Enjoyment can make consumers more willing to pay for sustainable products. But in a University of Eastern Finland study involving a wood-based T-shirt, practical concerns weakened the connection between shoppers’ sustainability values and their willingness to buy, while enjoyment provided no statistically significant boost.
Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland examined consumers’ responses to sustainable products, including a wood-based T-shirt, a bioplastic bottle and biofuel. Their findings, published in “Forest Policy and Economics” in October, suggest that enjoyment can strengthen willingness to pay more, while an emphasis on practical benefits can weaken that relationship.
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“Consumers who value sustainable consumption are more willing to pay a premium, particularly when a product offers positive emotional and user experiences,” said Jyri Hoffrén, doctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland. “Enjoyment helps translate sustainability values into actual consumption behavior.”
Across three studies, researchers distinguished between hedonic attitudes, associated with enjoyment and pleasure, and utilitarian attitudes, which emphasize functionality and practical benefits.
The effects varied by product. For the wood-based T-shirt, stronger sustainability values were associated with greater stated willingness to buy, but enjoyment did not significantly strengthen that relationship. An emphasis on practical benefits, meanwhile, weakened the relationship between sustainability values and purchasing intentions.
Enjoyment had a statistically significant positive effect in the analysis of the wood-based bioplastic bottle. Biofuel showed the strongest negative interaction between practical attitudes and sustainability values.
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