Environmental Threats, Materialism, and ‘Green to be Seen’
Why Consumers Prefer Luxury Green Purchases Over Everyday Environmental Behaviours
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12308596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stanley Y B Huang (0000-0001-6848-5102, Master Program of Financial Technology, School of Financial Technology Ming Chuan University Taipei City Taiwan, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sustainable Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0968-0802 • E-ISSN: 1099-1719 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/sd.71026 |
| OpenAlex | W7143494010 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
This study examines why environmental threats may channel consumers toward high‐visibility luxury green purchases rather than low‐visibility everyday pro‐environmental behaviour. We analysed a three‐wave panel survey of 998 adults in Taiwan. Respondents were recruited through quota‐based field sampling in department‐store districts across northern, central, and southern Taiwan, and latent growth curve modelling was used to estimate change trajectories over time. Higher baseline death‐related fear and health‐risk awareness predicted steeper growth in materialistic values. Materialistic values, in turn, predicted stronger enhancement motivation over time. Enhancement motivation increased willingness to purchase luxury green products but decreased everyday pro‐environmental behaviour. The study integrates Terror Management Theory and Symbolic Self‐Completion Theory in a longitudinal model and shows a visibility‐based moral‐status pathway through which threat appraisals can produce ‘green to be seen’ consumption while crowding out routine sustainable action. The contribution is context‐bounded to Taiwan and yields practical implications for designing visibility‐with‐accountability interventions
Consumption (sociology · Crowding · Everyday life · Experience sampling method · Field survey · Green Consumption · Materialism · Panel data · Sustainability · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Risk Perception and Management · Urban Green Space and Health
An Introduction to Latent Variable Growth Curve Modeling
Of Wealth and Death
A review of trends and drivers of greenhouse gas emissions by sector from 1990 to 2018
Reporting reliability, convergent and discriminant validity with structural equation modeling
The perceived feasibility of behavior change is positively associated with support for domain-matched climate policies
Mapping sustainable options in the fashion industry
Environmental Knowledge and Sustainable Consumption Behavior
Less Is More
Product Innovation for Sustainable Development in the Fashion Industry
Leveraging Blockchain and Smart Contracts to Combat Greenwashing in Sustainable Development
Impact of spirituality, culture, behaviour on sustainable consumption intentions
Terror Management Theory and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Assessing the use of back translation
Going green to be seen
The Urge to Splurge
The Use and Effects of Incentives in Surveys
A Consumer Values Orientation for Materialism and Its Measurement
Back-Translation for Cross-Cultural Research
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |