Outline of interview structure
The main purpose of a cognitive research interview is to discover the knowledge content of a person's mind. The interview itself should attempt not to change existing knowledge but only to retrieve it. Inferences in recall should be kept to a minimum. At the same time the problem of forgetting has to be dealt with and here, the positive and negative effects of part listings have to be traded off. As a consequence of these considerations, some structure has to be imposed on the interview...
Measurement of knowledge content
The study achieved, to a certain extent, a quantitative measurement of knowledge content characteristics. In the following, how the measurement of knowledge comprehensiveness, complexity, and abstractness was operationalized, and why and how a further knowledge characteristic knowledge specificity was distinguished, will be discussed. Measurement of knowledge comprehensiveness Knowledge comprehensiveness relates to the amount of knowledge a consumer had about environmentally oriented shopping....
The consumer as bricoleur
Problem formulation appears to be an integral and important element in successful task performance under real-life conditions. Cognitive anthropological ideas appear to be especially valuable for explaining it. The concepts of practical thinking and bricolage have rarely been related to consumer behaviour research an exception is Grafton-Small 1993 42 see also Gordon and Valentine 1996 35-7 . In this study, through the concepts of practical thinking and bricolage, green consumer cognition has...
How to organize theorizing about cognition
As pointed out in chapter 1, scientific investigations are heuristically framed a research programme is equipped with a certain problem solving apparatus its heuristic that guides research at both a conceptual and an empirical level. In general, the complexity of any 'real-life' phenomenon has to be reduced before it can be subjected to scientific research. The critical question is how to frame a research problem heuristically, in particular how to achieve complexity reduction so that the...
Procedure for hierarchical clustering
The knowledge content variables used in the cluster analysis were standardized and z-scores were compiled. In particular, when value ranges of variables differ considerably, which was the case here, a standardization of data is recommended Mitchell 1993 13, Hair et al. 1987 . Dendrograms and the numerical information contained in them were relied upon to interpret cluster solutions. Dendrograms reflect the partitioning process the way subjects are grouped as clusters or isolated as outliers see...
How to research consumer behaviour
Consumer behaviour research, like any other type of research, has to examine critically what kind of problems it is interested in and what research heuristics it is applying for theorizing and empirical research. Traditionally, the psychological heuristic has been widely applied in consumer behaviour research Mittelstaedt 1990 303-8, Sheth and Gross 1988 11, 16-18, 21 . Stern criticism within psychology and within consumer studies, as voiced consistently over the past decades Shimp 1994 1-3,...
Classification And Cluster Analysis
Classification pattern finding and pattern matching is at the heart of all human knowledge, philosophical, scientific, or commonsense knowledge Everitt 1993 1, Kaufman and Rousseeuw 1990 1, Spiggle and Sanders 1984 337 also L vi-Strauss 1966 chapter 2 . Cluster analysis is a quantitative classification technique used for descriptive and explorative purposes. It is known as an interdependence method, where no variables are singled out as dependent or independent variables. As a result of a...
Reporting and handling of data
Information richness can be a problem in qualitative research. In this section, a framework is outlined for ordering and compounding the interview data. The reduction of data is a prerequisite for a later interpretation of the knowledge structures of green consumers. The primary data source consisted of the verbatim transcribed interviews. First, an analytical framework was developed through which the interview data could be taken apart. Subsequently, how this framework was applied to the...
The formatting dimension of knowledge structures
In the previous section 'applications software' was discussed this section turns to the 'systems software' of the mind that guides the categorizing activities of the mind. Categorizing appears to be a universal principle of human reasoning that is independent of cultural context Solso 1988 389, 445, Gardner 1987 129-30, 224, 257, Rosch et al. 1976 382-3, 428-34, L vi-Strauss 1966 chapter 2 see also Cazeneuve 1972 who refers to Levy-Bruhl 1926 . A categorizing activity of the mind is reflected...
Disciplines and research programmes
In the following, principles for the structuring of positive 1 interdisciplinary scientific research draw upon Karl Popper's and Imre Lakatos's suggestions on how to organize scientific research. In a broad sense, science as such can be understood as 'one big' research programme that is ruled and organized by certain principles, which are discussed and developed in a philosophy of science debate. In this sense, all scientific disciplines, e.g. physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, economics,...
Data Analysis
A clear separation of data description and data interpretation is recommended for qualitatively oriented research Robson and Hedges 1993 32, Coolican 1990 233-7, Patton 1990 374-5, Eisenhardt 1989a 540-1, Yin 1989 106-8, Harris 1986 53-66 . In a descriptive phase, the usually enormous amount of data collected is summarized. Such data handling is then followed by data interpretation. In general, it is difficult to draw an exact line between data description and data interpretation. The notion of...
Introduction
This book is about cognition the way we think, know, understand and learn. It is the much revised outcome of a doctoral research project at the University of Oxford which compared the cognition and behaviour of British and German green consumers. Research was conducted on an 'interdisciplinary' level, from management and social studies to psychology and anthropology. Environmentally oriented consumer behaviour provided the opportunity to study cognition in daily life how environmentally...
Intelligence
The concept of knowledge structures focuses on structural properties of cognition. It is a typically psychological concept of cognition that sidelines procedural issues of how knowledge structures developed in line with problem solving behaviour and the build-up of experience. Experience reflects past reasoning. It can be understood as existing domainspecific knowledge as knowledge content that accumulated over time, and cognitive operations and formatting processes that developed in relation...
Problems in cluster analysis
There are a number of critically debated questions in cluster analysis 1 Which cluster algorithm should be applied Hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster methods are available. A hierarchical cluster algorithm constructs a tree-like hierarchy through which subjects are allocated to different branches or 'clusters'. A disadvantage of hierarchical cluster methods is that subjects who have once been joined in a cluster cannot be separated again at a later stage, which means that 'errors' at an...
Research questions and further course of study
The question has been raised as to how the term 'environmentally friendly product' is to be interpreted 'What does this all too common term really mean anyway ' Prothero 1990 97 . As has just been discussed, one could try to settle this question in a normative and theoretically abstract fashion through LCA. In contrast, the cognitive approach followed by this study addresses this question from a different angle the subjective reasoning processes underlying green consumer behaviour are examined...
Correlational analysis
An analysis of correlation matrices can be helpful for finding relationships between variables. Because a correlation analysis is conducted for a total sample, it cannot uncover group-related structures on its own, but if applied together with other tools, such as scattergrams, it can substantiate insights into which variables may be particularly suited for a cluster analysis. An analysis of correlation matrices confirmed that there was a strong positive correlation between most knowledge...
The operational dimension of knowledge structures
Cognitive operations are of a largely subconscious nature Tulving 1985 387-8, Markus and Zajonc 1985 174 . They determine the development, organization and application of knowledge content. The idea of cognitive operations can be traced back to John Locke We have hitherto considered those ideas in the reception whereof the mind is only passive, which are those simple ones received from sensation and reflection But when it has got once these simple ideas it is not confined barely to observation...
Hierarchical Cluster Analyses
A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted on a comprehensive basis, for both conceptual and methodological reasons. For the green samples, nine variable sets were each subjected to two hierarchical cluster algorithms, Ward's method and the group average method subsequently, also, a non-hierarchical cluster algorithm, the K-means method, was applied in the context of a sensitivity analysis . For the non-green sample, variable sets had to be adapted for cluster analysis since certain...
Research Questions On Green Consumer Cognition
In the previous sections of this chapter, a number of psychological and anthropological constructs were introduced for the purpose of cognitive consumer research Along a knowledge content dimension, knowledge characteristics comprehensiveness, complexity, abstractness and specificity were distinguished. Along a cognitive operational dimension, five cognitive operational processes selection, specification, abstraction, interpretation and integration and two cognitive operational modes bottom-up...
Qualitative Versus Quantitative Cognitive Research
In a broad sense, methodology can be defined as 'the process, principles, and procedures by which we approach problems and seek answers' Bogdan and Taylor 1975 1 . In this sense the research questions of this study are 'methodological questions' in so far as green consumers are investigated as 'theorists' with regard to the 'methodology' they apply for developing 'hypotheses' on environmentally oriented shopping. As L vi-Strauss pointed out, systematic 'theoretical' thinking existed long before...
The Green Consumer
In recent years, environmental issues have received much attention, reflecting rising public concern and awareness of environmental problems. Pressure groups have been campaigning vigorously for the environment media reporting on environmental issues has increased dramatically the environment has moved up on the agenda in political decision making numerous regulations and laws for the protection of the environment have been passed and through the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and its...
What is correct green consumer behaviour
A study of green consumer cognition sooner or later arrives at the question of how to assess the quality of knowledge and behaviours whether and, if so, how a standard for 'proper' green consumer behaviour can be defined. In general, faith in science and technology appears to be a widespread attitude in western societies. Consumers, pressure groups, politicians, managers, etc. might turn for guidance to the scientist when it comes to the question of what constitutes 'proper' environmentally...
Sampling of interviewees
In quantitative research, sampling aims at the statistical control of internal validity for statistical generalizations, randomized sampling is obligatory. This contrasts with sampling in qualitative research which is non-probabilistic here, interviewees are not chosen for statistical reasons, but they are selected purposively. 'Theoretical sampling' is conducted only particular instances of a certain phenomenon here green consumption are investigated. Theoretical sampling in the form of...
The cognitive heuristic
Cognition refers to understanding and learning. The cognitive approach examines information processing and decision making behaviour. It addresses the question of how understanding occurs, and how in turn understanding affects behaviour. The 'cognitive how' of product evaluation and choice is investigated. In general, a scarcity of scientific research into cognitive aspects of green consumer behaviour has been observed Thorgesen 1994 154, 156-7, Coddington 1993 98, Smith 1992 2, 4, Petkus 1992...
The content dimension of knowledge structures
Knowledge structures 'contain' stored information knowledge content or meaning. In order to solve a choice problem, a consumer attends to information, processes and evaluates it, and subsequently stores it in his or her memory. In contrast to other dimensions of knowledge structures, the knowledge content dimension is of a largely conscious nature Tulving 1985 88 . This explains why knowledge content has been focused on for empirical research. Physiological, neurological level, 'hardware'...
Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative research
In the social sciences, the two main empirical research traditions are the quantitative approach that draws on techniques such as experiments, surveys, histories, analysis of archival information, etc., and the qualitative one that utilizes techniques such as case studies, participant observation, open interviews, etc. Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias 1996 281-6, 304-9, Creswell 1994 10-12, Patton 1990 14, 36-9, 162-6, Yin 1989 8, 17-22, Day and Castleberry 1986 94-5, Vinehall 1979 108-15,...
Alternative approaches to consumer research
In the following, the research problem of this study is demarcated negatively it indicates what aspects of green consumer behaviour were not researchednamely issues of motivational research, sociological research, socio-demographic research, and life-style research. The discussion outlines the 'negative heuristics' of the study to use Lakatos's term. It also puts the cognitive research conducted into perspective with regard to the wider context and complexity of green consumer behaviour....