Abstract

Can pro-environmental consumption behavior be repeated consistently? According to the self-congruity perspective, consumers with pro-environmental self-concept consistently engage in pro-environmental consumption because they act in accordance with their self-concept. On the other hand, according to the self-completion theory, consumers’ motivation for pro-environmental consumption may decrease when consumers perceive that they have achieved the pro-environmental goals while the motivation increases when they perceive they have not yet achieved the goals. This study examines how feedback (Study 1) and recall (Study 2) affect consumers’ intention to purchase pro-environmental products and attitudes toward identity-defining messages through perceived self-completion. Results show that positive feedback and recall of pro-environmental experience increase consumers’ purchase intention and attitude toward identity-defining advertising message, which is consistent with the perspective of self-congruity. In addition, consumers’ consumption of environmental products serve as compensatory self-symbolizing behavior by increasing the perception of self-completion.