Abstract

The present study contributes to the debate about how to convince consumers to engage into green consumption. It aims to investigate the role that a particular individual difference, the regulatory focus, assumes in green consumer behavior. The regulatory focus is the strategic orientation individuals use to pursue their goals. In particular we want to evaluate if and how the individuals regulatory focus may be a stimulating factor for the adoption of green behavior. One experimental study was conducted aimed at measuring the effect of regulatory focus in green and not green consumption. The study empirically verifies which of the two orientations (promotion/prevention) takes discriminant value in the decision to purchase a green product and, more generally, the comparative analysis of the two conditions confirmed that this effect can be considered to be more noticeable when buying green instead than not green products. Thus, managers and advertisers that want to persuade consumers to engage into green consumption should make sure to take into consideration the regulatory focus boosting effect.