How the ‘good feeling’ can influence the purchase of sustainable chocolate

More and more products carry ethical labels such as fair-trade or organic, which consumers usually view positively. Nevertheless, the sales figures of these products often remain low, even though they offer advantages for the environment or for society. A team of scientists from the University of Göttingen has investigated to what extent factors which affect consumers’ own benefit—such as the so-called “warm glow of giving”—influence consumer purchasing intentions. The “warm glow” is the personal benefit that people feel when they do good. The results were published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, an international scientific publication which covers environmental and sustainable research and practice.