“Tax” and “Fee” Frames in Green Advertisements: The Influence of Self-Transcendence in Reusable Bag Usage
Sidharth Muralidharan, K. Sheehan
June 9, 2017 DOI: 10.1080/10496491.2017.1323260 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study |
|---|---|
| Key findings | The study found that a penalty framed as a tax was more effective than a fee framed as a gain in influencing shoppers to use reusable bags. Additionally, participants with higher self-transcendence were more environmentally conscious. |
Abstract
Increasing the use of reusable shopping bags is one of many actions that consumers can take to reduce waste and conserve energy. However, this goal is somewhat daunting because it requires a significant behavior change on the part of consumers. Taking their self-transcendence into consideration, the current study used an experimental method to examine which type of message frame best influenced shoppers to use reusable bags: a fee (gain) or a tax (loss). Findings show that high self-transcendent participants were more environmentally conscious and that, overall, a penalty framed as a tax was more effective. Implications are discussed.