Green branding effects on attitude: functional versus emotional positioning strategies Patrick Hartmann, Vanessa Apoalaza Iba ´n ˜ez and F. Javier Forcada Sainz Departamento de Economı ´a de la Empresa y Financiacio ´n, Universidad del Paı ´s Vasco, Bilbao, Spain Abstract Purpose – Proposes a set of strategic options for green brand positioning, based either on functional brand attributes or on emotional benefits. The aim of the study is to test the suggested green positioning strategies against one another, assessing their effect on perceived brand positioning and brand attitude. Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical model of the dimensionality and attitudinal effects of green brand positioning was developed. Both suggested alternatives to green brand positioning, along with a combined functional and emotional strategy, were tested in an experimental online setting. The hypothesized model was tested in the scope of exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings – Results indicate an overall positive influence of green brand positioning on brand attitude. Further findings suggest distinct functional and emotional dimensions of green brand positioning with the interaction of both dimensions in the formation of brand attitude. Highest perceptual effects were achieved through a green positioning strategy that combined functional attributes with emotional benefits. Research limitations/implications – The measures used, while providing good reliability and validity, have their limitations, especially in the case of the emotional dimension of green brand associations. Future research should concentrate on the further development of the constructs used in the study, particularly that of the emotional dimension of green brand associations and replicate the study under “real-life” conditions within different product categories and with a representative sample. Practical implications – A well implemented green positioning strategy can lead to a more favourable perception of the brand, giving support to the green marketing approach in general. This study supports significant attitude effects of both functional and emotional green positioning strategies. Thus, brand managers should deliver emotional benefits through the brand, at the same time making sure that target groups perceive real environmental benefits. Originality/value – Although green marketing has been an important research topic for more than three decades, hardly any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on green branding. This paper analyses the dimensionality of green brand positioning, offers green branding insight and suggests strategic tools for brand managers. Keywords Brands, Product positioning, Green marketing Paper type Research paper Introduction Green marketing has been an important academic research topic for at least three decades (Kassarjian, 1971; Kinnear et al., 1974; Coddington, 1993; Meffert and The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-4503.htm The authors wish to thank Susannah Persak for her comments and suggestions regarding the technical review of the article. Green branding effects on attitude 9 Marketing Intelligence & Planning Vol. 23 No. 1, 2005 pp. 9-29 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0263-4503 DOI 10.1108/02634500510577447
Transcript
Green branding effects onattitude functional versus
emotional positioning strategiesPatrick Hartmann Vanessa Apoalaza Ibanez and
F Javier Forcada SainzDepartamento de Economıa de la Empresa y Financiacion
Universidad del Paıs Vasco Bilbao Spain
Abstract
Purpose ndash Proposes a set of strategic options for green brand positioning based either on functionalbrand attributes or on emotional benefits The aim of the study is to test the suggested greenpositioning strategies against one another assessing their effect on perceived brand positioning andbrand attitude
Designmethodologyapproach ndash A theoretical model of the dimensionality and attitudinal effectsof green brand positioning was developed Both suggested alternatives to green brand positioningalong with a combined functional and emotional strategy were tested in an experimental onlinesetting The hypothesized model was tested in the scope of exploratory factor analysis and structuralequation modelling
Findings ndash Results indicate an overall positive influence of green brand positioning on brandattitude Further findings suggest distinct functional and emotional dimensions of green brandpositioning with the interaction of both dimensions in the formation of brand attitude Highestperceptual effects were achieved through a green positioning strategy that combined functionalattributes with emotional benefits
Research limitationsimplications ndash The measures used while providing good reliability andvalidity have their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension of green brandassociations Future research should concentrate on the further development of the constructs used inthe study particularly that of the emotional dimension of green brand associations and replicate thestudy under ldquoreal-liferdquo conditions within different product categories and with a representative sample
Practical implications ndash A well implemented green positioning strategy can lead to a morefavourable perception of the brand giving support to the green marketing approach in general Thisstudy supports significant attitude effects of both functional and emotional green positioningstrategies Thus brand managers should deliver emotional benefits through the brand at the sametime making sure that target groups perceive real environmental benefits
Originalityvalue ndash Although green marketing has been an important research topic for more thanthree decades hardly any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on green brandingThis paper analyses the dimensionality of green brand positioning offers green branding insight andsuggests strategic tools for brand managers
Keywords Brands Product positioning Green marketing
Paper type Research paper
IntroductionGreen marketing has been an important academic research topic for at least threedecades (Kassarjian 1971 Kinnear et al 1974 Coddington 1993 Meffert and
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
The authors wish to thank Susannah Persak for her comments and suggestions regarding thetechnical review of the article
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
9
Marketing Intelligence amp PlanningVol 23 No 1 2005
pp 9-29q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-4503DOI 10110802634500510577447
Kirchgeorg 1993 Hopfenbeck 1993 Ottman 1994 Peattie 1995 Polonsky andMintu-Wimsatt 1995 Schlegelmilch et al 1996 Bigne 1997 Fuller 1999 Kalafatiset al 1999 Calomarde 2000 Fraj and Martınez 2002) but few studies have focusedspecifically on green branding At present there is little doubt about the strategicimportance of a well-defined brand identity as a prerequisite for delivering brand value(Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2000 de Chernatony and DallrsquoOlmo Riley 1998) A greenbrand identity is defined by a specific set of brand attributes and benefits related to thereduced environmental impact of the brand and its perception as beingenvironmentally sound A well-implemented green brand identity should providebenefits to environmentally conscious consumers While there are some studies on theperceived value of environmentally sound product attributes (Roozen and DePelsmacker 1998) the role of emotional benefits in the case of green brands is stilllargely unassessed
Brand positioning is regarded a key tool for brand implementation in competitivemarkets (Aaker 1996 Hooley et al 1998 Kotler 2000) This paper proposes a set ofstrategic options for green brand positioning available to marketing planners andbrand managers which are based either on functional brand attributes or emotionalbenefits The review of the literature on the subject of green marketing reveals differentopinions regarding the adequacy of either cognitive or emotionally oriented persuasionstrategies The aim of this study is to test green positioning strategies by settingfunctional attributes and emotional benefits against each other assessing their effecton perceived brand positioning and brand attitude The research design is anexperiment in a setting that allowed for the selective and controlled exposure ofparticipants to advertising stimuli designed to implement different brand positioningstrategies
Green brand positioningAlthough there is general agreement on the strategic relevance of positioning inmodern marketing management the concept of ldquopositioningrdquo itself still lacks acoherent definition (Aaker and Shansby 1982 Blankson and Kalafatis 1999) Brandpositioning has been analysed both from a strategic standpoint (Ries and Trout 1986Park et al 1989 Hooley et al 1998) and an analytical perspective (Hauser andKoppelman 1979 Caroll and Green 1997 Hair et al 1998) Kalafatis et al (2000)conceive of positioning as an iterative process consisting of deliberate and proactiveactions aimed at the definition of distinct consumer perceptions Aaker andJoachimsthaler (2000) define brand positioning as the part of the brand identity andvalue proposition that is to be actively communicated to the target audienceConsequently brand positioning is based on the interaction of all marketing tools withan accentuated role for marketing communications because of its relevance in theprocess of shaping distinct consumer perceptions
Thus positioning a brand as a ldquogreen brandrdquo entails an active communicationand differentiation of the brand from its competitors through its environmentallysound attributes Ecologically sustainable products will not be commerciallysuccessful if green brand attributes are not effectively communicated (Pickett et al1995) Coddington (1993) and Meffert and Kirchgeorg (1993) suggest that greenpositioning as an essential factor in the success of green branding strategiesFollowing classification schemes of generic positioning strategies (Aaker 1996
MIP231
10
Tomczak et al 1997) a brand can be positioned by functional attributes andor byemotional benefits Green brand positioning strategies are here classified asfunctional or emotional
A green positioning strategy based on functional brand attributes aims to buildbrand associations by delivering information on environmentally sound productattributes This positioning strategy should be based on relevant environmentaladvantages of the product compared to competing conventional products and mayrefer to production processes product use andor product elimination (Meffert andKirchgeorg 1993 Peattie 1995) A car brand for example may be consideredenvironmentally sound if the models in question cause significantly lower emissionsthan competorsrsquo Several studies address the value perception of selectedenvironmental product attributes (Roozen and De Pelsmacker 1998)
However the success of a brand strategy which positions the product exclusivelyby its functional attributes may be limited by the fact that the reduction of a productrsquosenvironmental impact generally does not deliver individual benefits to its buyerTherefore the perceived customer benefit may be insufficient as a motivating factor forbrand purchase (Belz and Dyllik 1996) For most products a consumer wouldexperience functional benefits (ie improvement of environmental quality) only in caseof generalized environmentally sound consumer behaviour Furthermore functionalpositioning strategies can have some general disadvantages they can often be easilyimitated they assume rational buyer decisions and they may reduce the flexibility ofbrand differentiation (Kroeber-Riel 1991 Aaker 1996)
As an alternative or complementary strategy green positioning can be based on atleast three conceptually different types of emotional brand benefits
(1) A feeling of well-being (ldquowarm glowrdquo) associated with acting in an altruisticway (Ritov and Kahnemann 1997) Environmentally conscious consumersexperience personal satisfaction by contributing to the improvement of theldquocommon goodrdquo environment
(2) Auto-expression benefits through the socially visible consumption of greenbrands (Belz and Dyllik 1996) Environmentally conscious consumersexperience personal satisfaction by exhibiting their environmentalconsciousness to others
(3) Nature-related benefits stemming from sensations and feelings normallyexperienced through contact with nature These are the result of a sensation ofldquoemotional affinity towards naturerdquo eg ldquoloving naturerdquo or ldquofeeling one withnaturerdquo (Kals et al 1999) Most people experience feelings of wellbeing or evenhappinesswhen they are in contact with natural environments Pastcommunication campaigns for GM-Opel BP and the Spanish power utilityIberdrola have embedded the brand in pleasant imagery of naturalenvironments aiming to evoke vicarious nature experiences as emotionalbrand benefits
Attitudinal effects of green brand positioningMost of the research on attitude formation and change can be understood in light ofpersuasion process paradigms such as the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of Pettyand Cacioppo (1983) or more recently the affect-reason-involvement model (ARI)
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
11
proposed by Buck et al (1995 2000) Both of these distinguish between at least twoconceptually different types of persuasion processes central and peripheral modes ofpersuasion in the case of the first model and rational and emotional processes in thesecond In both models a higher involvement of the subject subsequently leads to ahigher amount of cognitive elaboration Additionally in the ARI model a strongeremotional involvement leads to a deeper emotional elaboration
According to ELM attitude formation through the central route takes place under ahigh amount of cognitive elaboration Attitude formation or change is a result of apersonrsquos diligent and rational consideration of information that is central to the object(Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) On the contrary attitude formation through the peripheralroute ndash that is in the absence or reduction of cognitive elaboration of information ndashoccurs either through simple inference processes (Mitchell and Olson 1981) or as aresult of feelings associated with the brand A brand can be associated with emotionalcontents through conditioning processes in consequence of exposure to emotionalbrand advertising (Burke and Edell 1987)
Numerous authors emphasise the efficiency of cognitive persuasion strategies ingreen marketing assuming the consumerrsquos high involvement regarding environmentalissues as a consequence of a growing environmental consciousness (Kinnear et al1974 Cope and Winward 1991 Hopfenbeck 1993 Swenson and Wells 1997 Fuller1999) As Ottman (1994 p 78) points out ldquoClearly we need a more informed public[regarding environmental topics] which is better equipped to make rational purchasingand policy decisions about products packaging and manufacturing processesrdquo Thecognitive orientation of most green marketing research is based on studies showing asignificant influence of environmental knowledge and consciousness on consumersrsquoenvironmental attitudes (Hines et al 1987 Stone et al 1995) Consequently manyauthors recommend the use of rational persuasion strategies that implement brandpositioning by supplying detailed information on environmental product benefitscapable of satisfying the consumerrsquos informational needs (Peattie 1995)
However there is no general agreement on this question Several studies show only alimited influence of cognitive factors such as environmental knowledge whiledemonstrating a significant influence of affective factors on environmental purchasebehaviour (Monhemius 1993 Davis 1993 Smith et al 1994 Finger 1994)Consequently these authors recommend affective persuasion strategies AsCoddington (1993) points out green brand positioning also implies satisfyingemotional needs and building an affective relationship with the customer
A further controversy refers to attitude effects of green branding strategies in ageneral way Most studies show a growing environmental consciousness amongconsumers leading to generalized positive attitude effects on brands that are perceivedas environmentally sound (Bech-Larsen 1996 Eagly and Kulesa 1997 Swenson andWells 1997 Benito Gomez et al 1999) Nevertheless some studies show that in certainsituations consumer attitudes can be less positive towards green brands as aconsequence of a perceived trade-off between functional performance of the brand andits environmental impact (Coddington 1993 Schlegelmilch et al 1996 Fuller 1999)
Hypotheses and research questionPersuasion models such as the ELM or ARI model imply that two conceptuallydistinct processes in the perception of green brand attributes lead to the formation of
MIP231
12
brand attitudes the cognitive evaluation of functional brand attributes and theemotional reaction to emotional brand benefits Both cognitive and emotional brandassociations can be analyzed and represented as associative networks (Keller 1993Calder and Gruder 1989) or by means of brand positioning models and perceptualmapping techniques (Hauser and Koppelman 1979 Caroll and Green 1997 Hair et al1998) The dimensions of perceived brand positioning are generally extracted throughexploratory andor confirmatory factor analysis (eg Kalafatis et al 2000 Bhat andReddy 1998)
The proposition of a two-dimensional functionalemotional green brand positioningmodel is consistent with the revised models on persuasion and positioning (Figure 1)Functional and emotional brand associations should be expected to form distinctdimensions of the perceptual space in a model of perceived green brand positioningWhile a rational persuasion strategy such as green brand positioning by functionalattributes should enhance the brandrsquos perception as environmentally sound in thefunctional dimension an emotional green positioning strategy should lead to a shifttowards the emotional dimension of green brand associations
H1 Perceived green brand positioning is formed by two distinct dimensionsrepresenting the perception of either functional environmentally soundproduct attributes or emotional benefits related to the environment
Two further research propositions concern the controversy on attitudinal effects ofgreen positioning strategies First the direction (positivenegative) of the effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude is addressed Based on the results of most revisedstudies a positive attitudinal effect of the perception of a brand as environmentallysound should be expected
H2 Green brand positioning leads to a positive effect on brand attitude
Secondly the study addresses the further controversy regarding the adequateness ofeither rational or emotionally oriented persuasion strategies in green marketing Thusone research aim is to assess the respective influence of functional or emotional greenpositioning on brand attitude
RQ Which of the proposed green positioning strategies ie green positioning byfunctional attributes or green positioning by emotional benefits has thestrongest effect on brand attitude
Figure 1Hypothesised perceptualeffects of functional and
emotional green brandpositioning on brand
attitude
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
13
MethodIn line with this studyrsquos main objective of exploring and testing the dimensions ofgreen brand positioning and its effects on brand attitude scale items were developed tomeasure a brandrsquos functional and emotional associations related to the environmentThese were validated by testing the scalesrsquo ability to discriminate betweenexperimental brands designed a priori to implement a specific either functional oremotional green brand positioning They were applied in an experimental setting toallow the controlled exposure of the participants to the experimental stimuli as well asthe assessment of the specific effects of the experimental factor The influence ofexternal factors such as the environmental consciousness of the participants wasrandomised
Following the analysis method employed in recent studies of perceived positioning(eg Bhat and Reddy 1998 Kalafatis et al 2000) exploratory and confirmatory factoranalysis of the data were used to investigate the dimensionality of perceived greenbrand positioning Attitudinal effects of extracted dimensions were assessed in thescope of a structural equation model developed from the measurement model
Experimental designThe study was conducted in four simultaneous on-line sessions in the computerlaboratory of a university Participants were instructed to connect through theirindividual computer terminals to a specific website They were then automaticallyexposed for 30 seconds to each of a series of five advertisements consisting of a singlestatic image Four of these stimuli were identical for the different experimental groupsand one was specific to each group which formed the experimental factor The fourrelated to known brands of small-sized cars the fifth was specifically designed toimplement different positioning strategies of an experimental green car brand Afterexposure participants completed an on-screen on-line questionnaire All questionscould be answered by using the mouse alone Data were automatically collected in anon-line database
The participants were 160 students in the final year of the Business Administrationdegree at a university in the Spanish Basque Country They were randomly assigned tofour experimental groups Participants were 56 per cent female and 44 per cent maleaged between 22 and 26 It is acknowledged that the use of student samples inmarketing research is controversial (Burnett and Dunne 1986) but this experimentaldesign was realistically feasible only if that limitation was accepted In fact the sampleprofile is not entirely inappropriate since the brands in the experiment are marketed inSpain to target groups with similar demographic characteristics
Though brand positioning involves the whole of the marketing mix anexperimental setting in which the sole contact with salient brand attributes takesplace through brand communications is not unrealistic Even in real life conditionsconsumers often develop brand perceptions and attitudes mainly or even exclusivelythrough advertising exposure While it is true that this does not normally occur as aonce-only exposure to an advertisement several studies addressing this issue havesuggested that advertising effects can be achieved with only one exposure (Kim et al1998 Gibson 1996 Mandese 1995 Surmanek 1995)
MIP231
14
Independent variablesEach group of participants was exposed to visual stimuli in the form of total of fiveprint advertisements four of which were extracted from actual communicationcampaigns for the SEAT Arosa Fiat Punto Renault Clio and Opel Corsa The fifthgroup-specific advertisement was in the case of the three experimental groupspurpose-designed to implement different green positioning strategies for thehypothetical Mercedes ATMO For the control groups it was an actualconventional advertisement for the Mercedes A-Class
The positioning strategies underlying the purpose-designed advertisement weredeveloped according to the concepts proposed in the theoretical part of this paper TheMercedes brand was chosen because no initial green brand associations were to beexpected Associations with the umbrella brand of Mercedes were unlikely to interferewith the purpose of the study as perceptual and attitudinal effects of the experimentalbrand positioning were assessed relative to the perception of the Mercedes A-Classbrand in the control group
The first of the experimental advertisements was based on a functional brandpositioning strategy based on the attribute ldquozero emission through new fuel celltechnologyrdquo The copy gave detailed information on how emissions are reduced Therewere no further environmental or nature cues The images were identical to those of theadvertisement implementing the conventional positioning of the ldquoMercedes A-Classrdquobrand and had no emotional connotations The second experimental advertisementwas designed to implement an emotional positioning strategy There were no cues tofunctional environmentally sound attributes The brand was embedded in pleasantimagery of nature scenery aimed to evoke feelings experienced in the actual situationsuch as ldquobreathing fresh mountain airrdquo or ldquofeeling as free as an eaglerdquo The thirdadvertisement combined both strategies positioning the brand by its environmentallysound product attributes and by emotional benefits The former were specified in thecopy and the latter evoked through images of nature (see Appendix 1)
Dependent measuresAs one major aim of the study was the construction of a positioning model thedependent measures were designed to assess relevant brand associations of all of thecompeting brands included in the study Brand perceptions were measured with twodifferent types of scale The first part of the survey consisted of verbal statements andscales Participants used five point scales from 5 frac14 ldquovery muchrdquo to 1 frac14 ldquonot at allrdquo torate how strongly they would associate the brand with certain attributes or brandcharacteristics Items included such characteristics as ldquosaferdquo and ldquocomfortablerdquo Thestatements ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoair pollutionrdquo were meant to assess thefunctional dimension of the perception of the environmental soundness of each brandwhile the remaining statements were relevant to other aspects of brand perception butnot central to the subject of the study (see Table I)
The second set of items consisted of a battery of visual stimuli that addressed theperception of emotional brand associations related to the brandrsquos environmentalsoundness Their development was based on several studies that show a generallysuperior capacity of visuals in evoking an emotional response as compared to verbalcontent especially in situations with a brief exposure (Holbrook and Moore 1981Childers and Houston 1984 Childers et al 1985 Louviere et al 1987
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
15
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Kirchgeorg 1993 Hopfenbeck 1993 Ottman 1994 Peattie 1995 Polonsky andMintu-Wimsatt 1995 Schlegelmilch et al 1996 Bigne 1997 Fuller 1999 Kalafatiset al 1999 Calomarde 2000 Fraj and Martınez 2002) but few studies have focusedspecifically on green branding At present there is little doubt about the strategicimportance of a well-defined brand identity as a prerequisite for delivering brand value(Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2000 de Chernatony and DallrsquoOlmo Riley 1998) A greenbrand identity is defined by a specific set of brand attributes and benefits related to thereduced environmental impact of the brand and its perception as beingenvironmentally sound A well-implemented green brand identity should providebenefits to environmentally conscious consumers While there are some studies on theperceived value of environmentally sound product attributes (Roozen and DePelsmacker 1998) the role of emotional benefits in the case of green brands is stilllargely unassessed
Brand positioning is regarded a key tool for brand implementation in competitivemarkets (Aaker 1996 Hooley et al 1998 Kotler 2000) This paper proposes a set ofstrategic options for green brand positioning available to marketing planners andbrand managers which are based either on functional brand attributes or emotionalbenefits The review of the literature on the subject of green marketing reveals differentopinions regarding the adequacy of either cognitive or emotionally oriented persuasionstrategies The aim of this study is to test green positioning strategies by settingfunctional attributes and emotional benefits against each other assessing their effecton perceived brand positioning and brand attitude The research design is anexperiment in a setting that allowed for the selective and controlled exposure ofparticipants to advertising stimuli designed to implement different brand positioningstrategies
Green brand positioningAlthough there is general agreement on the strategic relevance of positioning inmodern marketing management the concept of ldquopositioningrdquo itself still lacks acoherent definition (Aaker and Shansby 1982 Blankson and Kalafatis 1999) Brandpositioning has been analysed both from a strategic standpoint (Ries and Trout 1986Park et al 1989 Hooley et al 1998) and an analytical perspective (Hauser andKoppelman 1979 Caroll and Green 1997 Hair et al 1998) Kalafatis et al (2000)conceive of positioning as an iterative process consisting of deliberate and proactiveactions aimed at the definition of distinct consumer perceptions Aaker andJoachimsthaler (2000) define brand positioning as the part of the brand identity andvalue proposition that is to be actively communicated to the target audienceConsequently brand positioning is based on the interaction of all marketing tools withan accentuated role for marketing communications because of its relevance in theprocess of shaping distinct consumer perceptions
Thus positioning a brand as a ldquogreen brandrdquo entails an active communicationand differentiation of the brand from its competitors through its environmentallysound attributes Ecologically sustainable products will not be commerciallysuccessful if green brand attributes are not effectively communicated (Pickett et al1995) Coddington (1993) and Meffert and Kirchgeorg (1993) suggest that greenpositioning as an essential factor in the success of green branding strategiesFollowing classification schemes of generic positioning strategies (Aaker 1996
MIP231
10
Tomczak et al 1997) a brand can be positioned by functional attributes andor byemotional benefits Green brand positioning strategies are here classified asfunctional or emotional
A green positioning strategy based on functional brand attributes aims to buildbrand associations by delivering information on environmentally sound productattributes This positioning strategy should be based on relevant environmentaladvantages of the product compared to competing conventional products and mayrefer to production processes product use andor product elimination (Meffert andKirchgeorg 1993 Peattie 1995) A car brand for example may be consideredenvironmentally sound if the models in question cause significantly lower emissionsthan competorsrsquo Several studies address the value perception of selectedenvironmental product attributes (Roozen and De Pelsmacker 1998)
However the success of a brand strategy which positions the product exclusivelyby its functional attributes may be limited by the fact that the reduction of a productrsquosenvironmental impact generally does not deliver individual benefits to its buyerTherefore the perceived customer benefit may be insufficient as a motivating factor forbrand purchase (Belz and Dyllik 1996) For most products a consumer wouldexperience functional benefits (ie improvement of environmental quality) only in caseof generalized environmentally sound consumer behaviour Furthermore functionalpositioning strategies can have some general disadvantages they can often be easilyimitated they assume rational buyer decisions and they may reduce the flexibility ofbrand differentiation (Kroeber-Riel 1991 Aaker 1996)
As an alternative or complementary strategy green positioning can be based on atleast three conceptually different types of emotional brand benefits
(1) A feeling of well-being (ldquowarm glowrdquo) associated with acting in an altruisticway (Ritov and Kahnemann 1997) Environmentally conscious consumersexperience personal satisfaction by contributing to the improvement of theldquocommon goodrdquo environment
(2) Auto-expression benefits through the socially visible consumption of greenbrands (Belz and Dyllik 1996) Environmentally conscious consumersexperience personal satisfaction by exhibiting their environmentalconsciousness to others
(3) Nature-related benefits stemming from sensations and feelings normallyexperienced through contact with nature These are the result of a sensation ofldquoemotional affinity towards naturerdquo eg ldquoloving naturerdquo or ldquofeeling one withnaturerdquo (Kals et al 1999) Most people experience feelings of wellbeing or evenhappinesswhen they are in contact with natural environments Pastcommunication campaigns for GM-Opel BP and the Spanish power utilityIberdrola have embedded the brand in pleasant imagery of naturalenvironments aiming to evoke vicarious nature experiences as emotionalbrand benefits
Attitudinal effects of green brand positioningMost of the research on attitude formation and change can be understood in light ofpersuasion process paradigms such as the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of Pettyand Cacioppo (1983) or more recently the affect-reason-involvement model (ARI)
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
11
proposed by Buck et al (1995 2000) Both of these distinguish between at least twoconceptually different types of persuasion processes central and peripheral modes ofpersuasion in the case of the first model and rational and emotional processes in thesecond In both models a higher involvement of the subject subsequently leads to ahigher amount of cognitive elaboration Additionally in the ARI model a strongeremotional involvement leads to a deeper emotional elaboration
According to ELM attitude formation through the central route takes place under ahigh amount of cognitive elaboration Attitude formation or change is a result of apersonrsquos diligent and rational consideration of information that is central to the object(Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) On the contrary attitude formation through the peripheralroute ndash that is in the absence or reduction of cognitive elaboration of information ndashoccurs either through simple inference processes (Mitchell and Olson 1981) or as aresult of feelings associated with the brand A brand can be associated with emotionalcontents through conditioning processes in consequence of exposure to emotionalbrand advertising (Burke and Edell 1987)
Numerous authors emphasise the efficiency of cognitive persuasion strategies ingreen marketing assuming the consumerrsquos high involvement regarding environmentalissues as a consequence of a growing environmental consciousness (Kinnear et al1974 Cope and Winward 1991 Hopfenbeck 1993 Swenson and Wells 1997 Fuller1999) As Ottman (1994 p 78) points out ldquoClearly we need a more informed public[regarding environmental topics] which is better equipped to make rational purchasingand policy decisions about products packaging and manufacturing processesrdquo Thecognitive orientation of most green marketing research is based on studies showing asignificant influence of environmental knowledge and consciousness on consumersrsquoenvironmental attitudes (Hines et al 1987 Stone et al 1995) Consequently manyauthors recommend the use of rational persuasion strategies that implement brandpositioning by supplying detailed information on environmental product benefitscapable of satisfying the consumerrsquos informational needs (Peattie 1995)
However there is no general agreement on this question Several studies show only alimited influence of cognitive factors such as environmental knowledge whiledemonstrating a significant influence of affective factors on environmental purchasebehaviour (Monhemius 1993 Davis 1993 Smith et al 1994 Finger 1994)Consequently these authors recommend affective persuasion strategies AsCoddington (1993) points out green brand positioning also implies satisfyingemotional needs and building an affective relationship with the customer
A further controversy refers to attitude effects of green branding strategies in ageneral way Most studies show a growing environmental consciousness amongconsumers leading to generalized positive attitude effects on brands that are perceivedas environmentally sound (Bech-Larsen 1996 Eagly and Kulesa 1997 Swenson andWells 1997 Benito Gomez et al 1999) Nevertheless some studies show that in certainsituations consumer attitudes can be less positive towards green brands as aconsequence of a perceived trade-off between functional performance of the brand andits environmental impact (Coddington 1993 Schlegelmilch et al 1996 Fuller 1999)
Hypotheses and research questionPersuasion models such as the ELM or ARI model imply that two conceptuallydistinct processes in the perception of green brand attributes lead to the formation of
MIP231
12
brand attitudes the cognitive evaluation of functional brand attributes and theemotional reaction to emotional brand benefits Both cognitive and emotional brandassociations can be analyzed and represented as associative networks (Keller 1993Calder and Gruder 1989) or by means of brand positioning models and perceptualmapping techniques (Hauser and Koppelman 1979 Caroll and Green 1997 Hair et al1998) The dimensions of perceived brand positioning are generally extracted throughexploratory andor confirmatory factor analysis (eg Kalafatis et al 2000 Bhat andReddy 1998)
The proposition of a two-dimensional functionalemotional green brand positioningmodel is consistent with the revised models on persuasion and positioning (Figure 1)Functional and emotional brand associations should be expected to form distinctdimensions of the perceptual space in a model of perceived green brand positioningWhile a rational persuasion strategy such as green brand positioning by functionalattributes should enhance the brandrsquos perception as environmentally sound in thefunctional dimension an emotional green positioning strategy should lead to a shifttowards the emotional dimension of green brand associations
H1 Perceived green brand positioning is formed by two distinct dimensionsrepresenting the perception of either functional environmentally soundproduct attributes or emotional benefits related to the environment
Two further research propositions concern the controversy on attitudinal effects ofgreen positioning strategies First the direction (positivenegative) of the effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude is addressed Based on the results of most revisedstudies a positive attitudinal effect of the perception of a brand as environmentallysound should be expected
H2 Green brand positioning leads to a positive effect on brand attitude
Secondly the study addresses the further controversy regarding the adequateness ofeither rational or emotionally oriented persuasion strategies in green marketing Thusone research aim is to assess the respective influence of functional or emotional greenpositioning on brand attitude
RQ Which of the proposed green positioning strategies ie green positioning byfunctional attributes or green positioning by emotional benefits has thestrongest effect on brand attitude
Figure 1Hypothesised perceptualeffects of functional and
emotional green brandpositioning on brand
attitude
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
13
MethodIn line with this studyrsquos main objective of exploring and testing the dimensions ofgreen brand positioning and its effects on brand attitude scale items were developed tomeasure a brandrsquos functional and emotional associations related to the environmentThese were validated by testing the scalesrsquo ability to discriminate betweenexperimental brands designed a priori to implement a specific either functional oremotional green brand positioning They were applied in an experimental setting toallow the controlled exposure of the participants to the experimental stimuli as well asthe assessment of the specific effects of the experimental factor The influence ofexternal factors such as the environmental consciousness of the participants wasrandomised
Following the analysis method employed in recent studies of perceived positioning(eg Bhat and Reddy 1998 Kalafatis et al 2000) exploratory and confirmatory factoranalysis of the data were used to investigate the dimensionality of perceived greenbrand positioning Attitudinal effects of extracted dimensions were assessed in thescope of a structural equation model developed from the measurement model
Experimental designThe study was conducted in four simultaneous on-line sessions in the computerlaboratory of a university Participants were instructed to connect through theirindividual computer terminals to a specific website They were then automaticallyexposed for 30 seconds to each of a series of five advertisements consisting of a singlestatic image Four of these stimuli were identical for the different experimental groupsand one was specific to each group which formed the experimental factor The fourrelated to known brands of small-sized cars the fifth was specifically designed toimplement different positioning strategies of an experimental green car brand Afterexposure participants completed an on-screen on-line questionnaire All questionscould be answered by using the mouse alone Data were automatically collected in anon-line database
The participants were 160 students in the final year of the Business Administrationdegree at a university in the Spanish Basque Country They were randomly assigned tofour experimental groups Participants were 56 per cent female and 44 per cent maleaged between 22 and 26 It is acknowledged that the use of student samples inmarketing research is controversial (Burnett and Dunne 1986) but this experimentaldesign was realistically feasible only if that limitation was accepted In fact the sampleprofile is not entirely inappropriate since the brands in the experiment are marketed inSpain to target groups with similar demographic characteristics
Though brand positioning involves the whole of the marketing mix anexperimental setting in which the sole contact with salient brand attributes takesplace through brand communications is not unrealistic Even in real life conditionsconsumers often develop brand perceptions and attitudes mainly or even exclusivelythrough advertising exposure While it is true that this does not normally occur as aonce-only exposure to an advertisement several studies addressing this issue havesuggested that advertising effects can be achieved with only one exposure (Kim et al1998 Gibson 1996 Mandese 1995 Surmanek 1995)
MIP231
14
Independent variablesEach group of participants was exposed to visual stimuli in the form of total of fiveprint advertisements four of which were extracted from actual communicationcampaigns for the SEAT Arosa Fiat Punto Renault Clio and Opel Corsa The fifthgroup-specific advertisement was in the case of the three experimental groupspurpose-designed to implement different green positioning strategies for thehypothetical Mercedes ATMO For the control groups it was an actualconventional advertisement for the Mercedes A-Class
The positioning strategies underlying the purpose-designed advertisement weredeveloped according to the concepts proposed in the theoretical part of this paper TheMercedes brand was chosen because no initial green brand associations were to beexpected Associations with the umbrella brand of Mercedes were unlikely to interferewith the purpose of the study as perceptual and attitudinal effects of the experimentalbrand positioning were assessed relative to the perception of the Mercedes A-Classbrand in the control group
The first of the experimental advertisements was based on a functional brandpositioning strategy based on the attribute ldquozero emission through new fuel celltechnologyrdquo The copy gave detailed information on how emissions are reduced Therewere no further environmental or nature cues The images were identical to those of theadvertisement implementing the conventional positioning of the ldquoMercedes A-Classrdquobrand and had no emotional connotations The second experimental advertisementwas designed to implement an emotional positioning strategy There were no cues tofunctional environmentally sound attributes The brand was embedded in pleasantimagery of nature scenery aimed to evoke feelings experienced in the actual situationsuch as ldquobreathing fresh mountain airrdquo or ldquofeeling as free as an eaglerdquo The thirdadvertisement combined both strategies positioning the brand by its environmentallysound product attributes and by emotional benefits The former were specified in thecopy and the latter evoked through images of nature (see Appendix 1)
Dependent measuresAs one major aim of the study was the construction of a positioning model thedependent measures were designed to assess relevant brand associations of all of thecompeting brands included in the study Brand perceptions were measured with twodifferent types of scale The first part of the survey consisted of verbal statements andscales Participants used five point scales from 5 frac14 ldquovery muchrdquo to 1 frac14 ldquonot at allrdquo torate how strongly they would associate the brand with certain attributes or brandcharacteristics Items included such characteristics as ldquosaferdquo and ldquocomfortablerdquo Thestatements ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoair pollutionrdquo were meant to assess thefunctional dimension of the perception of the environmental soundness of each brandwhile the remaining statements were relevant to other aspects of brand perception butnot central to the subject of the study (see Table I)
The second set of items consisted of a battery of visual stimuli that addressed theperception of emotional brand associations related to the brandrsquos environmentalsoundness Their development was based on several studies that show a generallysuperior capacity of visuals in evoking an emotional response as compared to verbalcontent especially in situations with a brief exposure (Holbrook and Moore 1981Childers and Houston 1984 Childers et al 1985 Louviere et al 1987
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
15
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Tomczak et al 1997) a brand can be positioned by functional attributes andor byemotional benefits Green brand positioning strategies are here classified asfunctional or emotional
A green positioning strategy based on functional brand attributes aims to buildbrand associations by delivering information on environmentally sound productattributes This positioning strategy should be based on relevant environmentaladvantages of the product compared to competing conventional products and mayrefer to production processes product use andor product elimination (Meffert andKirchgeorg 1993 Peattie 1995) A car brand for example may be consideredenvironmentally sound if the models in question cause significantly lower emissionsthan competorsrsquo Several studies address the value perception of selectedenvironmental product attributes (Roozen and De Pelsmacker 1998)
However the success of a brand strategy which positions the product exclusivelyby its functional attributes may be limited by the fact that the reduction of a productrsquosenvironmental impact generally does not deliver individual benefits to its buyerTherefore the perceived customer benefit may be insufficient as a motivating factor forbrand purchase (Belz and Dyllik 1996) For most products a consumer wouldexperience functional benefits (ie improvement of environmental quality) only in caseof generalized environmentally sound consumer behaviour Furthermore functionalpositioning strategies can have some general disadvantages they can often be easilyimitated they assume rational buyer decisions and they may reduce the flexibility ofbrand differentiation (Kroeber-Riel 1991 Aaker 1996)
As an alternative or complementary strategy green positioning can be based on atleast three conceptually different types of emotional brand benefits
(1) A feeling of well-being (ldquowarm glowrdquo) associated with acting in an altruisticway (Ritov and Kahnemann 1997) Environmentally conscious consumersexperience personal satisfaction by contributing to the improvement of theldquocommon goodrdquo environment
(2) Auto-expression benefits through the socially visible consumption of greenbrands (Belz and Dyllik 1996) Environmentally conscious consumersexperience personal satisfaction by exhibiting their environmentalconsciousness to others
(3) Nature-related benefits stemming from sensations and feelings normallyexperienced through contact with nature These are the result of a sensation ofldquoemotional affinity towards naturerdquo eg ldquoloving naturerdquo or ldquofeeling one withnaturerdquo (Kals et al 1999) Most people experience feelings of wellbeing or evenhappinesswhen they are in contact with natural environments Pastcommunication campaigns for GM-Opel BP and the Spanish power utilityIberdrola have embedded the brand in pleasant imagery of naturalenvironments aiming to evoke vicarious nature experiences as emotionalbrand benefits
Attitudinal effects of green brand positioningMost of the research on attitude formation and change can be understood in light ofpersuasion process paradigms such as the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of Pettyand Cacioppo (1983) or more recently the affect-reason-involvement model (ARI)
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
11
proposed by Buck et al (1995 2000) Both of these distinguish between at least twoconceptually different types of persuasion processes central and peripheral modes ofpersuasion in the case of the first model and rational and emotional processes in thesecond In both models a higher involvement of the subject subsequently leads to ahigher amount of cognitive elaboration Additionally in the ARI model a strongeremotional involvement leads to a deeper emotional elaboration
According to ELM attitude formation through the central route takes place under ahigh amount of cognitive elaboration Attitude formation or change is a result of apersonrsquos diligent and rational consideration of information that is central to the object(Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) On the contrary attitude formation through the peripheralroute ndash that is in the absence or reduction of cognitive elaboration of information ndashoccurs either through simple inference processes (Mitchell and Olson 1981) or as aresult of feelings associated with the brand A brand can be associated with emotionalcontents through conditioning processes in consequence of exposure to emotionalbrand advertising (Burke and Edell 1987)
Numerous authors emphasise the efficiency of cognitive persuasion strategies ingreen marketing assuming the consumerrsquos high involvement regarding environmentalissues as a consequence of a growing environmental consciousness (Kinnear et al1974 Cope and Winward 1991 Hopfenbeck 1993 Swenson and Wells 1997 Fuller1999) As Ottman (1994 p 78) points out ldquoClearly we need a more informed public[regarding environmental topics] which is better equipped to make rational purchasingand policy decisions about products packaging and manufacturing processesrdquo Thecognitive orientation of most green marketing research is based on studies showing asignificant influence of environmental knowledge and consciousness on consumersrsquoenvironmental attitudes (Hines et al 1987 Stone et al 1995) Consequently manyauthors recommend the use of rational persuasion strategies that implement brandpositioning by supplying detailed information on environmental product benefitscapable of satisfying the consumerrsquos informational needs (Peattie 1995)
However there is no general agreement on this question Several studies show only alimited influence of cognitive factors such as environmental knowledge whiledemonstrating a significant influence of affective factors on environmental purchasebehaviour (Monhemius 1993 Davis 1993 Smith et al 1994 Finger 1994)Consequently these authors recommend affective persuasion strategies AsCoddington (1993) points out green brand positioning also implies satisfyingemotional needs and building an affective relationship with the customer
A further controversy refers to attitude effects of green branding strategies in ageneral way Most studies show a growing environmental consciousness amongconsumers leading to generalized positive attitude effects on brands that are perceivedas environmentally sound (Bech-Larsen 1996 Eagly and Kulesa 1997 Swenson andWells 1997 Benito Gomez et al 1999) Nevertheless some studies show that in certainsituations consumer attitudes can be less positive towards green brands as aconsequence of a perceived trade-off between functional performance of the brand andits environmental impact (Coddington 1993 Schlegelmilch et al 1996 Fuller 1999)
Hypotheses and research questionPersuasion models such as the ELM or ARI model imply that two conceptuallydistinct processes in the perception of green brand attributes lead to the formation of
MIP231
12
brand attitudes the cognitive evaluation of functional brand attributes and theemotional reaction to emotional brand benefits Both cognitive and emotional brandassociations can be analyzed and represented as associative networks (Keller 1993Calder and Gruder 1989) or by means of brand positioning models and perceptualmapping techniques (Hauser and Koppelman 1979 Caroll and Green 1997 Hair et al1998) The dimensions of perceived brand positioning are generally extracted throughexploratory andor confirmatory factor analysis (eg Kalafatis et al 2000 Bhat andReddy 1998)
The proposition of a two-dimensional functionalemotional green brand positioningmodel is consistent with the revised models on persuasion and positioning (Figure 1)Functional and emotional brand associations should be expected to form distinctdimensions of the perceptual space in a model of perceived green brand positioningWhile a rational persuasion strategy such as green brand positioning by functionalattributes should enhance the brandrsquos perception as environmentally sound in thefunctional dimension an emotional green positioning strategy should lead to a shifttowards the emotional dimension of green brand associations
H1 Perceived green brand positioning is formed by two distinct dimensionsrepresenting the perception of either functional environmentally soundproduct attributes or emotional benefits related to the environment
Two further research propositions concern the controversy on attitudinal effects ofgreen positioning strategies First the direction (positivenegative) of the effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude is addressed Based on the results of most revisedstudies a positive attitudinal effect of the perception of a brand as environmentallysound should be expected
H2 Green brand positioning leads to a positive effect on brand attitude
Secondly the study addresses the further controversy regarding the adequateness ofeither rational or emotionally oriented persuasion strategies in green marketing Thusone research aim is to assess the respective influence of functional or emotional greenpositioning on brand attitude
RQ Which of the proposed green positioning strategies ie green positioning byfunctional attributes or green positioning by emotional benefits has thestrongest effect on brand attitude
Figure 1Hypothesised perceptualeffects of functional and
emotional green brandpositioning on brand
attitude
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
13
MethodIn line with this studyrsquos main objective of exploring and testing the dimensions ofgreen brand positioning and its effects on brand attitude scale items were developed tomeasure a brandrsquos functional and emotional associations related to the environmentThese were validated by testing the scalesrsquo ability to discriminate betweenexperimental brands designed a priori to implement a specific either functional oremotional green brand positioning They were applied in an experimental setting toallow the controlled exposure of the participants to the experimental stimuli as well asthe assessment of the specific effects of the experimental factor The influence ofexternal factors such as the environmental consciousness of the participants wasrandomised
Following the analysis method employed in recent studies of perceived positioning(eg Bhat and Reddy 1998 Kalafatis et al 2000) exploratory and confirmatory factoranalysis of the data were used to investigate the dimensionality of perceived greenbrand positioning Attitudinal effects of extracted dimensions were assessed in thescope of a structural equation model developed from the measurement model
Experimental designThe study was conducted in four simultaneous on-line sessions in the computerlaboratory of a university Participants were instructed to connect through theirindividual computer terminals to a specific website They were then automaticallyexposed for 30 seconds to each of a series of five advertisements consisting of a singlestatic image Four of these stimuli were identical for the different experimental groupsand one was specific to each group which formed the experimental factor The fourrelated to known brands of small-sized cars the fifth was specifically designed toimplement different positioning strategies of an experimental green car brand Afterexposure participants completed an on-screen on-line questionnaire All questionscould be answered by using the mouse alone Data were automatically collected in anon-line database
The participants were 160 students in the final year of the Business Administrationdegree at a university in the Spanish Basque Country They were randomly assigned tofour experimental groups Participants were 56 per cent female and 44 per cent maleaged between 22 and 26 It is acknowledged that the use of student samples inmarketing research is controversial (Burnett and Dunne 1986) but this experimentaldesign was realistically feasible only if that limitation was accepted In fact the sampleprofile is not entirely inappropriate since the brands in the experiment are marketed inSpain to target groups with similar demographic characteristics
Though brand positioning involves the whole of the marketing mix anexperimental setting in which the sole contact with salient brand attributes takesplace through brand communications is not unrealistic Even in real life conditionsconsumers often develop brand perceptions and attitudes mainly or even exclusivelythrough advertising exposure While it is true that this does not normally occur as aonce-only exposure to an advertisement several studies addressing this issue havesuggested that advertising effects can be achieved with only one exposure (Kim et al1998 Gibson 1996 Mandese 1995 Surmanek 1995)
MIP231
14
Independent variablesEach group of participants was exposed to visual stimuli in the form of total of fiveprint advertisements four of which were extracted from actual communicationcampaigns for the SEAT Arosa Fiat Punto Renault Clio and Opel Corsa The fifthgroup-specific advertisement was in the case of the three experimental groupspurpose-designed to implement different green positioning strategies for thehypothetical Mercedes ATMO For the control groups it was an actualconventional advertisement for the Mercedes A-Class
The positioning strategies underlying the purpose-designed advertisement weredeveloped according to the concepts proposed in the theoretical part of this paper TheMercedes brand was chosen because no initial green brand associations were to beexpected Associations with the umbrella brand of Mercedes were unlikely to interferewith the purpose of the study as perceptual and attitudinal effects of the experimentalbrand positioning were assessed relative to the perception of the Mercedes A-Classbrand in the control group
The first of the experimental advertisements was based on a functional brandpositioning strategy based on the attribute ldquozero emission through new fuel celltechnologyrdquo The copy gave detailed information on how emissions are reduced Therewere no further environmental or nature cues The images were identical to those of theadvertisement implementing the conventional positioning of the ldquoMercedes A-Classrdquobrand and had no emotional connotations The second experimental advertisementwas designed to implement an emotional positioning strategy There were no cues tofunctional environmentally sound attributes The brand was embedded in pleasantimagery of nature scenery aimed to evoke feelings experienced in the actual situationsuch as ldquobreathing fresh mountain airrdquo or ldquofeeling as free as an eaglerdquo The thirdadvertisement combined both strategies positioning the brand by its environmentallysound product attributes and by emotional benefits The former were specified in thecopy and the latter evoked through images of nature (see Appendix 1)
Dependent measuresAs one major aim of the study was the construction of a positioning model thedependent measures were designed to assess relevant brand associations of all of thecompeting brands included in the study Brand perceptions were measured with twodifferent types of scale The first part of the survey consisted of verbal statements andscales Participants used five point scales from 5 frac14 ldquovery muchrdquo to 1 frac14 ldquonot at allrdquo torate how strongly they would associate the brand with certain attributes or brandcharacteristics Items included such characteristics as ldquosaferdquo and ldquocomfortablerdquo Thestatements ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoair pollutionrdquo were meant to assess thefunctional dimension of the perception of the environmental soundness of each brandwhile the remaining statements were relevant to other aspects of brand perception butnot central to the subject of the study (see Table I)
The second set of items consisted of a battery of visual stimuli that addressed theperception of emotional brand associations related to the brandrsquos environmentalsoundness Their development was based on several studies that show a generallysuperior capacity of visuals in evoking an emotional response as compared to verbalcontent especially in situations with a brief exposure (Holbrook and Moore 1981Childers and Houston 1984 Childers et al 1985 Louviere et al 1987
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
15
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
proposed by Buck et al (1995 2000) Both of these distinguish between at least twoconceptually different types of persuasion processes central and peripheral modes ofpersuasion in the case of the first model and rational and emotional processes in thesecond In both models a higher involvement of the subject subsequently leads to ahigher amount of cognitive elaboration Additionally in the ARI model a strongeremotional involvement leads to a deeper emotional elaboration
According to ELM attitude formation through the central route takes place under ahigh amount of cognitive elaboration Attitude formation or change is a result of apersonrsquos diligent and rational consideration of information that is central to the object(Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) On the contrary attitude formation through the peripheralroute ndash that is in the absence or reduction of cognitive elaboration of information ndashoccurs either through simple inference processes (Mitchell and Olson 1981) or as aresult of feelings associated with the brand A brand can be associated with emotionalcontents through conditioning processes in consequence of exposure to emotionalbrand advertising (Burke and Edell 1987)
Numerous authors emphasise the efficiency of cognitive persuasion strategies ingreen marketing assuming the consumerrsquos high involvement regarding environmentalissues as a consequence of a growing environmental consciousness (Kinnear et al1974 Cope and Winward 1991 Hopfenbeck 1993 Swenson and Wells 1997 Fuller1999) As Ottman (1994 p 78) points out ldquoClearly we need a more informed public[regarding environmental topics] which is better equipped to make rational purchasingand policy decisions about products packaging and manufacturing processesrdquo Thecognitive orientation of most green marketing research is based on studies showing asignificant influence of environmental knowledge and consciousness on consumersrsquoenvironmental attitudes (Hines et al 1987 Stone et al 1995) Consequently manyauthors recommend the use of rational persuasion strategies that implement brandpositioning by supplying detailed information on environmental product benefitscapable of satisfying the consumerrsquos informational needs (Peattie 1995)
However there is no general agreement on this question Several studies show only alimited influence of cognitive factors such as environmental knowledge whiledemonstrating a significant influence of affective factors on environmental purchasebehaviour (Monhemius 1993 Davis 1993 Smith et al 1994 Finger 1994)Consequently these authors recommend affective persuasion strategies AsCoddington (1993) points out green brand positioning also implies satisfyingemotional needs and building an affective relationship with the customer
A further controversy refers to attitude effects of green branding strategies in ageneral way Most studies show a growing environmental consciousness amongconsumers leading to generalized positive attitude effects on brands that are perceivedas environmentally sound (Bech-Larsen 1996 Eagly and Kulesa 1997 Swenson andWells 1997 Benito Gomez et al 1999) Nevertheless some studies show that in certainsituations consumer attitudes can be less positive towards green brands as aconsequence of a perceived trade-off between functional performance of the brand andits environmental impact (Coddington 1993 Schlegelmilch et al 1996 Fuller 1999)
Hypotheses and research questionPersuasion models such as the ELM or ARI model imply that two conceptuallydistinct processes in the perception of green brand attributes lead to the formation of
MIP231
12
brand attitudes the cognitive evaluation of functional brand attributes and theemotional reaction to emotional brand benefits Both cognitive and emotional brandassociations can be analyzed and represented as associative networks (Keller 1993Calder and Gruder 1989) or by means of brand positioning models and perceptualmapping techniques (Hauser and Koppelman 1979 Caroll and Green 1997 Hair et al1998) The dimensions of perceived brand positioning are generally extracted throughexploratory andor confirmatory factor analysis (eg Kalafatis et al 2000 Bhat andReddy 1998)
The proposition of a two-dimensional functionalemotional green brand positioningmodel is consistent with the revised models on persuasion and positioning (Figure 1)Functional and emotional brand associations should be expected to form distinctdimensions of the perceptual space in a model of perceived green brand positioningWhile a rational persuasion strategy such as green brand positioning by functionalattributes should enhance the brandrsquos perception as environmentally sound in thefunctional dimension an emotional green positioning strategy should lead to a shifttowards the emotional dimension of green brand associations
H1 Perceived green brand positioning is formed by two distinct dimensionsrepresenting the perception of either functional environmentally soundproduct attributes or emotional benefits related to the environment
Two further research propositions concern the controversy on attitudinal effects ofgreen positioning strategies First the direction (positivenegative) of the effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude is addressed Based on the results of most revisedstudies a positive attitudinal effect of the perception of a brand as environmentallysound should be expected
H2 Green brand positioning leads to a positive effect on brand attitude
Secondly the study addresses the further controversy regarding the adequateness ofeither rational or emotionally oriented persuasion strategies in green marketing Thusone research aim is to assess the respective influence of functional or emotional greenpositioning on brand attitude
RQ Which of the proposed green positioning strategies ie green positioning byfunctional attributes or green positioning by emotional benefits has thestrongest effect on brand attitude
Figure 1Hypothesised perceptualeffects of functional and
emotional green brandpositioning on brand
attitude
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
13
MethodIn line with this studyrsquos main objective of exploring and testing the dimensions ofgreen brand positioning and its effects on brand attitude scale items were developed tomeasure a brandrsquos functional and emotional associations related to the environmentThese were validated by testing the scalesrsquo ability to discriminate betweenexperimental brands designed a priori to implement a specific either functional oremotional green brand positioning They were applied in an experimental setting toallow the controlled exposure of the participants to the experimental stimuli as well asthe assessment of the specific effects of the experimental factor The influence ofexternal factors such as the environmental consciousness of the participants wasrandomised
Following the analysis method employed in recent studies of perceived positioning(eg Bhat and Reddy 1998 Kalafatis et al 2000) exploratory and confirmatory factoranalysis of the data were used to investigate the dimensionality of perceived greenbrand positioning Attitudinal effects of extracted dimensions were assessed in thescope of a structural equation model developed from the measurement model
Experimental designThe study was conducted in four simultaneous on-line sessions in the computerlaboratory of a university Participants were instructed to connect through theirindividual computer terminals to a specific website They were then automaticallyexposed for 30 seconds to each of a series of five advertisements consisting of a singlestatic image Four of these stimuli were identical for the different experimental groupsand one was specific to each group which formed the experimental factor The fourrelated to known brands of small-sized cars the fifth was specifically designed toimplement different positioning strategies of an experimental green car brand Afterexposure participants completed an on-screen on-line questionnaire All questionscould be answered by using the mouse alone Data were automatically collected in anon-line database
The participants were 160 students in the final year of the Business Administrationdegree at a university in the Spanish Basque Country They were randomly assigned tofour experimental groups Participants were 56 per cent female and 44 per cent maleaged between 22 and 26 It is acknowledged that the use of student samples inmarketing research is controversial (Burnett and Dunne 1986) but this experimentaldesign was realistically feasible only if that limitation was accepted In fact the sampleprofile is not entirely inappropriate since the brands in the experiment are marketed inSpain to target groups with similar demographic characteristics
Though brand positioning involves the whole of the marketing mix anexperimental setting in which the sole contact with salient brand attributes takesplace through brand communications is not unrealistic Even in real life conditionsconsumers often develop brand perceptions and attitudes mainly or even exclusivelythrough advertising exposure While it is true that this does not normally occur as aonce-only exposure to an advertisement several studies addressing this issue havesuggested that advertising effects can be achieved with only one exposure (Kim et al1998 Gibson 1996 Mandese 1995 Surmanek 1995)
MIP231
14
Independent variablesEach group of participants was exposed to visual stimuli in the form of total of fiveprint advertisements four of which were extracted from actual communicationcampaigns for the SEAT Arosa Fiat Punto Renault Clio and Opel Corsa The fifthgroup-specific advertisement was in the case of the three experimental groupspurpose-designed to implement different green positioning strategies for thehypothetical Mercedes ATMO For the control groups it was an actualconventional advertisement for the Mercedes A-Class
The positioning strategies underlying the purpose-designed advertisement weredeveloped according to the concepts proposed in the theoretical part of this paper TheMercedes brand was chosen because no initial green brand associations were to beexpected Associations with the umbrella brand of Mercedes were unlikely to interferewith the purpose of the study as perceptual and attitudinal effects of the experimentalbrand positioning were assessed relative to the perception of the Mercedes A-Classbrand in the control group
The first of the experimental advertisements was based on a functional brandpositioning strategy based on the attribute ldquozero emission through new fuel celltechnologyrdquo The copy gave detailed information on how emissions are reduced Therewere no further environmental or nature cues The images were identical to those of theadvertisement implementing the conventional positioning of the ldquoMercedes A-Classrdquobrand and had no emotional connotations The second experimental advertisementwas designed to implement an emotional positioning strategy There were no cues tofunctional environmentally sound attributes The brand was embedded in pleasantimagery of nature scenery aimed to evoke feelings experienced in the actual situationsuch as ldquobreathing fresh mountain airrdquo or ldquofeeling as free as an eaglerdquo The thirdadvertisement combined both strategies positioning the brand by its environmentallysound product attributes and by emotional benefits The former were specified in thecopy and the latter evoked through images of nature (see Appendix 1)
Dependent measuresAs one major aim of the study was the construction of a positioning model thedependent measures were designed to assess relevant brand associations of all of thecompeting brands included in the study Brand perceptions were measured with twodifferent types of scale The first part of the survey consisted of verbal statements andscales Participants used five point scales from 5 frac14 ldquovery muchrdquo to 1 frac14 ldquonot at allrdquo torate how strongly they would associate the brand with certain attributes or brandcharacteristics Items included such characteristics as ldquosaferdquo and ldquocomfortablerdquo Thestatements ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoair pollutionrdquo were meant to assess thefunctional dimension of the perception of the environmental soundness of each brandwhile the remaining statements were relevant to other aspects of brand perception butnot central to the subject of the study (see Table I)
The second set of items consisted of a battery of visual stimuli that addressed theperception of emotional brand associations related to the brandrsquos environmentalsoundness Their development was based on several studies that show a generallysuperior capacity of visuals in evoking an emotional response as compared to verbalcontent especially in situations with a brief exposure (Holbrook and Moore 1981Childers and Houston 1984 Childers et al 1985 Louviere et al 1987
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
15
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
brand attitudes the cognitive evaluation of functional brand attributes and theemotional reaction to emotional brand benefits Both cognitive and emotional brandassociations can be analyzed and represented as associative networks (Keller 1993Calder and Gruder 1989) or by means of brand positioning models and perceptualmapping techniques (Hauser and Koppelman 1979 Caroll and Green 1997 Hair et al1998) The dimensions of perceived brand positioning are generally extracted throughexploratory andor confirmatory factor analysis (eg Kalafatis et al 2000 Bhat andReddy 1998)
The proposition of a two-dimensional functionalemotional green brand positioningmodel is consistent with the revised models on persuasion and positioning (Figure 1)Functional and emotional brand associations should be expected to form distinctdimensions of the perceptual space in a model of perceived green brand positioningWhile a rational persuasion strategy such as green brand positioning by functionalattributes should enhance the brandrsquos perception as environmentally sound in thefunctional dimension an emotional green positioning strategy should lead to a shifttowards the emotional dimension of green brand associations
H1 Perceived green brand positioning is formed by two distinct dimensionsrepresenting the perception of either functional environmentally soundproduct attributes or emotional benefits related to the environment
Two further research propositions concern the controversy on attitudinal effects ofgreen positioning strategies First the direction (positivenegative) of the effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude is addressed Based on the results of most revisedstudies a positive attitudinal effect of the perception of a brand as environmentallysound should be expected
H2 Green brand positioning leads to a positive effect on brand attitude
Secondly the study addresses the further controversy regarding the adequateness ofeither rational or emotionally oriented persuasion strategies in green marketing Thusone research aim is to assess the respective influence of functional or emotional greenpositioning on brand attitude
RQ Which of the proposed green positioning strategies ie green positioning byfunctional attributes or green positioning by emotional benefits has thestrongest effect on brand attitude
Figure 1Hypothesised perceptualeffects of functional and
emotional green brandpositioning on brand
attitude
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
13
MethodIn line with this studyrsquos main objective of exploring and testing the dimensions ofgreen brand positioning and its effects on brand attitude scale items were developed tomeasure a brandrsquos functional and emotional associations related to the environmentThese were validated by testing the scalesrsquo ability to discriminate betweenexperimental brands designed a priori to implement a specific either functional oremotional green brand positioning They were applied in an experimental setting toallow the controlled exposure of the participants to the experimental stimuli as well asthe assessment of the specific effects of the experimental factor The influence ofexternal factors such as the environmental consciousness of the participants wasrandomised
Following the analysis method employed in recent studies of perceived positioning(eg Bhat and Reddy 1998 Kalafatis et al 2000) exploratory and confirmatory factoranalysis of the data were used to investigate the dimensionality of perceived greenbrand positioning Attitudinal effects of extracted dimensions were assessed in thescope of a structural equation model developed from the measurement model
Experimental designThe study was conducted in four simultaneous on-line sessions in the computerlaboratory of a university Participants were instructed to connect through theirindividual computer terminals to a specific website They were then automaticallyexposed for 30 seconds to each of a series of five advertisements consisting of a singlestatic image Four of these stimuli were identical for the different experimental groupsand one was specific to each group which formed the experimental factor The fourrelated to known brands of small-sized cars the fifth was specifically designed toimplement different positioning strategies of an experimental green car brand Afterexposure participants completed an on-screen on-line questionnaire All questionscould be answered by using the mouse alone Data were automatically collected in anon-line database
The participants were 160 students in the final year of the Business Administrationdegree at a university in the Spanish Basque Country They were randomly assigned tofour experimental groups Participants were 56 per cent female and 44 per cent maleaged between 22 and 26 It is acknowledged that the use of student samples inmarketing research is controversial (Burnett and Dunne 1986) but this experimentaldesign was realistically feasible only if that limitation was accepted In fact the sampleprofile is not entirely inappropriate since the brands in the experiment are marketed inSpain to target groups with similar demographic characteristics
Though brand positioning involves the whole of the marketing mix anexperimental setting in which the sole contact with salient brand attributes takesplace through brand communications is not unrealistic Even in real life conditionsconsumers often develop brand perceptions and attitudes mainly or even exclusivelythrough advertising exposure While it is true that this does not normally occur as aonce-only exposure to an advertisement several studies addressing this issue havesuggested that advertising effects can be achieved with only one exposure (Kim et al1998 Gibson 1996 Mandese 1995 Surmanek 1995)
MIP231
14
Independent variablesEach group of participants was exposed to visual stimuli in the form of total of fiveprint advertisements four of which were extracted from actual communicationcampaigns for the SEAT Arosa Fiat Punto Renault Clio and Opel Corsa The fifthgroup-specific advertisement was in the case of the three experimental groupspurpose-designed to implement different green positioning strategies for thehypothetical Mercedes ATMO For the control groups it was an actualconventional advertisement for the Mercedes A-Class
The positioning strategies underlying the purpose-designed advertisement weredeveloped according to the concepts proposed in the theoretical part of this paper TheMercedes brand was chosen because no initial green brand associations were to beexpected Associations with the umbrella brand of Mercedes were unlikely to interferewith the purpose of the study as perceptual and attitudinal effects of the experimentalbrand positioning were assessed relative to the perception of the Mercedes A-Classbrand in the control group
The first of the experimental advertisements was based on a functional brandpositioning strategy based on the attribute ldquozero emission through new fuel celltechnologyrdquo The copy gave detailed information on how emissions are reduced Therewere no further environmental or nature cues The images were identical to those of theadvertisement implementing the conventional positioning of the ldquoMercedes A-Classrdquobrand and had no emotional connotations The second experimental advertisementwas designed to implement an emotional positioning strategy There were no cues tofunctional environmentally sound attributes The brand was embedded in pleasantimagery of nature scenery aimed to evoke feelings experienced in the actual situationsuch as ldquobreathing fresh mountain airrdquo or ldquofeeling as free as an eaglerdquo The thirdadvertisement combined both strategies positioning the brand by its environmentallysound product attributes and by emotional benefits The former were specified in thecopy and the latter evoked through images of nature (see Appendix 1)
Dependent measuresAs one major aim of the study was the construction of a positioning model thedependent measures were designed to assess relevant brand associations of all of thecompeting brands included in the study Brand perceptions were measured with twodifferent types of scale The first part of the survey consisted of verbal statements andscales Participants used five point scales from 5 frac14 ldquovery muchrdquo to 1 frac14 ldquonot at allrdquo torate how strongly they would associate the brand with certain attributes or brandcharacteristics Items included such characteristics as ldquosaferdquo and ldquocomfortablerdquo Thestatements ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoair pollutionrdquo were meant to assess thefunctional dimension of the perception of the environmental soundness of each brandwhile the remaining statements were relevant to other aspects of brand perception butnot central to the subject of the study (see Table I)
The second set of items consisted of a battery of visual stimuli that addressed theperception of emotional brand associations related to the brandrsquos environmentalsoundness Their development was based on several studies that show a generallysuperior capacity of visuals in evoking an emotional response as compared to verbalcontent especially in situations with a brief exposure (Holbrook and Moore 1981Childers and Houston 1984 Childers et al 1985 Louviere et al 1987
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
15
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
MethodIn line with this studyrsquos main objective of exploring and testing the dimensions ofgreen brand positioning and its effects on brand attitude scale items were developed tomeasure a brandrsquos functional and emotional associations related to the environmentThese were validated by testing the scalesrsquo ability to discriminate betweenexperimental brands designed a priori to implement a specific either functional oremotional green brand positioning They were applied in an experimental setting toallow the controlled exposure of the participants to the experimental stimuli as well asthe assessment of the specific effects of the experimental factor The influence ofexternal factors such as the environmental consciousness of the participants wasrandomised
Following the analysis method employed in recent studies of perceived positioning(eg Bhat and Reddy 1998 Kalafatis et al 2000) exploratory and confirmatory factoranalysis of the data were used to investigate the dimensionality of perceived greenbrand positioning Attitudinal effects of extracted dimensions were assessed in thescope of a structural equation model developed from the measurement model
Experimental designThe study was conducted in four simultaneous on-line sessions in the computerlaboratory of a university Participants were instructed to connect through theirindividual computer terminals to a specific website They were then automaticallyexposed for 30 seconds to each of a series of five advertisements consisting of a singlestatic image Four of these stimuli were identical for the different experimental groupsand one was specific to each group which formed the experimental factor The fourrelated to known brands of small-sized cars the fifth was specifically designed toimplement different positioning strategies of an experimental green car brand Afterexposure participants completed an on-screen on-line questionnaire All questionscould be answered by using the mouse alone Data were automatically collected in anon-line database
The participants were 160 students in the final year of the Business Administrationdegree at a university in the Spanish Basque Country They were randomly assigned tofour experimental groups Participants were 56 per cent female and 44 per cent maleaged between 22 and 26 It is acknowledged that the use of student samples inmarketing research is controversial (Burnett and Dunne 1986) but this experimentaldesign was realistically feasible only if that limitation was accepted In fact the sampleprofile is not entirely inappropriate since the brands in the experiment are marketed inSpain to target groups with similar demographic characteristics
Though brand positioning involves the whole of the marketing mix anexperimental setting in which the sole contact with salient brand attributes takesplace through brand communications is not unrealistic Even in real life conditionsconsumers often develop brand perceptions and attitudes mainly or even exclusivelythrough advertising exposure While it is true that this does not normally occur as aonce-only exposure to an advertisement several studies addressing this issue havesuggested that advertising effects can be achieved with only one exposure (Kim et al1998 Gibson 1996 Mandese 1995 Surmanek 1995)
MIP231
14
Independent variablesEach group of participants was exposed to visual stimuli in the form of total of fiveprint advertisements four of which were extracted from actual communicationcampaigns for the SEAT Arosa Fiat Punto Renault Clio and Opel Corsa The fifthgroup-specific advertisement was in the case of the three experimental groupspurpose-designed to implement different green positioning strategies for thehypothetical Mercedes ATMO For the control groups it was an actualconventional advertisement for the Mercedes A-Class
The positioning strategies underlying the purpose-designed advertisement weredeveloped according to the concepts proposed in the theoretical part of this paper TheMercedes brand was chosen because no initial green brand associations were to beexpected Associations with the umbrella brand of Mercedes were unlikely to interferewith the purpose of the study as perceptual and attitudinal effects of the experimentalbrand positioning were assessed relative to the perception of the Mercedes A-Classbrand in the control group
The first of the experimental advertisements was based on a functional brandpositioning strategy based on the attribute ldquozero emission through new fuel celltechnologyrdquo The copy gave detailed information on how emissions are reduced Therewere no further environmental or nature cues The images were identical to those of theadvertisement implementing the conventional positioning of the ldquoMercedes A-Classrdquobrand and had no emotional connotations The second experimental advertisementwas designed to implement an emotional positioning strategy There were no cues tofunctional environmentally sound attributes The brand was embedded in pleasantimagery of nature scenery aimed to evoke feelings experienced in the actual situationsuch as ldquobreathing fresh mountain airrdquo or ldquofeeling as free as an eaglerdquo The thirdadvertisement combined both strategies positioning the brand by its environmentallysound product attributes and by emotional benefits The former were specified in thecopy and the latter evoked through images of nature (see Appendix 1)
Dependent measuresAs one major aim of the study was the construction of a positioning model thedependent measures were designed to assess relevant brand associations of all of thecompeting brands included in the study Brand perceptions were measured with twodifferent types of scale The first part of the survey consisted of verbal statements andscales Participants used five point scales from 5 frac14 ldquovery muchrdquo to 1 frac14 ldquonot at allrdquo torate how strongly they would associate the brand with certain attributes or brandcharacteristics Items included such characteristics as ldquosaferdquo and ldquocomfortablerdquo Thestatements ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoair pollutionrdquo were meant to assess thefunctional dimension of the perception of the environmental soundness of each brandwhile the remaining statements were relevant to other aspects of brand perception butnot central to the subject of the study (see Table I)
The second set of items consisted of a battery of visual stimuli that addressed theperception of emotional brand associations related to the brandrsquos environmentalsoundness Their development was based on several studies that show a generallysuperior capacity of visuals in evoking an emotional response as compared to verbalcontent especially in situations with a brief exposure (Holbrook and Moore 1981Childers and Houston 1984 Childers et al 1985 Louviere et al 1987
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
15
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Independent variablesEach group of participants was exposed to visual stimuli in the form of total of fiveprint advertisements four of which were extracted from actual communicationcampaigns for the SEAT Arosa Fiat Punto Renault Clio and Opel Corsa The fifthgroup-specific advertisement was in the case of the three experimental groupspurpose-designed to implement different green positioning strategies for thehypothetical Mercedes ATMO For the control groups it was an actualconventional advertisement for the Mercedes A-Class
The positioning strategies underlying the purpose-designed advertisement weredeveloped according to the concepts proposed in the theoretical part of this paper TheMercedes brand was chosen because no initial green brand associations were to beexpected Associations with the umbrella brand of Mercedes were unlikely to interferewith the purpose of the study as perceptual and attitudinal effects of the experimentalbrand positioning were assessed relative to the perception of the Mercedes A-Classbrand in the control group
The first of the experimental advertisements was based on a functional brandpositioning strategy based on the attribute ldquozero emission through new fuel celltechnologyrdquo The copy gave detailed information on how emissions are reduced Therewere no further environmental or nature cues The images were identical to those of theadvertisement implementing the conventional positioning of the ldquoMercedes A-Classrdquobrand and had no emotional connotations The second experimental advertisementwas designed to implement an emotional positioning strategy There were no cues tofunctional environmentally sound attributes The brand was embedded in pleasantimagery of nature scenery aimed to evoke feelings experienced in the actual situationsuch as ldquobreathing fresh mountain airrdquo or ldquofeeling as free as an eaglerdquo The thirdadvertisement combined both strategies positioning the brand by its environmentallysound product attributes and by emotional benefits The former were specified in thecopy and the latter evoked through images of nature (see Appendix 1)
Dependent measuresAs one major aim of the study was the construction of a positioning model thedependent measures were designed to assess relevant brand associations of all of thecompeting brands included in the study Brand perceptions were measured with twodifferent types of scale The first part of the survey consisted of verbal statements andscales Participants used five point scales from 5 frac14 ldquovery muchrdquo to 1 frac14 ldquonot at allrdquo torate how strongly they would associate the brand with certain attributes or brandcharacteristics Items included such characteristics as ldquosaferdquo and ldquocomfortablerdquo Thestatements ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoair pollutionrdquo were meant to assess thefunctional dimension of the perception of the environmental soundness of each brandwhile the remaining statements were relevant to other aspects of brand perception butnot central to the subject of the study (see Table I)
The second set of items consisted of a battery of visual stimuli that addressed theperception of emotional brand associations related to the brandrsquos environmentalsoundness Their development was based on several studies that show a generallysuperior capacity of visuals in evoking an emotional response as compared to verbalcontent especially in situations with a brief exposure (Holbrook and Moore 1981Childers and Houston 1984 Childers et al 1985 Louviere et al 1987
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
15
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Grunert-Beckmann and Askegaard 1997) In this study the purpose of visual scaledevelopment was limited to the measurement of emotions related to nature that isfeelings of unity with the environment motivated by ldquoaffinity to naturerdquo (Kals et al1999) For the selection of the stimuli 15 interviews were conducted with randomly
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
selected students who did not take part in the main study to identify three from amonga selection of 12 images showing nature scenery which would best describe theirfeelings in contact with nature The selected images were included in the questionnairetogether with the instruction to indicate on five-point scales ranging from 1 frac14 ldquonot atallrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquocompletelyrdquo how well they matched the eventual participantsrsquo emotionsand feelings towards the brand in question Additionally ldquofillerrdquo pictures wereincluded in the item battery which could lead to emotional associations such as ldquourbanfeelingsrdquo or ldquofeeling youngrdquo with the aim of distracting from the images related to theenvironment (see Appendix 2)
Attitude towards the brand was assessed as a construct of two indicators throughmeasures of overall evaluation of the brand and purchase intention consistent withaccepted procedures in attitude research (Kim et al 1998 Herr and Fazio 1993 Allenet al 1992 Petty et al 1991 Mitchell 1986) Participants first rated their overallimpression of each brand on a five-point scale from 1 frac14 ldquovery unfavourablerdquo to5 frac14 ldquovery favourablerdquo and then the likelihood of purchase of the brand on a five-pointscale from 1 frac14 ldquodefinitely would not buy itrdquo to 5 frac14 ldquowould definitely buy itrdquo
ResultsPerceptual dimensions of green brand positioningPrincipal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore thestructure of perceived brand positioning The results are shown in Table I Sevenfactors were identified in a two-step analysis of first the verbal and later the visualitems among them two related to green brand associations Extracted factorsexplained 62 per cent of variance in both cases Twenty verbal indicators weresubsumed into three factors and thirteen visual indicators to four The results indicatethe existence of well-defined perceptual dimensions The first factor extracted from theset of verbal brand associations explains 35 per cent of variance and represents anextended set of attributes including quality power comfort safety class andexclusivity The second verbal factor (18 per cent of variance) is highly loaded on itemssuch as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquofunrdquo Finally the third factor (9 per cent of variance) explains thebrand associations ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo ldquoair pollutionrdquo (high negative loading)and ldquolow fuel consumptionrdquo This factor represents the functional dimension ofenvironmentally sound brand perception
The emotional dimension of green brand positioning represented by the first factorextracted from the set of visual items is also the factor with the highest contribution tothe overall amount of explained variance (19 per cent) The second factor (17 per cent ofvariance) refers to the emotional perception of the brand as ldquoyoungrdquo and ldquoactiverdquo whilethe third factor reflects the association of the brand with urban or metropolitanfeelings The last extracted dimension is related to the emotional association of thebrand with air pollution
Perceptual mapping of the participantsrsquo perceived green brand positioningproduced the pattern in Figure 2 The green positioning strategy produced an overallperception of the experimental brand as more environmentally sound than the originalMercedes A-Class brand confirming the significant perceptual effect of itsimplementation in the experiment (p frac14 0000) Furthermore functional positioningresulted in a stronger cognitive perception of the brand as environmentally soundwhile emotional positioning evoked an association with nature At the same time the
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
17
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
functional strategy produced a perceptual shift albeit comparatively weak towardsthe emotional dimension while an exclusively emotional positioning led to a slightlyaugmented perception of the brand in the functional dimension The strongestperceptual effects relative to both dimensions were achieved with the combinedfunctional-emotional strategy
Exploratory results were tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Arbuckle andWothke 1999) Both of the latent dimensions of green brand positioning were formedby the items with highest factor loadings in the prior exploratory factor analysis Thusthe functional factor was assessed by the indicators ldquoenvironmentally soundrdquo and ldquoairpollutionrdquo (negative loading) while the emotional factor was constructed by visualindicators ldquomountainrdquo and ldquoshorelinerdquo (both with factor loadings 085 in theexploratory analysis) The visual indicator ldquowaterfallrdquo with a lower factor loading of077 was not included in the analysis since two indicators were considered sufficientto assess latent variables Finally the attitude construct was formed by indicatorsldquooverall evaluationrdquo and ldquopurchase intentionrdquo (see Table II)
Criteria for model adjustment (Hu and Bentler 1995) indicate an adequate fit withx2frac14918 (p frac14 0164 df frac14 6) and Root Mean Square Residual ethRMRTHORN frac14 0012 Both thegoodness of fit index (GFI frac14 0996) and the adjusted goodness of fit index(AGFI frac14 0987 Joreskog and Sorbom 1984) are close to 10 as is the compared fitindex (CFI frac14 0998 Bentler 1990) indicating good fit Also the root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA frac14 0026 Steiger and Lind 1980) indicates good fit withvalues lower than 005 (Kaplan 2000 Byrne 2001)
Figure 2Perceptual mappingfunctional and emotionaldimension of green brandpositioning
MIP231
18
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
The dimensionality of green brand positioning and the attitude construct wasestablished following Anderson and Gerbing (1988) Factor loadings of all indicatorsare significant (p frac14 0000) and exceed the minimum recommended value of 05Furthermore the variance-extracted measures range from 061 to 076 exceeding thesquare of the correlation estimate in all cases and suggesting adequate discriminationand distinct factors Also variance extracted and construct reliability exceed therecommended thresholds of 05 and 07 respectively (Fornell and Larker 1981 Hairet al 1998)
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Attitudinal effectsAfter validation of the measurement model structural equation analysis assessed theeffect of both extracted dimensions of brand positioning on the attitude constructSince the model was developed modifying only two latent variable correlations toregression coefficients the fit was equal to that of the measurement model indicated inTable II and can be considered acceptable
Results of the structural analysis of the effects of both dimensions of green brandpositioning on the attitude construct shown in Table III indicate significant positiveinfluences (p frac14 0000) The comparison of causal influences of both latent constructsshows that the emotional dimension on brand attitude has a significantly higher effect
DiscussionThis study analysed perceptual and attitudinal effects of the implementation ofalternative green brand positioning strategies in advertisements Results ofexploratory and confirmative factor analysis seem to support the hypothesis of twodistinct dimensions of perceived green-brand positioning (H1) The positioninganalysis extracted distinct dimensions representing either functional or emotionalgreen brand associations The data presented indicate that as expected a functionalpositioning led to a heightened cognitive perception of the brand as environmentallysound while an emotional positioning strategy had a significant effect on the brandrsquospositioning relative to the emotional dimension of green brand associationsFurthermore structural equation analysis supported an overall positive effect ofgreen positioning on brand attitude (H2) since both dimensions have a significantpositive influence on the attitude construct
Regarding the research question addressing the issue of functional versusemotional positioning strategies in green branding results suggest a strongerinfluence of the emotional latent dimension of green positioning on brand attitude inthis specific case However it cannot simply be concluded that an exclusivelyemotional positioning will be the most effective positioning strategy in greenmarketing because the effect of both dimensions on brand attitude was positiveFurthermore the combined functional and emotional strategy led to the strongestperceptual shift towards both dimensions of the positioning model
These findings together with the relatively high correlation of both perceptualconstructs indicate an interaction between cognitive and emotional processes in theformation of attitude toward green positioned brands This is consistent with recent
Brand attitude
Environment (functional) 017020383
(p frac14 0000)Nature (emotional) 043
051889
(p frac14 0000)
Note Parameter difference p frac14 0000 (CR frac14 331)
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
research on brain functions showing that cognitive and emotional mental processesare highly correlated in the formation of brand attitudes (Franzen and Bouwman2001) Consequently functional and emotional strategies should be consideredcomplementary rather than alternative as Bhat and Reddy (1998) have argued is thecase with functional and ldquosymbolicrdquo brand positioning strategies Thus overall resultslead to the general conclusion that a combined strategy which appeals to bothenvironmental consciousness and emotional benefits will yield a stronger attitudinaleffect than either functional or emotional positioning strategies on their own
Managerial implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that a well-implemented green positioning strategycan lead on the whole to a more favourable perception of the brand thus givingsupport to the green marketing approach in general However there is still a certaincontroversy about which kind of green persuasion strategy would be the mosteffective While most researchers in green marketing postulate functional positioningstrategies delivering detailed information on environmentally sound productattributes this study supports significant attitude effects for both functional andemotional green positioning strategies
An exclusively functional green brand positioning may fall short of deliveringindividual benefits to customers assuming rational decision processes and limitedcapacity for brand differentiation While emotional green branding has the potential toovercome these limitations a purely emotional green position could lead to weakerattitude effects caused presumably by a possible misinterpretation of vague greenclaims (Pickett et al 1995) Therefore communication campaign planners should deliveremotional benefits through the brand at the same time making sure that target groupsperceive real environmental benefits Attitude formation most probably takes placethrough an intensive interaction of cognitive and emotional processes Thus the mosteffective brand strategy would be a green positioning centred in the creation of emotionalbenefits sustained by information on environmentally sound functional attributes
Results of the study also underline the effectiveness of brand communications in theimplementation of green positioning strategies There is a variety of well researchedapproaches to the communicational implementation of emotional brand benefits suchas transformational advertising (Aaker and Stayman 1992) or emotional conditioning(Kroeber-Riel 1984 Kim et al 1998) Green branding communication strategies shouldbe aimed at associating the brand with pleasant emotional imagery of nature whilepresenting information on environmentally sound product attributes Informationshould be presented succinctly so as not to interfere with the emotional conditioningeffects of the advertisement (Kroeber-Riel 1996) On the other hand there is a generalagreement that brand communication constitutes only one component of a successfulpositioning strategy There should be no doubt that a green brand positioning strategynot supported by relevant environmentally sound product attributes will fall short ofsuccess
Future researchThe research study reported here was conducted under laboratory conditions withonce-only exposure to brand communications and focused on one brand in one productcategory The findings need to be confirmed for other brands and product categories in
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
21
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
more real conditions The measures used achieved good reliability and validity buthave their limitations especially in the case of the emotional dimension Measures foremotional reactions were specifically developed for the purpose of the present studyand it is suggested that their potential outweighed the conceptual limitations Theparticipants in the experiment were undergraduate students The results arenevertheless indicative of the responses of the target market in question but a largerand more varied sample is called for to reinforce the findings
Future research might profitably concentrate on the further development of theconstructs used in the study particularly the emotional dimension of green brandassociations The method used could be combined with others such as semanticdifferential scaling or biometric measures which should in turn result in a betterassessment of variables This will in turn result in improved understanding of therelationships between the considered constructs and other variables ndash particularlyinvolvement which is considered a fundamental moderator of attitude formationprocesses in revised models Involvement with environmental issues constitutes anessential factor in environmental behaviour Future studies should aim to developstandardized instruments for measuring the perceptual and attitudinal effects ofalternative green positioning strategies which finally should lead to the developmentof more competitive green branding initiatives
References
Aaker DA (1996) Building Strong Brands The Free Press New York NY
Aaker DA and Joachimsthaler E (2000) Brand Leadership The Free Press New York NY
Aaker D and Shansby J (1982) ldquoPositioning your productrdquo Business Horizons Vol 25MayJune pp 56-62
Aaker DA and Stayman DM (1992) ldquoImplementing the concept of transformationaladvertisingrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 9 No 3 pp 237-53
Ajzen I and Fishbein M (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social BehaviorPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen CT Machleit KA and Schultz Kleine S (1992) ldquoA comparison of attitudes and emotionsas predictors of behavior at diverse levels of behavioral experiencerdquo Journal of ConsumerResearch Vol 18 No 4 pp 493-504
Anderson JC and Gerbing DW (1988) ldquoStructural equation modelling in practice a review andrecommended two-step approachrdquo Psychological Bulletin Vol 103 No 3 pp 411-23
Arbuckle JL and Wothke W (1999) Amos 40 Userrsquos Guide SmallWaters CorporationChicago IL
Bech-Larsen T (1996) ldquoDanish consumersrsquo attitudes to the functional and environmentalcharacteristics of food packagingrdquo Journal of Consumer Policy Vol 19 pp 339-63
Belz F and Dyllik T (1996) ldquoOkologische positionierungsstrategienrdquo in Tomczak TR andRoosdorp A (Eds) Positionierung ndash Kernentscheidung des Marketing Thexis VerlagSt Gallen pp 170-9
Benito Gomez C Noya FJ and Paniagua A (1999) ldquoActitudes y comportamientos hacia elmedioambiente en Espanardquo Opiniones y Actitudes Vol 25 Centro de InvestigacionesSociologicas Madrid
Bentler PM (1990) ldquoComparative fit indices in structural modelsrdquo Psychological BulletinVol 107 pp 238-46
MIP231
22
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Bhat S and Reddy SK (1998) ldquoSymbolic and functional positioning of brandsrdquo Journal ofConsumer Marketing Vol 15 No 1 pp 32-43
Bigne JE (1997) ldquoEl consumidor verde bases de un modelo de comportamientordquo Esic MarketApril-June pp 29-43
Blankson C and Kalafatis SP (1999) ldquoIssues and challenges in the positioning of servicebrands a reviewrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 2 pp 106-18
Buck R Anderson E Chaudhuri A and Ray I (2002) ldquoEmotion and reason in persuasionapplying the ARI model and the CASC scalerdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 57 No 6pp 647-56
Buck R Chaudhuri A Georgeson M and Kowta S (1995) ldquoConceptualizing andoperationalizing affect reason and involvement in persuasion the ARI model and theCASC Scalerdquo Advances in Consumer Research Vol 22 pp 440-7
Burke MC and Edell J (1987) ldquoThe power of feelings in understanding advertising effectsrdquoJournal of Consumer Research Vol 14 December pp 421-33
Burnett J and Dunne PM (1986) ldquoAn appraisal of the use of student subjects in marketingresearchrdquo Journal of Business Research Vol 14 August pp 329-43
Byrne BM (2001) Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ
Calder BJ and Gruder CL (1989) ldquoEmotional advertising appealsrdquo in Cafferata P and TyboutAM (Eds) Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising Lexington Books LexingtonMA pp 278-85
Calomarde JV (2000) Marketing Ecologico Piramide Madrid
Caroll JD and Green PE (1997) ldquoPsychometric methods in marketing research part IIMultidimensional scalingrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34 May pp 193-204
Childers TL and Houston MJ (1984) ldquoConditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumermemoryrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 11 pp 643-54
Childers TL Houston MJ and Heckler SE (1985) ldquoMeasurement of individual differences invisual versus verbal information processingrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 12pp 125-34
Coddington W (1993) Environmental Marketing McGraw-Hill New York NY
Cope D and Winward J (1991) ldquoInformation failures in green consumerismrdquo Consumer PolicyReview Vol 1 No 2 pp 83-6
Cronbach JL (1951) ldquoCoefficient alpha and the internal structure of testrdquo Psychometrika Vol 16pp 297-334
Davis JJ (1993) ldquoStrategies for environmental advertisingrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 10 No 2 pp 19-36
de Chernatony L and DallrsquoOlmo Riley F (1998) ldquoModelling the components of the brandrdquoEuropean Journal of Marketing Vol 32 No 1112 pp 1074-90
Eagly AH and Kulesa P (1997) ldquoAttitudes attitude structure and resistance to changerdquo inBazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE and Wade-Benzoni KA (Eds)Environment Ethics and Behavior The New Lexington Press San Francisco CApp 122-53
Finger M (1994) ldquoFrom knowledge to action Exploring the relationships betweenenvironmental experiences learning and behaviorrdquo Journal of Social Issues Vol 50pp 179-97
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
23
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Fornell C and Larker DF (1981) ldquoEvaluating structural equation models with unobservablevariables and measurement errorrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Februarypp 39-50
Fraj E and Martınez E (2002) Comportamiento del Consumidor Ecologico Esic EditorialMadrid
Franzen G and Bouwman M (2001) The Mental World of Brands World Avertising ResearchCenter Oxford
Fuller DA (1999) Sustainable Marketing Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA
Gibson LD (1996) ldquoWhat can one TV exposure dordquo Journal of Advertising Research Vol 36MarchApril pp 9-18
Grunert-Beckmann SC and Askegaard S (1997) ldquolsquoSeeing with the mindrsquos eyersquo on the use ofpictorial stimuli in values and lifestyle researchrdquo in Kahle LR and Chiagouris L (Eds)Values Lifestyles and Psychographics Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 161-81
Hair JF Anderson RE Tatham R and Black WC (1998) Multivariate Data AnalysisPrentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs NJ
Hauser JR and Koppelman FS (1979) ldquoAlternative perceptual mapping techniques relativeaccuracy and usefulnessrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 16 No 4 pp 495-506
Herr PM and Fazio RH (1993) ldquoThe attitude-to-behavior process implications for consumerbehaviorrdquo in Mitchell AA (Ed) Advertising Exposure Memory and Choice LawrenceErlbaum Hillsdale NJ pp 119-40
Hines JM Hungerford HR and Tomera AN (1987) ldquoAnalysis and synthesis of research onresponsible environmental behavior a meta-analysisrdquo Journal of EnvironmentalEducation Vol 18 pp 1-8
Holbrook MB and Moore WL (1981) ldquoFeature interactions in consumer judgements of verbalversus pictorial presentationsrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 8 pp 103-13
Hooley G Saunders J and Piercy NF (1998) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning2nd ed Prentice-Hall Hemel Hempstead
Hopfenbeck W (1993) Direccion y Marketing Ecologicos Ediciones Deusto Madrid
Hu L-T and Bentler PM (1995) ldquoEvaluating model fitrdquo in Hoyle RH (Ed) StructuralEquation Modeling Concepts Issues and Applications Sage Publications Londonpp 76-99
Joreskog KG and Sorbom D (1984) LISREL VI Userrsquos Guide Scientific Software MooresvilleIN
Kalafatis SP Tsogas MH and Blankson C (2000) ldquoPositioning strategies in businessmarketsrdquo Journal of Business amp Industrial Marketing Vol 15 No 6 pp 416-37
Kalafatis SP Pollard M East R and Tsogas MH (1999) ldquoGreen marketing and Ajzenrsquostheory of planned behavior a cross-market examinationrdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 16 No 5 pp 441-60
Kals E Schumacher D and Montada L (1999) ldquoEmotional affinity toward nature as amotivational basis to protect naturerdquo Environment and Behavior Vol 31 No 2pp 178-202
Kaplan D (2000) Structural Equation Modeling Foundations and Extensions SagePublications London
Kassarjian HH (1971) ldquoIncorporating ecology into marketing strategy the case of airpollutionrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 35 July pp 61-5
MIP231
24
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Keller KL (1993) ldquoConceptualizing measuring and managing customer-based brand equityrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 57 January pp 1-22
Kim J Lim J-S and Bhargava M (1998) ldquoThe role of affect in attitude formation a classicalconditioning approachrdquo Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol 26 No 2pp 143-52
Kinnear TC Taylor JR and Ahmed SA (1974) ldquoEcologically concerned consumers who aretheyrdquo Journal of Marketing Vol 38 April pp 20-4
Kotler P (2000) Marketing Management Millennium ed Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River NJ
Kroeber-Riel W (1984) ldquoEmotional product differentiation by classical conditioning (withconsequences for the lsquolow-involvement hierarchyrsquo)rdquo in Kinnear TC (Ed) Advances inConsumer Research Vol 11 Association for Consumer Research Ann Arbor MIpp 538-43
Kroeber-Riel W (1991) Strategie und Technik der Werbung Kohlhammer Stuttgart
Kroeber-Riel W (1996) Bildkommunikation Imagerystrategien fur die Werbung VahlenMunchen
Louviere JJ Schroeder H Louviere CH and Woodworth GC (1987) ldquoDo the parameters ofchoice models depend on differences in stimulus presentation visual versus verbalpresentationrdquo in Wallendorf M and Anderson P (Eds) Advances in Consumer ResearchVol 14 Association for Consumer Research Provo UT pp 79-82
Mandese J (1995) ldquoRevisiting ad reach and frequencyrdquo Advertising Age Vol 66 Novemberp 46
Meffert H and Kirchgeorg M (1993) Marktorientiertes UmweltmanagementSchaeffer-Poeschel Stuttgart
Mitchell AA (1986) ldquoThe effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brandattitudes and attitude toward the advertisementrdquo Journal of Consumer Research Vol 13June pp 12-24
Mitchell AA and Olson JC (1981) ldquoAre product attribute beliefs the only mediator ofadvertising effects on brand attituderdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 18 Augustpp 318-32
Monhemius KC (1993) Umweltbewusstes Kaufverhalten von Konsumenten Peter LangFrankfurt am Main
Ottman JA (1994) Green Marketing NTC Business Books Lincolnwood IL
Park CW Jaworski BJ and McInnes D (1989) ldquoStrategic brand concept-image managementrdquoJournal of Marketing Vol 50 October pp 135-45
Peattie K (1995) Environmental Marketing Management Pitman Publishing London
Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1983) ldquoCentral and peripheral routes to persuasion application toadvertisingrdquo in Percy L and Woodside AG (Eds) Advertising and ConsumerPsychology Lexington Books Lexington MA pp 3-23
Petty RE Unnava RH and Strathman AJ (1991) ldquoTheories of attitude changerdquo in RobertsonTS and Kassarjian HH (Eds) Handbook of Consumer Behavior Prentice-HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 241-80
Pickett GM Kangun N and Grove SJ (1995) ldquoAn examination of the conserving consumerimplications for public policy formation in promoting conservation behaviorrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 77-99
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
25
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Polonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) (1995) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY
Ries AL and Trout J (1986) Positioning The Battle for Your Mind McGraw-Hill London
Ritov I and Kahnemann D (1997) ldquoHow people value the environment attitudes versuseconomic valuesrdquo in Bazermann MH Messick DM Tenbrunsel AE andWade-Benzoni KA (Eds) Environment Ethics and Behavior The New LexingtonPress San Francisco CA pp 33-51
Roozen ITM and De Pelsmacker P (1998) ldquoAttributes of environmentally friendly consumerbehaviorrdquo Journal of International Consumer Marketing Vol 10 No 3 pp 21-41
Schlegelmilch BB Bohlen GM and Diamantopoulos A (1996) ldquoThe link between greenpurchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousnessrdquo European Journal ofMarketing Vol 30 No 5 pp 35-55
Smith SM Haugtvedt CP and Petty RE (1994) ldquoAttitudes and recycling does themeasurement of affect enhance behavioral predictionrdquo Psychology and Marketing Vol 11No 4 pp 359-74
Steiger JH and Lind JC (1980) ldquoStatistically-based tests for the number of common factorsrdquopaper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society Iowa City IO
Stone G Barnes JH and Montgomery C (1995) ldquoEcoscale a scale for the measurement ofenvironmentally responsible consumersrdquo Psychology amp Marketing Vol 12 No 7pp 595-612
Surmanek J (1995) ldquoOne-hit or miss is a frequency of one frequently wrongrdquo Advertising AgeVol 66 November p 17
Swenson MR and Wells WD (1997) ldquoUseful correlates of pro-environmental behaviorrdquoin Goldberg ME Fishbein M and Middlestadt SE (Eds) Social Marketing Theoreticaland Practical Perspectives Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah NJ pp 91-109
Tomczak T Esch FR and Roosdorp A (1997) ldquoPositionierung ndash von der Entwicklung uberdie Umsetzung bis zum Controllingrdquo in Belz C (Ed) Suchfelder fur innovativesMarketing Kompetenz fur Marketing-Innovationen Schrift 1 Thexis Verlag St Gallenpp 61-83
Further reading
Bagozzi RP and Yi Y (1994) ldquoAdvanced topics in structural equation modelsrdquo in Bagozzi RP(Ed) Advanced Methods of Marketing Research Blackwell Oxford pp 1-51
Fishbein M and Middlestadt S (1995) ldquoNoncognitive effects on attitude formation and changefact or artifactrdquo Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 4 No 2 pp 181-202
Smith SM and Haugtvedt CP (1995) ldquoImplications of understanding basic attitude changeprocesses and attitude structure for enhancing pro-environmental behaviorsrdquo inPolonsky MJ and Mintu-Wimsatt AT (Eds) Environmental Marketing StrategiesPractice Theory and Research The Haworth Press New York NY pp 155-76
Wiener JL and Doescher TA (1991) ldquoA framework for promoting cooperationrdquo Journal ofMarketing Vol 55 April pp 38-47
MIP231
26
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Appendix 1
Figure A1Communicational
implementation of theexperimental green brand
positioning
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
27
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
MIP231
28
Figure A2
Green brandingeffects on
attitude
29
Appendix 2
Figure A2Visual stimuli used for themeasurement of emotionalbrand associations
