In a climate of extreme economy, a new study puts forth a radical suggestion: make things more expensive.
Armed with evidence that consumers will forgo luxury for lesser-quality but higher-status “green” goods, researchers argue that elevated prices make environmentally friendly products more appealing because they signal self-sacrifice for the public good.
Experiments reveal that status motives cause such products to be desirable when they’re more expensive than their non-green counterparts, but are subject to a reverse effect when prices are lowered.
The study ultimately finds people don’t just want to signal their environmental do-gooding, they also want to flaunt that they can afford such “selfless” acts.
“If you point status motives in the right direction, they can be used for something positive, with people competing to see who can be the most altruistic,” says study co-author Vladas Griskevicius, a social psychologist at the University of Minnesota.
“The modern alternative to being luxurious is spending extra money to broadcast that you are a pro-social, pro-environmental individual.”
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