SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, 2018, 46(7), 1215–1232

© 2018 Scientific Journal Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.

https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.7491

EFFECT OF MARKETING INFORMATION ON

PURCHASE INTENTION FOR PROENVIRONMENTAL
PRODUCTS IN CHINA

YANG LI
Beijing Technology and Business University

The focus in this study is on the effect on Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase proenvi-
ronmental products of 3 types of marketing information: environmental knowledge relating
to a product, information about corporate social responsibility, and descriptive norms about
environmental protection. I also examined the impact of social presence on the consumers’
intention to purchase. I conducted 2 laboratory experiments with 723 participants and
findings indicate that each of the 3 kinds of marketing information and social presence had
a significantly positive effect on participants’ purchase intention, and the effect of marketing
information on corporate social responsibility and environmental knowledge was weakened
when consumers made the decision with social presence. The findings expand research on
marketing information of proenvironmental products and provide insight into the effect of
social presence. Suggestions are made for the government and manufacturing managers that
may increase Chinese consumer purchase of proenvironmental products.

Keywords: proenvironmental product, social presence, environmental knowledge, corporate

responsibility, descriptive norm.

Environmental deterioration that has accompanied the promotion of productivity,

including the increase in severe industrial pollution and ecological damage
caused by agriculture, has become a topic of urgent importance to humanity.
Rampant sandstorms and frequent haze in recent years in China serve as constant

Yang Li, Business School, Beijing Technology and Business University.

This research was supported by the Research Foundation for Youth Scholars of Beijing Technology
and Business University (PXM2018_014213_000033) and Key Projects of the National Natural
Science Foundation (71632001).
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yang Li, No. 33 Fucheng Rd.,
Business School, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
Email: girlhelen616@126.com

1215
1216 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

reminders to the Chinese government and residents that problems resulting from
environmental deterioration have become a key issue that must be handled. For
the 13th Five Year Plan from 2016 to 2020, the Chinese government included
for the first time the policy of strengthening the construction of an ecological
civilization, the final goal of environmental reform in China, and committed to
providing major support to the environmental protection industry. It is estimated
that an increasing number of enterprises will become involved in developing,
manufacturing, and promoting proenvironmental products (Li, 2018). However,
merely increasing the supply of proenvironmental products is not enough to
ensure their consumption. It will be a long-term objective for consumers to
adopt proenvironmental products and get used to consuming them daily (Juhl,
Fenger, & Thøgersen, 2017). It is also difficult for the Chinese government and
for firms to encourage consumers to engage in environmental protection by
purchasing proenvironmental commodities (W. Wang, Krishna, & McFerran,
2017). Therefore, it is important for the government and firms to discover how to
stimulate consumers’ purchase intention of proenvironmental products.
In existing research on this topic, scholars have concentrated on consumers’
characteristics and personality, such as gender (Brough, Wilkie, Ma, Isaac, &
Gal, 2016), values (Barber, Kuo, Bishop, & Goodman, 2012), and self-identity
(Johe & Bhullar, 2016). This is a good way to explain why consumers’ attitudes
and reactions to green offerings can be highly varied (W. Wang et al., 2017),
but this kind of research cannot provide a direct answer to the issue of how
to influence consumers through external factors or actions. In China, there is
quite limited research on proenvironmental behavior, and most researchers
have tended to adopt the traditional approach of the theory of reasoned action
(Chen & Tung, 2010). As a result, research on external factors needs to be
developed further (Smith et al., 2012). In addition, for action-oriented research,
green marketing information is almost equal to environmental knowledge
sharing (Cervellon & Wernerfelt, 2012). It is time to give greater consideration
to marketing information, to expand the attention of current researchers into
purchase of proenvironmental products, to include more external factors, and to
enrich the marketing tactics for both governments and firms.

Theoretical Background and Research Hypotheses

Marketing Information about Proenvironmental Products

Marketing information about proenvironmental products refers to the messages
that enterprises convey to target audiences to advertise their proenvironmental
products. White, MacDonnell, and Dahl (2011) found that loss- and gain-framed
messages are very effective in influencing consumers’ environmental protection
behaviors. Many researchers have determined that marketing information on a
 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS 1217
particular commodity could be transformed into consumers’ inner motivation,
thereby affecting the purchase intention and behavior of those consumers
(Pickett-Baker & Ozaki, 2008; Wei & Zhang, 2002). Further, Chan, Leung,
and Wong (2006) indicated that, in China, environmental information in
advertisements for proenvironmental products is beneficial in increasing
consumers’ purchase intention. Kronrod, Grinstein, and Wathieu (2012) found
that consumers respond better to assertive messages than they do to nonassertive
messages if they believe the environmental issue to be important.
In a study by Polonsky, Carlson, Grove, and Kangun (1997), the findings
indicated that information about a product demonstrating how it improves the
environment or reduces environmental deterioration is important. Cialdini (2009)
suggested that consumers can be more motivated to join environmental programs
if they witness the effort the firm has made to improve the environment.
Goldstein, Cialdini, and Griskevicius (2008) explored the environmental
measures that hotels should take, and the messages they could use, to discourage
customers from changing towels, and found that descriptive information on what
others do is more effective in encouraging customers to engage in environmental
protection than are conventional taglines, because it encourages more customers
to stop changing towels.
To conclude, in the current study, marketing information on proenvironmental
products is classified as three types: (a) environmental knowledge relating to
the product (relevant environmental problems and the product’s contribution
to the environment), (b) information about corporate social responsibility
(environmental protection efforts made by the enterprise), and (3) descriptive
norms (contribution and efforts from other consumers for the good of the
environment). I discuss marketing information from the aspects of product,
enterprise, and consumers, and I probed the effects of each of these on purchase
intention for proenvironmental products in China.

Environmental Knowledge Relating to the Product

Fryxell and Lo (2003, p. 48) define environmental knowledge as “general
knowledge of facts, concepts, and relationships concerning the natural
environment and its major ecosystems.” In previous research, Chinese scholars
(Chan, 2001; Ip, 2003) have agreed that environmental knowledge relating to a
proenvironmental product impacts consumers’ eventual purchase intention and
behavior for the product, and that this conclusion can be applied in the Chinese
cultural context. In the current study I define environmental knowledge relating
to the product as the information that indicates how the specific product makes
a contribution to the environment, such as using environmental packaging or
environmentally friendly production process, or mixing proenvironmental
materials. These kinds of information are new to potential consumers, and thus
1218 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

require the manufacturing firms to communicate them in marketing. Therefore,

I formulated the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Environmental knowledge relating to the product will have a
significant positive effect on consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental
products.

Information about Corporate Social Responsibility

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was first proposed in
1953 by Bowen, who defined it as entrepreneurs’ social obligation to make
policies and decisions, and perform actions according to the expectations and
values of society. In Chinese research, CSR is limited to the domain of corporate
performance and organizational employee behavior, as in the studies of Yu,
Huang, and Cao, (2015) and Q. Zhang, He, and Shi (2015). However, in recent
studies, researchers have found that information about CSR can also shape
consumers’ beliefs about a firm’s values’ system (Newman, Gorlin, & Dhar,
2014), influence the way consumers evaluate a firm’s products (Chernev &
Blair, 2015), and further, make a difference to consumers’ purchase intention and
behavior (Torelli, Monga, & Kaikati, 2012).
Mohr and Webb (2005) classified CSR into two variables: environmental
domain and philanthropic domain, and they found that if a consumer supports
the environmental domain of CSR, then the effort the company makes on the
environment has a stronger influence than their effort in the philanthropic
domain on consumers’ purchase intention. In previous studies a linkage was
found between general CSR and purchase intention of products (Pickett-Baker &
Ozaki, 2008), but few researchers have centered their focus on the relationship
between the specific environmental responsibilities the firm takes on and the
consumers’ purchase intention for the proenvironmental products the firm offers.
In this study, CSR refers to environmental responsibility, including what the
corporation does for environmental protection, how this aim is achieved, and
the benefits this brings to the community. Therefore, I formulated the following
hypothesis:
Hypothesis 2: Information about corporate social responsibility will pose a
significant positive effect on consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental
products.

Descriptive Norms About Environmental Protection

Descriptive norms (DN) about environmental protection suggest what most
consumers will do to protect the environment in particular scenarios (Goldstein
et al., 2008). Many scholars have empirically confirmed that people are willing to
recycle (Goldstein et al., 2008; Schultz, 1999), or to conserve energy (Göckeritz
et al., 2010) more frequently when they know that others are doing the same.
Furthermore, Nolan, Schultz, Cialdini, Goldstein, and Griskevicius (2008) found
 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS 1219
that descriptive, normative information, which is extremely persuasive, makes
a marked difference to consumers’ purchase behavior by motivating them to
protect the environment. There have been a few studies conducted in the Chinese
context in which DN have been applied (Smith et al., 2012), and the results
suggest that DN could significantly positively influence Chinese consumers’
intention to conserve energy, but none of the researchers found that DN could
stimulate the purchase intention of proenvironmental products. Therefore, in the
current study, I included DN as information in corporate marketing about how
others contribute to environmental protection, and I examined the effect of DN
on consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental products. As such, I
proposed the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 3: Descriptive norms about environmental protection will pose a
significant positive effect on consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental
products.

Moderating Effect of Social Presence

When making purchase decisions about proenvironmental products, consumers
may be accompanied by friends or family, and be with sales promoters, sales
assistants, or other customers. The presence of these other people is likely to
influence consumers’ purchase intention and purchase behavior. Zajonc (1965)
initially found that social presence improved people’s working performance.
Since then, this variable has been included in psychological studies. Fu, Lu,
and Yu (2015) indicated that strangers’ donation behavior could significantly
increase the participants’ donation amount. Argo, Dahl, and Manchanda (2005)
found that in a condition of social presence, consumers tend to apply impression
management, which means they try to impress others by purchasing particular
products such as the most expensive or best quality batteries. Similarly,
Griskevicius, Tybur, and Van den Bergh (2010) found that consumers’ motivation
was strengthened when shopping in malls compared to shopping online because
proenvironmental purchasing helps consumers create a favorable reputation and
impression (Semmann, Krambeck, & Milinski, 2005). As such, social presence
strengthens consumers’ motivation to purchase proenvironmental products. Thus,
marketing information may have a greater effect on purchase intention for proen-
vironmental products with, rather than without, social presence. To explore the
effects of marketing information with and without social presence, I introduced
the variable of social presence, assuming that social presence would have
significant moderating effects. Therefore, I proposed the following hypotheses.
Hypothesis 4: With social presence, the effect of marketing information
on consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental products could be
strengthened.
 1220

Presence

H4a H4b H4c

Environmental knowledge
relating to the product presence
H1

Information about H2 Purchase intention for

Corporate Social Responsibility proenvironmental products

Descriptive norms about H3

environmental protection
PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

Figure 1. Theoretical framework of this study.

 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS 1221
Hypothesis 4a: With social presence, the effect of environmental knowledge
relating to the product on the consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental
products will be strengthened.
Hypothesis 4b: With social presence, the effect of information about corporate
social responsibility on consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental
products will be strengthened.
Hypothesis 4c: With social presence, the effect of descriptive norms about
environmental protection on consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental
products will be strengthened.

Research Model
Based on the literature review and the theoretical analysis set out above, the
theoretical framework of my study is illustrated in Figure 1.

Experiment 1

Method
The aim in Experiment 1 was to explore how marketing information affects
consumers’ purchase intention for proenvironmental products. For this purpose,
it was designed as a single-factor experiment with three experimental groups
and one control group. In the experimental groups, environmental information
relating to the product was supplied to one group, information on CSR to another,
and DN for environmental protection to the third group. In the control group, no
marketing information was supplied.
Participants. The participants were college students in China. Given that
purchase intention might be influenced by factors such as age, education, and
consumption standard, we selected college students aged from 20 to 25 years to
ensure these variables remained at the same level. Because of the large number
of participants, the experiments were conducted in a lecture theater at each of
three colleges in the same city. Of the 187 students who enrolled to take part in
the experiment, responses from 176 were valid after excluding those who did not
carefully read the information they were given. Of these, 72 participants were
men, accounting for 40.9% of the total, 104 (59.1%) were women. There were
42 students in the control group, and 47, 40, and 47, respectively, in the groups
for environmental knowledge relating to the product, information on CSR, and
DN for environmental protection.
Procedure. The students were asked to read an article that described mineral
water in bottles made of plants rather than plastic (PET) that was supposedly
being launched on the Chinese market by a European mineral water company.
The article described how this environmentally friendly product did not differ
from the traditional product in terms of taste and quality, but had a higher price
1222 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

than the previous PET bottle, thus diminishing the effects of product attributes
on purchase intention.
Following this, each of the students was assigned randomly to one of the
groups. Participants in the control group read an article that described this new
product as follows:
Many firms have launched their environmental packaging products, and
Widerman from Europe joined the trend this year. A new environmentally
friendly bottle for mineral water from its Pure brand was introduced to take
the place of the traditional PET bottle. The taste remains the same, but the
retail price was increased from RMB2.5 to RMB3 (US$0.39 to 0.47) per
bottle.
In this description the three types of marketing information were excluded.
The experimental groups were each provided with an article in which specific
marketing information was added to the above and highlighted according to the
group.
For the group provided with environmental knowledge relating to the product,
the text of the article read as follows:
This environmentally friendly bottle is made of plant materials, such as
sugar cane, which could help release the dependence on nonrenewable
energy and reduce carbon emissions.
For the group provided with information on CSR, the text read as follows:
Widerman has been working with many environmental protection
organizations since 2000, and the company has invested a lot to support
environmental protection projects and to develop proenvironmental
products. The company also encourages employees to participate in various
environmental protection programs during their leisure time.
For the group provided with information on DN for environmental protection,
the text read as follows:
An interview with the CEO from Widerman, Mr Philipp, shows that
nearly 85% of European young consumers chose the new environmentally
friendly bottle instead of the traditional bottle this year. Mr Philipp believes
that Chinese consumers, especially Chinese young consumers, are also
willing to make a contribution to the environment.
For effective manipulation of these materials, I arranged one or two multiple-
choice questions for each of the versions of marketing information. Only after
careful reading could participants choose the correct answer. In this way, I could
eliminate invalid responses by screening out the participants who did not read
the article carefully. All options for the questions derived from key marketing
information, thus deepening the participants’ impression of the corresponding
information.
After reading the article, participants were required to rate their intention
to purchase the mineral water in the different hypothetical situations. Three
 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS 1223
statements were set out as follows: (a) If I used to buy Pure mineral water in a
PET bottle, I would like to buy Pure mineral water in an environmentally friendly
bottle from now on; (b) If I had never bought Pure mineral water, I would like to
buy Pure mineral water in an environmentally friendly bottle from now on; and
(c) If I used to buy three bottles of Pure mineral water in a PET bottle per week,
I would like to buy five bottles of Pure mineral water per week in an environ-
mentally friendly bottle from now on. These statements reflect whether or not the
consumers are willing to pay a premium for a green product by changing their
purchasing habit, brand, and quantity. All three items were rated on a 5-point
Likert scale where 1 = I don’t agree at all and 5 = I totally agree. The average
score served as the dependent variable index for purchase intention.

Results
In the research, I conducted independent t tests to obtain scores for the four
groups. The result for the purchase intention score of the group for environmental
knowledge relating to the product (M = 3.70) was significantly higher than that of
the control group (M = 3.00), t(87) = 4.659, p < .001, 2 = .166. Further, the score
of the group for information on CSR (M = 3.48) was significantly higher than that
of the control group (M = 3.00), t(80) = 2.900, p < .01, 2 = .118; and the score
of the group for DN for environmental protection (M = 3.34) was significantly
higher than that of the control group (M = 3.00), t(87) = 2.031, p < .05, 2 =
.124. According to the data, I concluded that environmental knowledge relating
to the product, information on CSR, and DN for environmental protection all had
significant positive effects on purchase intention, thus supporting Hypotheses 1,
2, and 3.

Discussion
The effect of environmental knowledge relating to the product can be well
explained by the findings reported by previous researchers (Chan, 2001; Ip,
2003). When consumers’ environmental knowledge is increased, they will be
more willing to pay more for proenvironmental products because they understand
how important this is for the environment. The results in my study also show
that Chinese consumers would pay attention to the information of CSR and they
would be more willing to purchase environmental products if they knew that
the company takes responsibility for being environmentally friendly. Therefore,
once they know more about how the firm takes responsibility for being envi-
ronmentally friendly, their purchase intention would increase accordingly. In
addition, DN for environmental protection was important for the participants
and it had an even bigger effect size than did CSR. These consumers were more
willing to purchase environmentally friendly products when their peers were
supportive of the behavior.
1224 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

Experiment 2

Method
Given the results of Experiment 1, Experiment 2 was divided into three
subexperiments, so that I could further probe the interaction between social
presence and the three kinds of marketing information.
Participants. The participants were college students in China, but different
from those in Experiment 1. There were 547 students aged from 20 to 25 years
who participated in Experiment 2, among whom 178 took part in Subexperiment
1 (70 men, 108 women), 180 took part in Subexperiment 2 (74 men, 106 women),
and 189 (86 men, 103 women) took part in Subexperiment 3.
Procedure. In the three subexperiments, I adopted a 2 (marketing information:
yes vs. no) × 2 design (scenario: with social presence vs. without). Marketing
information for the subexperimental groups was arranged as environmental
knowledge relating to the product, information on CSR, and DN for environmental
protection, respectively. In the operation of the procedure, a scenario with social
presence was defined as the situation where others are present when the consumer
makes a decision on whether or not to buy a proenvironmental product. The
scenario without social presence was defined as the situation where no one else
is present when the consumer makes a decision on whether or not to buy a proen-
vironmental product. I arranged two steps to simulate social presence, with the
aim of guaranteeing the manipulation of purchasing a product when others can
see the purchasing process. The first was situational arousing, namely, to create
a situation through verbal description, imagination, or recall. This approach is
frequently used in marketing studies globally, such as in research by Y. Wang and
Griskevicius (2014) and Du and Xu (2014). In my experiment, the participants
were asked to finish reading the article before imagining buying mineral water in
a supermarket (condition with social presence), or buying it alone online at home
(condition without social presence). Afterwards, they responded to items about
purchase intention in the specific situations. The second approach to simulate
the social-presence condition was telling participants that they had to share their
scores with their desk mates by writing them on a shared answer sheet. Those in
the condition without social presence recorded their answers on their own sheet.
Both groups then had to rate their purchase intention using the same scale as in
Experiment 1.
For the three subexperiments the same procedure was followed as for
Experiment 1. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in the situation
after reading the marketing information. Subsequently, they recorded their
ratings on the same answer sheet as their desk mate or on their own answer sheet,
depending on which condition they had been assigned to. In each subexperiment,
 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS 1225
200 participants were randomly allocated to the 2 × 2 design. Those who did not
fully complete the questionnaire were eliminated from the experiment.

Results
Following the suggestion of Wen, Hou, and Zhang (2005), I performed a
two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on scores for purchase intention to
analyze the moderating effect of social presence. The results of Experiment 2
indicate that environmental knowledge relating to the product had a significant
positive effect on purchase intention for proenvironmental products, F(1, 174)
= 19.954, p < .001, 2 = .203. Furthermore, social presence had a significant
positive effect on purchase intention, F(1, 174) = 3.987, p < .050, 2 =.122;
and the interaction between environmental knowledge and social presence was
significant, F(1, 174) = 7.456, p < .010, 2 = .147. Therefore, Hypothesis 4a
was supported, although the regulating effect of social presence was negative. In
other words, although social presence increased purchase intention for a proen-
vironmental product overall, it restricted the effect of environmental knowledge
relating to the product on purchase intention.

Table 1. Environmental Knowledge Relating to the Product and Social Presence

Social presence

Yes No
M SE M SE

Environmental knowledge relating to the product Yes 3.636 ± 0.089 3.702 ± 0.086
No 3.481 ± 0.082 3.057 ± 0.100

3.8
Mean purchase intention relating to product

3.7

3.6

3.5

3.4

3.3

3.2
With social presence
3.1 Without social presence
3
Without environmental knowledge With environmental knowledge

Figure 2. Estimated marginal means of purchase intention.

 1226 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

Results in Subexperiment 2 indicate that information about CSR had a

significant positive effect on their purchase intention for proenvironmental
products, F(1, 176) = 6.492, p < .050, 2 = .136); social presence had a significant
effect on purchase intention, F(1, 176) = 6.818, p < .01, 2 = .137; and the
interaction between information about CSR and social presence was significant,
F(1, 176) = 4.111, p < .050, 2 = .123. Therefore, Hypothesis 4b was confirmed,
although the regulating effect of social presence was negative. In other words,
social presence restricted the effect of information about CSR on purchase
intention.

Table 2. Information About Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Presence

Social presence

Yes No
M SE M SE

Information about CSR Yes 3.528 ± 0.083 3.475 ± 0.095

No 3.481 ± 0.084 3.057 ± 0.102
Mean purchase intention relating to product

3.6

3.5

3.4

3.3

3.2
With social presence
3.1 Without social presence
3
Without CSR information With CSR information

Figure 3. Estimated marginal means of purchase intention.

In Subexperiment 3 the results indicate that descriptive norms for environmental

protection had a significant effect on the participants’ purchase intention for
proenvironmental products, F(1, 185) = 5.839, p < .017, 2 = .131, and social
presence had a significant effect on purchase intention, F(1, 185) = 15.212,
p < .001, 2 = .176). As shown in Figure 4, the interaction between social
presence and descriptive norms was nonsignificant, F(1, 185) = 0.335, p > .563.
Hypothesis 4c was therefore not supported. In other words, social presence
enhanced the participants’ purchase intention for proenvironmental products
 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS 1227
overall, and did not restrict the effect of descriptive norms for environmental
protection on purchase intention in the condition of social presence.

Table 3. Descriptive Norms for Environmental Protection and Social Presence

Social presence

Yes No
M SE M SE

Descriptive norms about environmental protection Yes 3.655 ± 0.086 3.340 ± 0.093
No 3.481 ± 0.089 3.057 ± 0.108
Mean purchase intention relating to product

3.7

3.6

3.5

3.4

3.3

3.2
With social presence
3.1 Without social presence
3
Without descriptive norm information With descriptive norm information

Figure 4. Estimated marginal means of purchase intention.

The results in Experiment 2 confirm the effect of social presence on consumers’

purchase intention for proenvironmental products. This result can be explained
from two aspects; one is group pressure which, according to Western theory,
influences purchase intention (Duclos & Barasch, 2014), and the other derives
from face consciousness (J. Liu, 2008) in the cultural context of China. Initially,
social presence pressures consumers (X. Liu, 2005). Driven by external pressure,
consumers tend to behave in a way to meet social expectations—in this case by
purchasing pro-environmental products. This promotes consumers’ purchase
intention. Furthermore, the Chinese concept of face consciousness accounts for
this promotion. J. Liu (2008) defines face consciousness as the experience of
inner self-worth when showing one’s own value through individual behavior
or social resources or seeking others’ affirmation and unexpected recognition.
Social presence amplifies consumers’ demand for status. Consequently, in the
condition of social presence, Chinese consumers are more likely to purchase
proenvironmental products than they are without social presence.
1228 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

My results also suggest that social presence negatively interacted with

environmental knowledge relating to the product and information about CSR, but
not for DN for environmental protection. This can be explained by information
processing theory (Edell & Staelin, 1983). Because of the limited information-
receiving capacity of sensory channels and information-processing capacity of the
higher nervous center, people need to filter and adjust high volumes of external
messages. Thus, Broadbent (1958) proposed a filter model, in which it is posited
that people’s attention acts as a filter that sifts inputs when processing information
to avoid overload in an information-transmitting passage with restricted capacity
(Z. Zhang, 2004). In terms of information processing, consumers filter a large
quantity of marketing information from merchants and retain the information
that impacts them. Information that fails to get through this filter does not exert
influence. Therefore, I contend that social presence activates this filter, which,
as explained, sifts the marketing information received by consumers. This means
that only messages matching the situation of social presence can pass the attention
screening, and can affect consumers’ purchase intention. Among the three types
of marketing information tested in my experiments, environmental knowledge
relating to the product and information on CSR do not match the case of social
presence, and, thus, this information is ignored by consumers. Therefore, in this
situation, social presence is restricted by information processing. In contrast, DN
for environmental protection involves others, thus fitting with social presence.
Consequently, this type of information passes the individual’s attention screening
and influences his or her purchase intention.

General Discussion

In this research I explored the effect of three types of marketing information

on consumers’ purchase intention for a proenvironmental product, and further
probed the influencing mechanism of social presence for purchase of a proenvi-
ronmental product. The findings suggest that environmental knowledge relating
to the product, information on corporate CSR, and DN for environmental
protection all have a positive effect on intention to purchase a proenvironmental
product. Social presence also plays a significant role in influencing consumers’
purchase intention for proenvironmental products. However, social presence
could weaken the effect on purchase intention of both knowledge relating to the
product and information on CSR, but not for DN for environmental protection.
I have argued that information processing explains the interaction that results in
the weakening effect.

Theoretical Contribution and Practical Implications

Based on the findings in previous research, in this study I classified marketing
information of proenvironmental products into three types: environmental
 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS 1229
knowledge relating to the product, DN about environmental protection, and
information about CSR. My study has pioneered examination of the influence of
CSR information about the environment and consumers’ purchase intention of a
proenvironmental product, which provides an explanation of the importance of
consistency between what firms do and what firms offer.
In addition, in this study I tested the effect of information processing with and
without social presence and I found that the interaction between environmental
knowledge relating to the product and social presence, and the interaction
between information about CSR and social presence were both negative. This
new perspective could further promote the application of psychology in the study
of purchase intention for proenvironmental products.
Based on the results of my empirical research, I propose the following
recommendations for enterprises specializing in proenvironmental products.
First, managers should focus on enhancing the company’s corporate image
by undertaking environmental responsibility activities and broadening their
promotion to garner a favorable impression in terms of consumers’ social
obligation before purchase. From this, a positive corporate reputation will
emerge, which will promote consumers’ purchase behavior. In contrast, once
consumers perceive that the corporation has dodged its social responsibility,
their purchase intention for the corporation’s products will be severely impaired.
Second, managers of corporations should improve product knowledge publicity.
For example, environmental knowledge and relevant product designs are
important aspects of proenvironmental products. Managers of enterprises should
expand their approach to product promotion and description to familiarize
consumers with relevant knowledge to ensure clear and affirmative recognition
of the product. Emphasizing how environmental resources are used during
the production and how a product benefits the environment helps consumers
establish a positive perception of that product. In addition, DN for environmental
protection are another influential contributor to enhancing consumers’ purchase
intention. Third, managers of enterprises should create purchase situations with
social presence. They should pay attention to manipulating sales terminals,
and increasing social presence by adding more sales personnel in malls and
retail stores. Furthermore, given the moderating effects of social presence
on different types of marketing information, marketers should convey this
information in various ways, such as online to allow consumers to access the
information independently, but according to real-world scenarios to ensure
effective promotion.
My findings also contribute to governmental administrative arrangements and
policymaking. First, the government should focus more efforts on publicizing
environmental knowledge, including current environmental issues and channels
for public participation to inform the public on how they can contribute
1230 PURCHASE OF PROENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS

to environmental protection. Furthermore, those responsible for putting

government policies into practice should pay close attention to detailed actions
in promoting environmental protection. Considering the significant effect of DN
on the participants’ willingness to engage in environmental protection, appealing
information and knowledge of others’ participation should be employed to
improve the effects of promotion.

Limitations and Future Directions

To ensure that my research was rigorous, my aim was to control disturbing
factors. Therefore, I selected mineral water as a virtual product because of its
limited variations and the minor differences between the various mineral water
products. As such, my findings in this study provide practical implications for
fast-moving consumer goods. However, the application of the results of my
study to other genres like luxury or durable goods needs further verification
and exploration. Furthermore, the environmentally friendly mineral water
product referred to in this paper differs from nonenvironmentally friendly water
only in terms of price, not in terms of taste and usage. This is not the case in
reality. In real life, environmentally friendly and nonenvironmentally friendly
products differ in many aspects, including usage, effect, packaging, and energy
consumption. Therefore, this study has limitations.
In future studies researchers could extend the virtual materials to durable or
luxury goods to ensure a broader exploration of the topic. In addition, prospective
research could be rooted in psychology, combining consumers’ mental activity
after receiving marketing information with external factors to uncover the effects
of marketing information. These recommendations are based on the results of this
study in an attempt to extend its application, enrich existing theories, and produce
research of further theoretical and practical significance.

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