Self-Awareness, Decision Time, and Perception towards Environmentally Friendly Products

Abstract

This research explores the impact that consumer self-awareness and decision time pressure have on eco-friendly consumer purchase decisions. The busy lifestyle of many consumers ties into the context of time-limit shopping and surfaces questions about differences between more relaxed shopping settings and rushed ones when it comes to shoppers’ perceptions of sustainable products. The study was designed as a 2-condition (Time-Relaxed (10 min) or Time-Pressure (1 min) scenario) between-subjects experiment prompting participants to choose between an eco-friendly and non-eco-friendly option. Respondents answered scales of Self-Awareness questions to test impact on brand choice and Environmentally Consciousness. The results of this experiment suggest that in a relaxed shopping setting, self-awareness leads customers to perceive eco-friendly traits in a positive light. Managerial implications include the ability to cater toward consumer traits of self-awareness when promoting eco-friendly brands along with fostering a relaxed shopping environment.

Introduction

• This research investigates how self-awareness and decision time influence consumer perception on environmental products 
• Brands struggle with enticing eco-friendly options to consumers and convincing them of effectiveness, truthfulness, and impact of attributes (Reczek et al., 2018) 
• Explores how self-awareness and environmental consciousness interact with situational constraints such as decision time during consumer purchases 
• Builds on theories of decision-making under pressure, subjective norms, and identity-driven behavior in sustainability contexts  
• Time pressure can force consumers to rely on heuristics rather than deliberate decision making. Individuals are more likely to default to instinctual or emotional responses, conflicting with their values (Godinho, 2016) 
• Self-awareness refers to one's ability to use their internal values and motivation in relation to their behavior (Govern & Marsch, 1999)

Key Hypothesis

H₁: Decision Time and Self-Awareness has a combined effect on environmental product perceptions (Eco-Friendly or Effective at Cleaning) such that:

H_1A: Increasing Self-Awareness is associated with increasing product perceptions for long decision time.

H_1B: Increasing Self-Awareness is NOT associated with increasing product perceptions for short decision time.

H₂: There is positive correlation between the consumer trait of Self-Awareness and the measure of an individual’s Environmental Consciousness (i.e. If self-awareness is high, so is environmental consciousness).

Methodology 

• Qualtrics survey with 100 participants sampled to test hypotheses
• Participants are familiarized with questionnaire consent and the purpose of the study 
• Randomized scenario: either time-relaxed (10 minutes) or time-pressure (1 minute) for each participant to select from the following brand options  
• Question randomization: order of Brand A (Eco-friendly) and Brand B (non-Eco-friendly) changed to not influence order of perceptions 
• A modified environmental 1-to-7 point scale presented to participants to measure individual environmental consciousness, based on “Connectedness to Nature and Environmental Identity Scales Reveal Environmental Awareness in Greek Teachers” (Gkargkavouzi et al, 2018). 
• A modified self-awareness 1-to-7 point scale presented to participants, based on “Development and Validation of the Situational Self-Awareness Scale” (Govern & Marsch, 1999) measure Self-Awareness trait.

Conclusions 

• Shoppers are more likely to choose eco-friendly brands consistently under a time crunch but overall tend to choose eco-friendly options more frequently regardless of decision time 
• Shoppers with high Self-Awareness in the Long Decision Times are more likely to choose the brand because they perceived it to be more eco-friendly and more effective at cleaning 
• Increased Self Awareness and Increased Environmentally Consciousness are positively correlated when evaluating why shoppers choose more environmentally friendly options 
• Without Decision Time pressures, there is an increased opportunity for Self-Awareness when making purchase choices

For Further Discussion

This serves as an overview of the project and does not include the complete work. To further discuss this project, please email Corinna Pazzanese.

Course Overview

MK 620: Applied Consumer Behavior Research is a course that provides a basic understanding of the major concepts and theories in consumer decision-making and behavior and how these can be used as the basis for empirical research on the way consumers process information, form preferences and make buying choices. This is a course in which theories from psychology, sociology and economics are applied to the study of consumer behavior.

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Key References 

Barbarossa, C., & De Pelsmacker, P. (2014). Positive and negative antecedents of purchasing eco-friendly products: A comparison between green and non-green consumers. Journal of Business Ethics, 134(2), 229–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2425-z 

Gkargkavouzi, A., Paraskevopoulos, S., & Matsiori, S. (2018). Connectedness to nature and environmental identity scales reveal environmental awareness in Greek teachers. Natural Sciences Education, 47(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4195/nse2017.05.0011 

Godinho, S., Prada, M., & Garrido, M. V. (2016). Under Pressure: An Integrative Perspective of Time Pressure Impact on Consumer Decision-Making. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 28(4), 251–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2016.1148654 

Govern, J. M., & Marsch, L. A. (2001). Development and validation of the situational self-awareness scale. Consciousness and Cognition, 10(3), 366–378. https://doi.org/10.1006/ccog.2001.0506 

Maniatis, P. (2016). Investigating factors influencing consumer decision-making while choosing Green Products.  Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.067 

Reczek, R. W., Trudel, R., & White, K. (2018). Focusing on the forest or the trees: How abstract versus concrete construal level predicts responses to eco-friendly products. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 57, 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.06.003 

Shim, D., Shin, J., & Kwak, S. (2018). Modelling the consumer decision-making process to identify key drivers and bottlenecks in the adoption of environmentally friendly products. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(8), 1409–1421. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2192 

Who is Qualtrics? experience management is here. Qualtrics. (2025, February 26). https://www.qualtrics.com/about/