REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 1. Replication of: Griskevicius, Tybur, & Van den Bergh, (2010), Going Green to be seen: Status,

Transcription

1 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 1 Replication of: Griskevicius, Tybur, & Van den Bergh, (2010), Going Green to be seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation (Study 1) Leigh A. Powell A. Dawn Mitchell Method Participants Participants were 238 undergraduate students (79% female, ages years old, M age = 21.89, SD = 5.60) at a large public university in Northern California. Additional demographic characteristics may be found in Table 1. Materials and Procedure Experimental research sessions were conducted utilizing paper copies of the materials provided in the original study: control story, motive prime story, and list of product choices with instructions and descriptions. As an appendage to the original study, a demographic questionnaire was provided after product choices were made. Three conditions were conducted: with vignette to prime a social status motive, control session with neutral vignette, and control session with no vignette. Participants in conditions with vignettes were asked to read the story before being prompted to answer a list of product choice questions. These items were disguised as time-fillers before a set of memory questions based on the story were claimed to be presented. Participants in the no-story control conditions were instructed to answer the product choice questions before moving on to read a story that the researcher misplaced. In all sessions, all participants completed the product choice items and demographic questionnaire and were then immediately debriefed on the true intent and design of the study.

2 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 2 This study initially utilized a one-way between-subjects design with three conditions (status motive vs story control vs no story control) with choice of products (green vs not green) as the dependent variable. For the present study, the analyses followed the steps of the original study conducted by Griskevicius, Tybur, and Van den Bergh (Going Green to be Seen, Study 1: Status and Conservation; 2010), and combined the two control conditions after preliminary analyses found that there was no significant difference between green product choices among the two control conditions (ps >.20). Results To determine if the current study replicated the findings of the original research by Griskevicius, Tybur, and Van den Bergh (2010), three chi-squared tests of independence were conducted, one for each of the product choices (green vs non green car, cleaner, and dishwasher; Table 2. Crosstabulation of each of these product choices with the experimental condition (control vs motive prime) revealed no significant relationship between status motive priming and green product choice. The participants in both the status motive prime and control story conditions choose more green products than luxurious products; as seen in Figure 1, while 55.2% of the participants chose the green car in the control condition, 55.8% of the participants chose it in the status motive condition, χ 2 (1, N = 238) =.007, p =.934. Similar results for the choices of the cleaner were revealed with slightly larger differences as 53.1% of the participants chose the natural cleaner in the control condition and 60.0% chose it in the motive prime condition χ 2 (1, N = 238) = 1.09, p =.297. Moreover, choices of dishwasher preference were fairly equal as 51.7% of participants chose the eco-friendly dishwasher in the control condition and only a small percentage more, 53.7%, chose it in the motive condition χ 2 (1, N = 238) =.086, p =.770.

3 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 3 Furthermore, to continue the steps of the original replication, a composite score was created from the mean of the three green product choices (1 = green choice, 0 = nongreen/luxurious choice). This new dependent variable was analyzed in a one-way betweensubjects analysis of variance (ANOVA; condition: control vs status motive prime). Understandably, from the above results, an ANOVA on the product choice composite revealed no significant difference in green product choice between the control (M product choice =.53, SD =.31) and motive prime conditions (M product choice =.57, SD =.34), F(1, 236) =.537, p =.464. In additional exploratory analyses, no demographic characteristic variables, including ethnicity, gender, nor parent education level, moderated this relationship between status motive priming and product choice composite, ps >.161. However, a significant main effect was obtained for political affiliation such that, overall, Republicans (M product choice =.32, SD =.33) were less likely than Democrats (M product choice =.54, SD =.28), Independents (M product choice =.67, SD =.31), and those reporting that they Don t know (M product choice =.56, SD =.34) to choose a green product; F(4, 227) = 4.39, p =.002, partial 2 p =.072. These results suggest no evidence that social status motive priming affects the choice of green products, which as Griskevicius, Tybur, and Van den Bergh (2010) posit may be more desired by those aspiring to present an outward appearance of a prosocial nature. Discussion The following describes the results of original study by Griskevicius, Tybur, & Van den Bergh, (2010), experiment 1: in the control condition participants were more likely to choose the nongreen car (62.8% chose the nongreen car, whereas 37.2% chose the green car), the nongreen

4 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 4 household cleaner (74.3% chose the nongreen cleaner), and the nongreen dishwasher (65.5% chose the nongreen dishwasher). Thus, in the absence of status motives, all three nongreen products were more desirable than their green counterparts. The key prediction in the experiment was that activating status motives should increase the likelihood of choosing the green product relative to the same green product in the control condition. As seen in Figure 1, whereas 37.2% of participants chose the green car in the control condition, 54.5% of participants chose it in the status condition, χ 2 (1, N = 168) = 4.56, p =.033, Ф =.165. Similarly, choice of the green cleaner increased from 25.7% in the control condition to 41.8% in the status condition, χ 2 (1, N = 168) = 4.52, p =.034, Ф =.164. Choice of the green dishwasher also increased from 34.5% in the control condition to 49.1% in the status condition, χ 2 (1, N = 168) = 3.30, p =.069, Ф =.140. In addition to examining the influence of status motives on each product individually, we also analyzed the effect of status when the three products were combined into a composite. As predicted, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the product composite showed a significant effect of status, F(1, 166) = 8.53, p =.004, d = (Griskevicius, Tybur, & Van den Bergh, 2010, p. 396) Discussion of present study: These results were different and may have been limited in several respects. First, the original study conducted by Griskevicius, Tybur, and Van den Bergh, (Going Green to be Seen, Study 1: Status and Conservation; 2010), utilized partitioned computers to survey the participants; the current study presented the stories and surveys with no partitions and paper and pencil. The differing story presentation may have cognitively affected the effect of the prime and

5 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 5 the lack of use of partitions may have affected the way in which participants felt comfortable answering honestly. Another difference lies in the regional location of research. Specifically, the current study was conducted in Northern California while the original study was conducted in Minnesota. This may have affected the occurrence of green product choices in that California is a leader in going green. A recent survey conducted by the State of California Employment Development Department (2010) on California's green jobs indicated that in Northern California alone, 8.1% of regional jobs are green jobs; in the state, 3.4% are green (versus ~1% in other states). This may explain why the majority of choices in all conditions were allocated to the green options and the proportion of green choices in each condition was greater than the original study; Northern Californians may simply be more green conscious than those in a less environmentally conscious region. As an attempted replication, the current study has strengths as well, however. The materials utilized (stories and product questionnaire) were direct copies obtained from the original study s authors. As mentioned in the original study, the stories, priming and control, were previously validated to prime a feeling of high social status motive and no social status motive, respectively. Another strength of the current study lies in the large sample size (N = 238) which was much larger than the original study that obtained 168 participants. Additionally, the present study analyzed varying other individual differences such as demographic characteristics on the likelihood of choosing green or non-green products, a benefit that the original study did not consider. Further examination of these variables is encouraged for future research. While the original study would benefit from several additional replication attempts, it is suggested that

6 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 6 future research examine the demographic variables included in this study as well. Additionally, replications would benefit from either keeping the region of the sample static or exploring many regions to determine if an effect is seen in regions that are considered more or less green. While no significant effects of social status motive priming on green choices were determined through this current sample, if future replications find results similar to the original study (which determined an effect of the desire to be seen as prosocial on more green choices), the findings may be useful in applicable ways. Specifically, implications of the ability to influence green choices by use of social status primes may suggest usefulness of this in green product advertising. Hybrid car developers, environmentally friendly cleaner manufacturers, and green household appliance developers may utilize findings in this area to influence customers to buy their products which in turn will benefit the environment. It is hoped that research investigating factors of why people may opt for environmentally friendly products over more luxurious products will continue as the need to reduce environment harming decisions becomes more of a priority in the current state of the world s worsening climate.

7 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 7 References Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., & Van den Bergh, B. (2010). Going green to be seen: Status, reputation, and conspicuous conservation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, doi: /a State of California. Employment Development Department. Labor Market Information Division. (2010, October). California's Green Economy: Summary of Survey Results. Retrieved 13 May 2014 from the Employment Development Department website: SummarySurveyResults.pdf

8 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 8 Table 1 Demographic Characteristics Motive prime Control conditions condition Total N % N % N % Ethnicity Asian/ Pacific Islander/ % % % Asian American Black / African American % % % Hispanic / Latino/ Mexican % % % White / European American % % % Middle Eastern / Middle % % % Eastern American Other % % % Multiracial % % % Total % % % Gender Female % % % Male % % % Total % % % Political Affiliation Democrat % % % Independent % % %

9 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 9 Republican % % % Other % % % Don't know % % % Total % % % Father s Education Less than 4 year degree % % % 4 year degree or higher % % % Total % % % Mother s Education Less than 4 year degree % % % 4 year degree or higher % % % Total % % %

10 REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 10 Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Experimental Conditions and Product Choices Motive prime Control conditions condition Total n % n % n % Car Non-green Green Cleaner/ Soap Non-green Green Dishwasher Non-green Green Total

11 Percentage of green choices REPLICATION: GOING GREEN TO BE SEEN 11 65% 60% 55% 50% 45% Car 40% 35% Soap 30% 25% Dishwasher 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% CONTROL MOTIVE STATUS Figure 1. Percentage of people who chose green products versus more luxurious products in Control and Motive priming conditions.