Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective
Purpose This paper aims to explore the influence of social frame (worker vs animal rights), product category (hedonic vs utilitarian) and social presence (similar age, younger and older) on expected shame and purchase intentions for sustainable products. Design/methodology/approach This study u...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Emerald
2025
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97174 |
| _version_ | 1848766236246147072 |
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| author | Frensel, Anna Maria Landmann, Elisa Schönitz, Marie‐Sophie Siems, Florian U Sharma, Piyush |
| author_facet | Frensel, Anna Maria Landmann, Elisa Schönitz, Marie‐Sophie Siems, Florian U Sharma, Piyush |
| author_sort | Frensel, Anna Maria |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose
This paper aims to explore the influence of social frame (worker vs animal rights), product category (hedonic vs utilitarian) and social presence (similar age, younger and older) on expected shame and purchase intentions for sustainable products.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used an online experiment with a 3 × 2 between-subjects design to manipulate social frame (workers vs animal rights and a control group) and product category (hedonic vs utilitarian) with 252 young German consumers (under 30 years old).
Findings
This study finds that social frame and social presence influence expected shame, which in turn positively affects purchase intentions for sustainable products, in the presence of people with similar age, but with no difference between hedonic and utilitarian product types.
Research limitations/implications
This study tested the influence of social frame, product type and social presence on German young consumers using specific purchase scenarios. Future research may test the generalizability of the model in diverse cultural settings.
Practical implications
This study would help marketers and public policymakers identify factors that may motivate young consumers to act in a sustainable manner and to develop suitable strategies and messages to improve their pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors.
Originality/value
This study uses Schwartz’s norm activation theory to investigate the link between consumer emotions and sustainable consumption and shows that social sustainability can trigger expected shame through message framing especially in the presence of others, which in turn could increase the probability of environment-friendly product choice. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:47:56Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-97174 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:47:56Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Emerald |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-971742025-03-27T01:13:15Z Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective Frensel, Anna Maria Landmann, Elisa Schönitz, Marie‐Sophie Siems, Florian U Sharma, Piyush Purpose This paper aims to explore the influence of social frame (worker vs animal rights), product category (hedonic vs utilitarian) and social presence (similar age, younger and older) on expected shame and purchase intentions for sustainable products. Design/methodology/approach This study used an online experiment with a 3 × 2 between-subjects design to manipulate social frame (workers vs animal rights and a control group) and product category (hedonic vs utilitarian) with 252 young German consumers (under 30 years old). Findings This study finds that social frame and social presence influence expected shame, which in turn positively affects purchase intentions for sustainable products, in the presence of people with similar age, but with no difference between hedonic and utilitarian product types. Research limitations/implications This study tested the influence of social frame, product type and social presence on German young consumers using specific purchase scenarios. Future research may test the generalizability of the model in diverse cultural settings. Practical implications This study would help marketers and public policymakers identify factors that may motivate young consumers to act in a sustainable manner and to develop suitable strategies and messages to improve their pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Originality/value This study uses Schwartz’s norm activation theory to investigate the link between consumer emotions and sustainable consumption and shows that social sustainability can trigger expected shame through message framing especially in the presence of others, which in turn could increase the probability of environment-friendly product choice. 2025 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97174 10.1108/YC-10-2024-2276 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Emerald fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Frensel, Anna Maria Landmann, Elisa Schönitz, Marie‐Sophie Siems, Florian U Sharma, Piyush Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective |
| title | Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective |
| title_full | Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective |
| title_fullStr | Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective |
| title_short | Influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: A social sustainability perspective |
| title_sort | influence of shame on young consumers’ purchase intentions: a social sustainability perspective |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97174 |