Getting licence or keeping consistent? The role of moral identity in subsequent pro‐environmental behaviours
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15087643 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tao Wang (0000-0002-8367-8946, Economics and Management School Wuhan University Wuhan China), Feifei Liu (0000-0002-8785-9074, School of International Business Southwest University of Finance and Economics Chengdu China), Shasha Xiong (School of Economics and Management Wuyi University Jiangmen China, corresponding author), Kui Wang (0000-0002-7632-017X, Research Institute on Brand Innovation and Development of Guangzhou, School of Management Jinan University Guangzhou China) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian Journal Of Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1367-2223 • E-ISSN: 1467-839X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajsp.12670 |
| OpenAlex | W4407183384 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 45 |
Although a great deal of literature has focused on the drivers of pro‐environmental behaviours, the effects of past product choices on future pro‐environmental product choices have not yet been thoroughly investigated. This study explores how choosing a green product influences subsequent pro‐environmental product preference. Drawing on the self‐perception and moral licensing research, we find that past green product consumption can yield two conflicting mechanisms: environmental self‐perception (the green spillover effect) and perceived goal progress (the green licensing effect). Given these two conflicting mechanisms, past pro‐environmental product selection subsequently either reinforces or undermines subsequent pro‐environmental product purchase preference. This study finds that these effects are contingent on the pre‐existing moral identities of individual consumers. Among consumers with high moral identity internalization or low moral identity symbolization, pro‐environmental product purchase preference is reinforced, whereas consumers with low moral identity internalization or high moral identity symbolization show less preference for pro‐environmental products after prior green consumption. Overall, these findings provide new insight into pro‐environmental product consumption and moral identity
Aesthetics · Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting · Environmental Sustainability in Business · Ethics in Business and Education · Psychology · Social Psychology
Advances In Experimental Social Psychology
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Consistency Versus Licensing Effects of Past Moral Behavior
Positive cueing
How to SHIFT Consumer Behaviors to be More Sustainable
Getting even for customer mistreatment
The Sustainability Liability
Moral Identity and Judgments of Charitable Behaviors
When Does Feeling Moral Actually Make You a Better Person? Conceptual Abstraction Moderates Whether Past Moral Deeds Motivate Consistency or Compensatory Behavior
Do Green Products Make Us Better People?
Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1
Self-Perception Theory
Public and private self-consciousness
Heightening of moral identity
Moral identity as a goal of moral action
Meta-analyses of factors motivating climate change adaptation behaviour
The dynamics of self-regulation
A broader social identity comes with stronger face consciousness
Meat-related cognitive dissonance
The effects of extreme rituals on moral behavior
Spillover processes in the development of a sustainable consumption pattern
Moral identity and the experience of moral elevation in response to acts of uncommon goodness
The self-importance of moral identity
Testing a social-cognitive model of moral behavior
Compliance without pressure
Assimilating and Differentiating
Donation Behavior toward In-Groups and Out-Groups
Goals as Excuses or Guides
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |