Understanding Behavioral Responses to Eco-Innovations: Insights from Innovator and Adopter Perspectives
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Abstract
This cumulative dissertation examines how individuals respond to eco-innovations, both as innovators within organizations and as consumers. Although a wide range of such innovations exists, many fail in practice due to insufficient market penetration or fall short of their expected resource-saving potential. The aim of this work is therefore to identify the conditions under which eco-innovations can lead to long-term, resource-conserving behavior. From a social-psychological perspective, the dissertation analyzes individuals’ motivations for engaging in resource-conserving behavior in the context of eco-innovations. Five studies investigate psychological mechanisms and behavioral patterns that influence the long-term success or failure of eco-innovations.
The first part of the dissertation focuses on employees who proactively initiate resource-conserving innovations within their organizations. It examines whether such innovation-related behaviors promote or reduce subsequent environmentally friendly actions (so-called spillover effects). Three studies explore the psychological mechanisms underlying these follow-up effects. Central to this section is the development of a theoretical model to explain spillover effects following employee-driven resource-conserving innovations (Studies 1 and 2). The proposed model is empirically tested through an experiment (Study 3). The empirical findings suggest that engaging in resource-conserving innovation activities tends to reduce employees’ subsequent pro-environmental behavior in the short term. The dissertation thus contributes to explaining why eco-innovations may fail to realize their full resource-saving potential. Moreover, the findings highlight the importance of viewing employee-driven innovations not as static actions, but as dynamic processes in which potential follow-up effects must be taken into account.
The second part of the dissertation investigates consumers’ adoption behavior toward digital eco-innovations such as energy monitoring applications (Study 4) and digital product passports (Study 5). It analyzes which types of information consumers particularly value and which factors influence their intention to use these innovations. The results indicate that perceived cost–benefit considerations, habits, governmental support, and cultural context are key factors shaping the adoption of these eco-innovations among broader user groups.
Methodologically, the dissertation applies a theory-driven, quantitative-empirical multi-method approach. As a multidisciplinary study, it contributes to environmental psychology, innovation research, and information systems research, and provides practice-oriented implications for organizations, policymakers, and technology developers. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the long-term success of eco-innovations crucially depends on the interplay between individual motivation, perceived behavioral opportunities, and contextual conditions—both from the perspective of innovators and users. By integrating these two perspectives, the dissertation offers a comprehensive account of the behavioral dynamics that determine the long-term resource-saving potential of eco-innovations.
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Issued: 2026-01-12
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Has part: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07431-9Has part: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-45148-6_13Has part: Behn, Oliver; Wichmann, Johannes; and Leyer, Michael, "Consumer Preferences for Sustainability Transparency in Digital Product Passports" (2025). ECIS 2025 Proceedings. 4. https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2025/isresilience/isresilience/4
Faculty
FB02:Wirtschaftswissenschaft
Language
en
Keywords
SpilloverEnvironmental BehaviorBehavioral SpilloverEmployee-driven green innovationsbehavioral spillover theoryconservation of resource theorymoral licensingGreen ISEnergy ConsumptionSmart HomesIS AdoptionIntegrated ModelDigital Product PassProduct PassportSustainability TransparencyConsumer PreferencesConjoint AnalysisBehavioral ResponsesEco-InnovationInnovationInnovative Work BehaviorCOM-B model
DFG-subjects
1.22-04 - Sozialpsychologie und Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie1.24-05 - Operations Management und BWL-spezifische Wirtschaftsinformatik
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Behn, Oliver: Understanding Behavioral Responses to Eco-Innovations: Insights from Innovator and Adopter Perspectives. : 2026-01-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17192/openumr/547.
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Except where otherwised noted, this item's license is described as Attribution 4.0 International