The Influence Of Carbon Label Shape On Consumers’ Preference For Green Products

Greenhouse effect,land desertification and other ecological problems are coming one after another.At present,they have caused adverse effects on economic development,society and environment all over the world.Research shows that nature’s problems are largely caused by people’s consumption behavior.In order to achieve new development of ecological civilization construction,the 20 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in 2022 once again emphasized the development of green and low-carbon industries and promoted the formation of green and low-carbon production and lifestyle.Low-carbon economy and promoting green consumption have become an inevitable choice for future development.So far,most of research on promoting green consumption have explored its influencing factors from the consumer level.Few studies have discussed green consumption from the perspective of sensory marketing,especially visual marketing strategies.Therefore,this study takes whether different carbon label shapes can promote the purchase intention of green products as the main research topic.First of all,the influence of different carbon label shapes on green product purchase intention and its mechanism are discussed,and it is found that self-construal plays a mediating role.On this basis,the moderating role of power in carbon label shape and green product purchase intention is further explored.Firstly,on the basis of previous studies,pre-experiment 1 used carbon label color pictures as stimulus materials to fully display the appearance characteristics of carbon labels and ensured that subjects were not unfamiliar with carbon labels by filling out questionnaires offline.The results showed that there was no significant difference between the subjects’ scores and the median 4 in terms of familiarity,visual complexity and label meaning after watching the carbon label pictures.Therefore,carbon labels were included in the following formal experiments.In pre-experiment 2,through the summary of previous studies,the combination of interviews and questionnaires was used to screen out products that are very familiar and commonly used by college students in daily life.Subsequently,the selected products were compiled into materials used in formal experiments.Study 1 employed a one-way between-subjects design that investigate the influence of carbon label shape on the purchase intention of green products.The results show that different carbon label shapes will affect consumers’ preference for green products.Circular carbon labels(vs.square)are more likely to encourage consumers to choose green products,and self-construction plays a mediating role.Specifically,when consumers face green products with circular(vs.square)carbon label,they will induce dependent self-construction and enhance purchase intention;when consumers face green products labeled with square carbon labels,independent self-construal is activated,which in turn weakens their willingness to buy the green product.On the basis of study 1,the moderating variable of sense of power is added in study 2.We randomly assigned participants to a 2(power: high vs.low)× 2(carbon labels: circular vs.square)between-subjects design.We used a role-playing model to temporarily activate participants’ different sense of power,and tested whether primed sense of power would moderate the relationship between the carbon labels shape effect and green consumption.The results show that the sense of power moderates the relationship between carbon label shape and green product purchase intention.In the state of low sense of power,the role of circular(vs.square)carbon label in promoting individual’s willingness to purchase green products will be enhanced,and consumers will be more inclined to green consumption;while high power,the influence of carbon label shape on green product purchase intention will be weakened.At the same time,the sense of power also moderates the mediating model of carbon label shape affecting green product purchase intention through self-construal.That is,in the state of low sense of power,individuals exposed to circular carbon labels are more inclined to the interdependent self-construal mode,so they are more likely to choose green products and have stronger purchase intention.In the state of high sense of power,in the face of green products marked by circular or square carbon labels,individuals will be more inclined to independent self-construction,the shape effect of carbon labels will be weakened,and the willingness to buy green products will become lower.In summary,this study explores the impact of different shapes of carbon labels on green product purchase intention,and finds out that self-construal plays a partial mediating role and is moderated by a sense of power.The findings of this study not only extend the research on shape to the new research field of the psychology of sustainability,but also explore the mechanism behind green consumption.