Counteracting the Sustainability Liability: A Conceptual Model for Awareness-Based Debiasing
(A2025-124535)

AUTHORS

Emily Waltermann, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management; Anna-Karina Schmitz, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the sustainability liability where consumers perceive sustainable products to be lower in performance and as a result may engage in overconsumption. Underlying this pattern is the zero-sum bias, which leads consumer to assume that improvements in product sustainability come at the expense of other attributes. While past research has focused on endorsements and framing to mitigate this effect, we propose a novel intervention rooted in mental contamination and correction, leveraging consumers' intrinsic motivation to avoid biased judgments. Our conceptual model suggests that increasing consumers' awareness of the zero-sum bias enhances perceived product performance and decreases overconsumption of sustainable products. This paper contributes to the literature by outlining a context-independent debiasing approach, equipping consumers with the skills to make unbiased decisions. Future research should empirically test our propositions and consider additional factors.