications, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10260-023-00681-6

Eddy, T. J., Gallup, G. G., Jr., & Povinelli, D. J. (1993). Attribution of cognitive states to animals: Anthropomorphism in comparative perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 49(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1993.tb00910.xCrossRef

Effah, E. A., & Hinson, R. E. (2022). Green brand equity in an emerging economy: Ghana in perspective. Green Marketing in Emerging Economies: A Communications Perspective, 193–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82572-0_9

Elhoushy, S., & Jang, S. (2023). How to maintain sustainable consumer behaviours: A systematic review and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12905

Epley, N., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism. Psychological Review, 114(4), 864. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.864CrossRef

Farooq, R. (2016). Role of structural equation modeling in scale development. Journal of Advances in Management Research, 13(1), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-05-2015-0037CrossRef

Fennell, D. A., & Sheppard, V. (2021). Tourism, animals and the scales of justice. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(2–3), 314–335. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1768263CrossRef

Genoveva, G., & Syahrivar, J. (2020). Green lifestyle among Indonesian millennials: A comparative study between Asia and Europe. Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management, 8(4), 397–413. https://doi.org/10.5890/JEAM.2020.12.007CrossRef

Goyes, D. R., & Sollund, R. (2018). Animal abuse, biotechnology and species justice. Theoretical Criminology, 22(3), 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480618787179CrossRef

Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203CrossRef

Haryono, S. C. (2021). Mystical kinship of creation: A Foundation of eco-spirituality for interreligious ecological movements. International Journal of Indonesian Philosophy and Theology, 2(1), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.47043/ijipth.v2i1.12CrossRef

Hegi, K. E., & Bergner, R. M. (2010). What is love? An empirically-based essentialist account. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27(5), 620–636. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407510369605CrossRef

Hornsey, M. J., Chapman, C. M., & Oelrichs, D. M. (2022). Why it is so hard to teach people they can make a difference: Climate change efficacy as a non-analytic form of reasoning. Thinking and Reasoning, 28(3), 327–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2021.1893222CrossRef

Horowitz, A. C., & Bekoff, M. (2007). Naturalizing anthropomorphism: Behavioral prompts to our humanizing of animals. Anthrozoös, 20(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.2752/089279307780216650CrossRef

Huang, C., & Guo, R. (2021). The effect of a green brand story on perceived brand authenticity and brand trust: The role of narrative rhetoric. Journal of Brand Management, 28, 60–76. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-020-00213-7CrossRef

Hughes, J. D. (1982). Gaia: Environmental problems in chthonic perspective. Environmental Review, 6(2), 92–104. https://doi.org/10.2307/3984156CrossRef

Kals, E., Schumacher, D., & Montada, L. (1999). Emotional affinity toward nature as a motivational basis to protect nature. Environment and Behavior, 31(2), 178–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139169921972056CrossRef

Kang, S., & Hur, W. M. (2012). Investigating the antecedents of green brand equity: A sustainable development perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(5), 306–316. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.281CrossRef

Knowlton, E. C. (1920). The goddess nature in early periods. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 19(2), 224–253. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27701000. Accessed 1 May 2023

Kwak, H., Puzakova, M., & Rocereto, J. F. (2017). When brand anthropomorphism alters perceptions of justice: The moderating role of self-construal. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(4), 851–871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2017.04.002CrossRef

Lanfranchi, M., Giannetto, C., & Rotondo, F. (2017). Environmental strategy in business: Green marketing communication. Journal of Corporate Responsibility and Leadership, 4(3), 111–126. https://doi.org/10.12775/JCRL.2017.019CrossRef

Lee, J., Bhatt, S., & Suri, R. (2018). When consumers penalize not so green products. Psychology and Marketing, 35(1), 36–46. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21069CrossRef

Lee, E. J., Choi, H., Han, J., Kim, D. H., Ko, E., & Kim, K. H. (2020). How to “nudge” your consumers toward sustainable fashion consumption: An fMRI investigation. Journal of Business Research, 117, 642–651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.050CrossRef

Lin, P. C., & Huang, Y. H. (2012). The influence factors on choice behavior regarding green products based on the theory of consumption values. Journal of Cleaner Production, 22(1), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.10.002CrossRef

Manfredo, M. J., Urquiza-Haas, E. G., Carlos, A. W. D., Bruskotter, J. T., & Dietsch, A. M. (2020). How anthropomorphism is changing the social context of modern wildlife conservation. Biological Conservation, 241, 108297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108297CrossRef

McCarty, J. A., & Shrum, L. J. (2001). The influence of individualism, collectivism, and locus of control on environmental beliefs and behavior. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 20(1), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.20.1.93.17291CrossRef

Nguyen-Viet, B. (2023). The impact of green marketing mix elements on green customer based brand equity in an emerging market. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, 15(1), 96–116. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJBA-08-2021-0398CrossRef

Olson, E. L. (2022). Advocacy bias in the green marketing literature: Where seldom is heard a discouraging word. Journal of Business Research, 144, 805–820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.02.052CrossRef

Paço, A., & Gouveia Rodrigues, R. (2016). Environmental activism and consumers’ perceived responsibility. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 40(4), 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12272CrossRef

Pahlevi, M. R., & Suhartanto, D. (2020). The integrated model of green loyalty: Evidence from eco-friendly plastic products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 257, 120844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120844CrossRef

Paiva, A., Dias, J., Sobral, D., Aylett, R., Woods, S., Hall, L., & Zoll, C. (2005). Learning by feeling: Evoking empathy with synthetic characters. Applied Artificial Intelligence, 19(3–4), 235–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/08839510590910165CrossRef

Papista, E., & Dimitriadis, S. (2019). Consumer–green brand relationships: Revisiting benefits, relationship quality and outcomes. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 28(2), 166–187. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-09-2016-1316CrossRef

Parris, C. L., Hegtvedt, K. A., Watson, L. A., & Johnson, C. (2014). Justice for all? Factors affecting perceptions of environmental and ecological injustice. Social Justice Research, 27(1), 67–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-013-0200-4CrossRef

Pelau, C., Dabija, D. C., & Ene, I. (2021). What makes an AI device human-like? The role of interaction quality, empathy and perceived psychological anthropomorphic characteristics in the acceptance of artificial intelligence in the service industry. Computers in Human Behavior, 122, 106855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106855CrossRef

Perkins, H. E. (2010). Measuring love and care for nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(4), 455–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.05.004CrossRef

Peterson, R. A. (1994). A meta-analysis of Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(2), 381–391. https://doi.org/10.1086/209405CrossRef

Pfattheicher, S., Sassenrath, C., & Schindler, S. (2016). Feelings for the suffering of others and the environment: Compassion fosters proenvironmental tendencies. Environment and Behavior, 48(7), 929–945. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916515574549CrossRef

Pulkki, J., Dahlin, B., & Värri, V. M. (2017). Environmental education as a lived-body practice? A contemplative pedagogy perspective. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 51(1), 214–229. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12209CrossRef

Quinn, F., Castéra, J., & Clément, P. (2016). Teachers’ conceptions of the environment: Anthropocentrism, non-anthropocentrism, anthropomorphism and the place of nature. Environmental Education Research, 22(6), 893–917. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2015.1076767CrossRef

Reid-Bowen, P. (2016). Goddess as nature: Towards a philosophical thealogy. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315585338

Riek, L. D., Rabinowitch, T. C., Chakrabarti, B., & Robinson, P. (2009). How anthropomorphism affects empathy toward robots. In Proceedings of the 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction (pp. 245–246). https://doi.org/10.1145/1514095.1514158

Saeed, M., & Shafique, I. (2021). Green customer-based brand equity and green purchase consumption behaviour: The moderating role of religious commitment. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23, 13284–13303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-01210-1CrossRef

Salam, S. C. (2017). Foster trust through competence and integrity. The Blackwell Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behaviour, 285–299. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405164047.ch19

Schreiber, J. B., Nora, A., Stage, F. K., Barlow, E. A., & King, J. (2006). Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(6), 323–338. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOER.99.6.323-338CrossRef

Shanton, K., & Goldman, A. (2010). Simulation theory. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 1(4), 527–538. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.33CrossRef

Strähle, J., & Gräff, C. (2017). The role of social media for a sustainable consumption. In Green Fashion Retail (pp. 225–247). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2440-5_12

Syahrivar, J., Kusuma, K., Pahlevi, R. A., Wei, Y., Chairy, C., & Genoveva, G. (2022). No longer look down: Investigating second-hand clothing purchase in Indonesia. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-022-00341-7

Tam, K. P. (2022). Gratitude to nature: Presenting a theory of its conceptualization, measurement, and effects on pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 79, 101754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101754CrossRef

Tam, K. P., Lee, S. L., & Chao, M. M. (2013). Saving Mr. nature: Anthropomorphism enhances connectedness to and protectiveness toward nature. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(3), 514–521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.02.001CrossRef

Tjosvold, D., Wan, P., & Tang, M. M. (2016). Trust and managing conflict: Partners in developing organizations. In Building Trust and Constructive Conflict Management in Organizations (pp. 53–74). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31475-4_4

White, R. (2013). Crimes against nature: Environmental criminology and ecological justice. Willan. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315880723

Widjojo, H., & Gunawan, S. (2020). Indigenous tradition: An overlooked encompassing-factor in social entrepreneurship. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 11(1), 88–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2019.1579752CrossRef

Williams, M. O., Whitmarsh, L., & Chríost, D. M. G. (2021). The association between anthropomorphism of nature and pro-environmental variables: A systematic review. Biological Conservation, 255, 109022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109022CrossRef

Wu, H. C., & Cheng, C. C. (2017). What drives green advocacy? A case study of leisure farms in Taiwan. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 33, 103–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2017.10.008CrossRef

Yang, L. W., Aggarwal, P., & McGill, A. L. (2020). The 3 C’s of anthropomorphism: Connection, comprehension, and competition. Consumer Psychology Review, 3(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/arcp.1054CrossRef

Yi, Y., & Gong, T. (2013). Customer value co-creation behavior: Scale development and validation. Journal of Business Research, 66(9), 1279–1284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.02.026CrossRef

Yuhua, X. (2002). Shu: Naxi nature goddess archetype. Gender, Technology and Development, 6(3), 409–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2002.11910060CrossRef

Zhang, J., & Fu, B. (2023). Eco-civilization: A complementary pathway rooted in theory and practice for global sustainable development. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-023-01902-8

Title: Advocating for mother nature: the roles of anthropomorphism, nature-evoked emotions and trust
Authors: Jhanghiz Syahrivar
Siska Purnama Manurung
Genoveva Genoveva
Sonny Sonny
Dani Lukman Hakim
Yuling Wei
Publication date: 06-11-2023
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing
Print ISSN: 1865-1984
Electronic ISSN: 1865-1992
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-023-00390-6