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Attitudes towards nonhuman animals remain an interesting area of study, especially in non-English-speaking countries in which little research has been conducted. The present paper examines the attitudes of Spanish university students (n = 481) towards 21 nonhuman animal uses and practices as well as attitudes towards human-animal similarities. To determine which variables might underlie those attitudes, this paper analyzes individual correlations and differences based on 11 psychosocial-demographic factors. Highlights from the results are as follows. First, not all animal uses and not all human-animal attributes are perceived equally. Second, there are minor but significant associations between attitudes towards animals and psychosocial- demographic factors. Lastly, the study identifies three clusters of tendencies of animal attitudes: “reckless-speciesist” (28.6%), “caress-speciesist” (45.8%), and “non-speciesist” (25.6%). The findings suggest a need to segment the target audience, to differentiate between goals, and to adapt messages accordingly when designing more effective strategies intended to foster a pro-animal ecosystem.

Although research in marketing and consumer behavior has tried to portray sustainable consumers in many different ways, a clear, consistent, and granular identification of these consumers is still not available due to the complexity of sustainable consumption. This study adopts personas as a way to better explain and understand the holistic nature and complexity of sustainable consumer behavior in terms of its various stages (i.e. acquisition, usage, and postuse) within four key behavioral functions of mobility, housing, clothing, and food. Different sustainability related functions of personas are seen to be fundamental lifestyle components and could be fulfilled by a variety of sustainable actions. This exploratory study uses a qualitative methodology, involving data collection through multiple in-depth interviews across several countries. The results reveal three different consumer archetypes with distinct sustainable consumption strategies: holistic sustainable consumers, transitional sustainable consumers, and restricted sustainable consumers. Managerial and theoretical implications provide practical recommendations for marketing managers and public policy planners, as well as directions for continued research in this area.

Carbon labels are considered a fundamental tool for reducing emissions associated with grocery products. Although the prior literature has shown that both limited motivation and understanding of carbon labels explain the effectiveness of carbon labels, knowledge regarding how to improve the label design to increase noticeability is limited. Given the limited motivation of mainstream consumers to use carbon labels, this exploratory paper proposes that the label design should trigger bottom-up (or sensory-driven) attention mechanisms. Using grounded theory for the data collection and analysis of six focus groups, this study tests six features (i.e., location, size, color, icons, a colored background or border, and textual anchors) and identifies four design criteria (i.e., vividness, incongruity, simplicity, and clarity) that may increase label noticeability. The main conclusion of this qualitative study is that carbon labels are noticed when they are perceived as a cue of hazard. Based on this finding, we propose that carbon labels could be designed as warning labels, therefore, the insights already proven in the warning label literature should be applied to carbon label design to increase its noticeability and use.

Little work has been done on understanding the ways in which resistant consumers interpret the causes and responsible agents for structures of domination. Drawing on collective action frames, we examine how a consumer resistance movement defines both its antagonists (adversarial framing) and its advocacy strategies for response (prognostic framing). Discourses of resistant consumers are analyzed through the lens of power, since to explore these frames is also to study the question of who is perceived as the locus of power and how power/resistance is exercised to achieve the movement’s goals. A kaleidoscopic framing emerges that reveals multiple points and forms of resistance. To counteract the underlying attribution of responsibility (the materialistic ideology dominant in Western societies), consumers bring into play a repertoire of actions that enable them to construct both themselves and others as ethical persons. Based on these findings the research contributes to the literature on consumer resistance by broadening the most commonly held vision of power, namely, power as domination and control possessed by distinctly identifiable agents. This study, by contrast, provides evidence of discourses that assume power is exercised in a reticular, shifting, and productive manner, a vision of power that corresponds closely to that articulated in the work of Foucault and Arendt. An emphasis on this perception of power relationships in the realm of consumer resistance extends and enriches understanding of a movement’s dynamics, whilst also enhancing the movement’s capacity to change the materialistic ideology that it refuses to accept.

The present study used relational and predictive approaches to build on past literature examining humanlike animal attributes. From the relational approach, it examined how five humanlike attributes ascribed to animals (Attributes Questionnaire) relate to one another and to attitudes toward 21 uses of animals (Attitudes Toward the Use of Animals Scale). From the predictive approach, it examined the predictive power of human affection toward animals and human perception of animal minds for granting animals moral consideration; additionally, it analyzed the predictive power of humanlike animal attributes for willingness to become an ethical vegetarian or ethical vegan. These analyses focused specifically on gender differences. The author used SPSS and SmartPLS 3.0, a Partial Least Square tool, for statistical analyses. Results from 481 Spanish university students responding to online and pencil-and-paper questionnaires revealed overall moderate correlations between different humanlike attributes and...