Inspiring Green Consumer Choices - by Michael E Smith (Paperback)

About the Book

Shape the consumer's mindset using insights from neuroscience to trigger purchasing behavior that maps to their intention to buy sustainable products and services.

Book Synopsis

While many consumers profess a desire to help end climate change by engaging in more sustainable behaviors, consumer behavior experts note the say-do gap between expressed intention and behavior. How do we explain this? What, if anything, can consumers be encouraged to do to close this gap and purchase sustainable products and services?

Inspiring Green Consumer Choices explains the factors that underlie the discrepancy between consumers' expressed preferences and their incongruous behavior in the marketplace. Drawing from advances in neuroscience, behavioral economics and experimental psychology, the author reveals how marketplace behavior is not always rational. Instead it is frequently the product of mental shortcuts, triggered by situational cues and colored by implicit emotional responses. In making purchasing decisions, routine consumer behavior is governed less by intention than by mental habits and unconscious response biases.

These tendencies are difficult (but not impossible) to change. Inspiring Green Consumer Choices outlines how techniques such as psychological framing, design of choice architectures and pricing strategy can be used to disrupt habits and promote sustainable behavior. The author also addresses the role that legislative policy and changing social norms can play in accelerating and sustaining behavior change. Illustrated with case studies and filled with best practices, Inspiring Green Consumer Choices helps marketers understand how consumers make purchase decisions in order to shift consumption choices towards a more sustainable future.

Review Quotes

"A practical guide that could help mitigate the impact of the traditional consumer economy on the planet through changes in consumer behavior."-- "Manuel Garcia-Garcia, PhD Global Lead of Neuroscience, Ipsos"

"Finally, an accessible volume on the subject of human decision making and its precarious impact on the climate crisis A must-read for students, companies and policymakers who wish to understand the brain and how this information can help mitigate barriers to a greener world."-- "Kimberly Rose Clark Ph.D, Dartmouth College, Bellwether Citizen Response barriers to a greener world"

"In this terrific new book, Michael E. Smith applies his deep knowledge of both brain science and consumer behavior to answer one of the most challenging questions of our time: how can we change the mental models that guide consumer behavior to encourage more sustainable and environmentally-friendly choices in the marketplace?"-- "Stephen Genco, author of Intuitive Marketing and Neuromarketing for Dummies"

"Marketers are increasingly recognizing the value of viewing consumer behavior through the lenses of neuroscience and behavioral economics. This ground-breaking new book extends the application of such insights to the problem of encouraging sustainable consumption. A must read."-- "Carla Nagel, Executive Director, Neuromarketing Science and Business Association"

"This book will help anyone in the business of marketing and selling understand the reasons for this gap in consumers' good green intentions and their actual behavior, so they can develop ways to overcome it."-- "Darren Bridger, Chief Research Officer at CloudArmy and author of Neuro Design"

About the Author

Michael E. Smith is an applied cognitive neuroscientist and consumer insights professional with over three decades of research experience in the human brain and behavioral sciences. He is Principal Scientist and Founder of Adaptation Research and is based in La Jolla, California. He previously served as Vice President of Consumer Neuroscience at Nielsen and was President of CorTechs Labs Inc. He was also Program Officer in Cognitive Neuroscience at the US National Science Foundation. He has held numerous research and teaching positions, written for peer-reviewed journals and trade publications, and speaks at industry conferences.