Lisa Novoradovskaya & Gonzalo Palomo-Vélez & (University of Groningen, Environmental Psychology Lab – Linda Steg)

15h00 – Gonzalo Palomo-Vélez (University of Groningen, Environmental Psychology Lab – Linda Steg)
Title: What Does Going Green Say About Us? An Evolutionary Perspective
Summary (EN):

The environmental, social, and public health consequences of climate change are among the most pressing challenges the world faces today. In this context, the past decade has witnessed growing interest in developing sustainable innovations such as green technologies and low-carbon products. Despite these advances, evidence shows that most consumers still prefer conventional products over sustainable alternatives. Traditionally, this issue has been addressed by informing consumers about the ecological benefits of sustainable products, in the hope that this knowledge would persuade them to choose the greener option. However, this strategy is likely to fall short in promoting society-wide sustainable consumption, as it assumes that most people are environmentally conscious and primarily driven by ecological motives—an assumption that research suggests is not always valid. As such, this presentation will summarize a series of studies that explored an alternative strategy: using people’s self-oriented motivations and their desire to be seen positively by others as a lever to promote sustainable consumption. Guided by a costly signalling framework, the studies presented here examine whether consumers are more likely to choose sustainable products when such decisions communicate socially desirable information about themselves, whether these “sustainable” costly signals are perceived differently across cultures, and whether factors such as observability and the personal relevance of potential observers moderate these effects.


16h00 – Lisa Novoradovskaya (University of Groningen, Environmental Psychology Lab– Linda Steg)
Title: Are we creatures of habit? How good habits can help the environment and our health
Summary (EN):
This presentation examines the role of everyday habits in pro-environmental and health behaviors. It will cover the basic concepts of habit theory—including definitions, antecedents, and the mechanisms behind habit formation—and discuss the role of habit in interventions targeting sustainable and health behaviors.