Airlines have introduced voluntary carbon offsetting (VCO) products to encourage consumers to mitigate emissions from their air travel. However, literature has suggested a low VCO adoption partly because of low perceived credibility. This study investigates the impact of source credibility (expertise and trustworthiness) on air travelers’ purchase intention for aviation VCO products. This is the first study to conceptualize and test the influence of source credibility on air travelers’ carbon offsetting behavior using communication theory. Source credibility of a message directly influences air travelers’ purchase intention of aviation VCO products in a positive way. Examining source credibility components shows that trustworthiness has a significant positive impact on purchase intention, while the impact of expertise is not significant. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed, which highlight the importance of improving source credibility, and trustworthiness in particular, to encourage consumers to mitigate air travel emissions.
AmandaSpryRaviPappuCornwellT. Bettina. 2011. “Celebrity Endorsement, Brand Credibility and Brand Equity.”European Journal of Marketing45 (6): 882–909.
4.
AyehJulian K.NormanAuRobLaw. 2013. “‘Do We Believe in TripAdvisor?’ Examining Credibility Perceptions and Online Travelers’ Attitude toward Using User-Generated Content.”Journal of Travel Research52 (4): 437–52.
5.
BabakhaniNazilaRitchieBrent W.DolnicarSara. 2016. “Improving Carbon Offsetting Appeals in Online Airplane Ticket Purchasing: Testing New Messages, and Using New Test Methods.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism25 (7): 955–69.
6.
BaekTae HyunKingKaren Whitehill. 2011. “Exploring the Consequences of Brand Credibility in Services.”Journal of Services Marketing25 (4): 260–72.
7.
BakerMelissa A.DavisEric A.WeaverPamela A.2014. “Eco-Friendly Attitudes, Barriers to Participation, and Differences in Behavior at Green Hotels.”Cornell Hospitality Quarterly55 (1): 89–99.
8.
BartYakovShankarVenkateshSultanFareenaUrbanGlen L.2005. “Are the Drivers and Role of Online Trust the Same for All Web Sites and Consumers? A Large-Scale Exploratory Empirical Study.”Journal of Marketing69 (4): 133–52.
9.
BenedicktusRay L.BradyMichael K.DarkePeter R.VoorheesClay M.2010. “Conveying Trustworthiness to Online Consumers: Reactions to Consensus, Physical Store Presence, Brand Familiarity, and Generalized Suspicion.”Journal of Retailing86 (4): 322–35.
10.
Bergin-SeersSuzanneMairJudith. 2009. “Emerging Green Tourists in Australia: Their Behaviours and Attitudes.”Tourism and Hospitality Research9 (2): 109–19.
11.
Bigné-AlcañizEnriqueCurrás-PérezRafaelSánchez-GarcíaIsabel. 2009. “Brand Credibility in Cause-Related Marketing: The Moderating Role of Consumer Values.”Journal of Product & Brand Management18 (6): 437–47.
12.
BlaschJuliaFarsiMehdi. 2014. “Context Effects and Heterogeneity in Voluntary Carbon Offsetting—A Choice Experiment in Switzerland.”Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy3 (1): 1–24.
BurnsPeter M.ChantelleCowlishaw. 2014. “Climate Change Discourses: How UK Airlines Communicate Their Case to the Public.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism22 (5): 750–67.
15.
ChaikenShelly. 1980. “Heuristic versus Systematic Information Processing and the Use of Source versus Message Cues in Persuasion.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology39 (5): 752–66.
16.
ChenFang-Yuan. 2013. “The Intention and Determining Factors for Airline Passengers’ Participation in Carbon Offset Schemes.”Journal of Air Transport Management29:17–22.
17.
ChoiAndy S.RitchieBrent W.2014. “Willingness to Pay for Flying Carbon Neutral in Australia: An Exploratory Study of Offsetter Profiles.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism22 (8): 1236–56.
18.
ChoiAndy S.RitchieBrent W.FieldingKelly S.2016. “A Mediation Model of Air Travelers’ Voluntary Climate Action.”Journal of Travel Research55 (6): 709–23.
19.
CookeAnn N.FieldingKelly S.LouisWinnifred R.2016. “Environmentally Active People: The Role of Autonomy, Relatedness, Competence and Self-Determined Motivation.”Environmental Education Research22 (5): 631–57.
20.
DegeratuAlexandru M.RangaswamyArvindWuJianan. 2000. “Consumer Choice Behavior in Online and Traditional Supermarkets: The Effects of Brand Name, Price, and other Search Attributes.”International Journal of Research in Marketing17 (1): 55–78.
21.
DesarboWayne S.HarshmanRichard A.1985. “Celebrity–Brand Congruence Analysis.”Current Issues and Research in Advertising8 (1): 17–52.
22.
DolnicarSaraCvelbarLjubica KnezevicGrünBettina. 2017. “A Sharing-Based Approach to Enticing Tourists to Behave More Environmentally Friendly.”Journal of Travel Research. Published online December27.
23.
EisendMartin. 2006. “Source Credibility Dimensions in Marketing Communication—A Generalized Solution.”Journal of Empirical Generalisations in Marketing Science10 (2).
24.
ErdemTülinSwaitJoffre. 1998. “Brand Equity as a Signaling Phenomenon.”Journal of Consumer Psychology7 (2): 131–57.
25.
ErdemTülinSwaitJoffre. 2004. “Brand Credibility, Brand Consideration, and Choice.”Journal of Consumer Research31 (1): 191–98.
26.
ErdemTülinSwaitJoffreLouviereJordan. 2002. “The Impact of Brand Credibility on Consumer Price Sensitivity.”International Journal of Research in Marketing19 (1): 1–19.
27.
FarrellAndrew M.2010. “Insufficient Discriminant Validity: A Comment on Bove, Pervan, Beatty, and Shiu (2009).”Journal of Business Research63 (3): 324–27.
28.
FlanaginAndrew J.MetzgerMiriam J.2008. “The Credibility of Volunteered Geographic Information.”GeoJournal72 (3): 137–48.
GösslingStefanBroderickJohnUphamPaulCeronJean-PaulDuboisGhislainPeetersPaulStrasdasWolfgang. 2007. “Voluntary Carbon Offsetting Schemes for Aviation: Efficiency, Credibility and Sustainable Tourism.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism15 (3): 223–48.
31.
GösslingStefanHaglundLouiseKallgrenHelenaRevahlMillaHultmanJohan. 2009. “Swedish Air Travellers and Voluntary Carbon Offsets: Towards the Co-creation of Environmental Value?”Current Issues in Tourism12 (1): 1–19.
32.
GösslingStefanHallMichael C.PeetersPaulScottDaniel. 2010. “The Future of Tourism: Can Tourism Growth and Climate Policy Be Reconciled? A Mitigation Perspective.”Tourism Recreation Research35 (2): 119–30.
33.
GösslingStefanPeetersPaul. 2015. “Assessing Tourism’s Global Environmental Impact 1900–2050.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism23 (5): 639–59.
34.
HairJoseph F.BlackWilliam C.BabinBarry J.AndersonRolph E.2014. Multivariate Data Analysis: Pearson New International Edition, 7th ed., Always Learning. Harlow, Essex: Pearson.
35.
HamrickKelleyGoldsteinAllie. 2016. Raising Ambition: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2016. Washington, DC: Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace.
36.
HinesJody M.HungerfordHarold R.TomeraAudrey N.1986. “Analysis and Synthesis of Research on Responsible Environmental Behavior: A Meta-analysis.”Journal of Environmental Education18 (2): 1–8.
37.
HovlandCarl I.JanisIrving L.KelleyHarold H.1953. Communication and Persuasion; Psychological Studies of Opinion Change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
38.
HovlandCarl I.WalterWeiss. 1951. “The Influence of Source Credibility on Communication Effectiveness.”Public Opinion Quarterly15 (4): 635–50.
39.
HultmanMagnusKazeminiaAzadehGhasemiVahid. 2015. “Intention to Visit and Willingness to Pay Premium for Ecotourism: The Impact of Attitude, Materialism, and Motivation.”Journal of Business Research68 (9): 1854–61.
40.
InoueYuheiKentAubrey. 2012. “Investigating the Role of Corporate Credibility in Corporate Social Marketing: A Case Study of Environmental Initiatives by Professional Sport Organizations.”Sport Management Review15 (3): 330–44.
41.
JacobsenGrant D.2011. “The Al Gore Effect: An Inconvenient Truth and Voluntary Carbon Offsets.”Journal of Environmental Economics and Management61 (1): 67–78.
42.
JohnsonHomer H.TorciviaJames M.PoprickMary Ann.1968. “Effects of Source Credibility on the Relationship Between Authoritarianism and Attitude Change.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology9 (2, pt 1): 179–83.
43.
JonesLee W.SinclairRobert C.CourneyaKerry S.2003. “The Effects of Source Credibility and Message Framing on Exercise Intentions, Behaviors, and Attitudes: An Integration of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Prospect Theory.”Journal of Applied Social Psychology33 (1): 179–96.
44.
JorgeE.ArañaCarmeloLeónSergioMoreno-GilAnaR. Zubiaurre. 2012. “A Comparison of Tourists’ Valuation of Climate Change Policy Using Different Pricing Frames.”Journal of Travel Research52 (1): 82–92.
45.
JosephW. Benoy. 1982. “The Credibility of Physically Attractive Communicators: A Review.”Journal of Advertising11 (3): 15–24.
46.
JuvanEmilDolnicarSara. 2014. “The Attitude–Behaviour Gap in Sustainable Tourism.”Annals of Tourism Research48:76–95.
47.
KarlThomas R.TrenberthKevin E.2003. “Modern Global Climate Change.”Science302 (5651): 1719–23.
48.
KempElyriaBuiMy. 2011. “Healthy Brands: Establishing Brand Credibility, Commitment and Connection among Consumers.”Journal of Consumer Marketing28 (6): 429–37.
49.
KimSung-BumKimDae-Young. 2014. “The Effects of Message Framing and Source Credibility on Green Messages in Hotels.”Cornell Hospitality Quarterly55 (1): 64–75.
50.
KimYohanYunSunyoungLeeJoosungKoEunju. 2016. “How Consumer Knowledge Shapes Green Consumption: An Empirical Study on Voluntary Carbon Offsetting.”International Journal of Advertising35 (1): 23–41.
51.
KollmussAnjaAgyemanJulian. 2002. “Mind the Gap: Why Do People Act Environmentally and What Are the Barriers to Pro-environmental Behavior?”Environmental Education Research8 (3): 239–60.
52.
KotlerPhilipKellerKevin Lane. 2016. Marketing Management / Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, 15th ed.Boston: Pearson.
53.
KwanJoyce L. Y.ChanWai. 2011. “Comparing Standardized Coefficients in Structural Equation Modeling: A Model Reparameterization Approach.”Behavior Research Methods43 (3): 730–45.
54.
LaffertyBarbara A.2007. “The Relevance of Fit in a Cause–Brand Alliance When Consumers Evaluate Corporate Credibility.”Journal of Business Research60 (5): 447–53.
55.
LaffertyBarbara A.GoldsmithRonald E.NewellStephen J.2002. “The Dual Credibility Model: The Influence of Corporate and Endorser Credibility on Attitudes and Purchase Intentions.”Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice10 (3): 1–11.
56.
LeeTsung HungJanFen-Hauh. 2015. “The Influence of Recreation Experience and Environmental Attitude on the Environmentally Responsible Behavior of Community-Based Tourists in Taiwan.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism23 (7): 1063–94.
57.
LeischnigAlexanderGeigenmüllerAnjaEnkeMargit. 2012. “Brands You Can Rely On!: An Empirical Investigation of Brand Credibility in Services.”Schmalenbach Business Review64:44–58.
58.
LuJin-LongShonZhang Yi. 2012. “Exploring Airline Passengers’ Willingness to Pay for Carbon Offsets.”Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment17 (2): 124–28.
59.
MacKerronGeorge J.EgertonCatrinGaskellChristopherParpiaAimieSusanaMourato. 2009. “Willingness to Pay for Carbon Offset Certification and Co-benefits among (High-)flying Young Adults in the UK.”Energy Policy37 (4): 1372–81.
60.
MainieriTinaBarnettElaine G.ValderoTrisha R.UnipanJohn B.OskampStuart. 1997. “Green Buying: The Influence of Environmental Concern on Consumer Behavior.”Journal of Social Psychology137 (2): 189–204.
61.
MairJudith. 2011. “Exploring Air Travellers’ Voluntary Carbon-Offsetting Behaviour.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism19 (2): 215–30.
62.
McGinniesElliottWardCharles D.1980. “Better Liked Than Right: Trustworthiness and Expertise as Factors in Credibility.”Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin6 (3): 467–72.
63.
McKercherBobPrideauxBruceCheungCatherineLawRob. 2010. “Achieving Voluntary Reductions in the Carbon Footprint of Tourism and Climate Change.”Journal of Sustainable Tourism18 (3): 297–317.
64.
McLennanChar-lee J.BeckenSusanneBattyeRodSoKevin Kam Fung. 2014. “Voluntary Carbon Offsetting: Who Does It?”Tourism Management45:194–98.
65.
NewellStephen J.GoldsmithRonald E.2001. “The Development of a Scale to Measure Perceived Corporate Credibility.”Journal of Business Research52 (3): 235–47.
66.
NyilasyGergelyGangadharbatlaHarshaPaladinoAngela. 2014. “Perceived Greenwashing: The Interactive Effects of Green Advertising and Corporate Environmental Performance on Consumer Reactions.”Journal of Business Ethics125 (4): 693–707.
67.
OhanianRoobina. 1990. “Construction and Validation of a Scale to Measure Celebrity Endorsers’ Perceived Expertise, Trustworthiness, and Attractiveness.”Journal of Advertising19 (3): 39–52.
68.
PettyRichard E.CacioppoJohn T.1986. “The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion.” In Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change, 1–24. New York: Springer.
69.
PhauIanOngDenise. 2007. “An Investigation of the Effects of Environmental Claims in Promotional Messages for Clothing Brands.”Marketing Intelligence & Planning25 (7): 772–88.
70.
PolonskyMichael J.GrauStacy LandrethGarmaRomana. 2010. “The New Greenwash? Potential Marketing Problems with Carbon Offsets.”International Journal of Business Studies18 (1): 49.
RandlesSallyManderSarah. 2009. “Aviation, Consumption and the Climate Change Debate: ‘Are You Going to Tell Me Off for Flying?”Technology Analysis & Strategic Management21 (1): 93–113.
73.
RaoAkshay R.MonroeKent B.1989. “The Effect of Price, Brand Name, and Store Name on Buyers’ Perceptions of Product Quality: An Integrative Review.”Journal of Marketing Research26 (3): 351–57.
74.
RaoAkshay R.QuLuRuekertRobert W.1999. “Signaling Unobservable Product Quality through a Brand Ally.”Journal of Marketing Research36 (2): 258–68.
75.
ReicheltJonasSievertJensJacobFrank. 2014. “How Credibility Affects eWOM Reading: The Influences of Expertise, Trustworthiness, and Similarity on Utilitarian and Social Functions.”Journal of Marketing Communications20 (1/2): 65–81.
76.
SullivanGail M.FeinnRichard. 2012. “Using Effect Size—Or Why the P Value Is Not Enough.”Journal of Graduate Medical Education4 (3): 279–82.
77.
SweeneyJillian C.WebbDaveMazzarolTimSoutarGeoffrey N.2014. “Self-Determination Theory and Word of Mouth about Energy-Saving Behaviors: An Online Experiment.”Psychology & Marketing31 (9): 698–716.
78.
UNFCCC. 2015. Adoption of the Paris Agreement. Paris: UNFCCC.
79.
van BirgelenMarcelSemeijnJanjaapBehrensPia. 2011. “Explaining Pro-environment Consumer Behavior in Air Travel.”Journal of Air Transport Management17 (2): 125–28.
80.
VermeirIrisVerbekeWim. 2006. “Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring the Consumer ‘Attitude—Behavioral Intention’ Gap.”Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics19 (2): 169–94.
81.
WangStephen W.KaoGrace Hsiu-YingNgamsiriudomWaros. 2017. “Consumers’ Attitude of Endorser Credibility, Brand and Intention with Respect to Celebrity Endorsement of the Airline Sector.”Journal of Air Transport Management60:10–17.
82.
WillemsenLotte M.NeijensPeter C.BronnerFred E.2011. “Perceived Expertise vs. Perceived Trustworthiness: The Suppressed Effect of Source Type on Review Attitude.” In Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. 2): Breaking New Ground in Theory and Practice, edited by OkazakiShintaro, 423–36. Wiesbaden: Gabler.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
