Empirically testing the concept of value-in-behavior and its relevance for social marketing

This paper empirically tests the concept of value-in-behavior (consumer perceived value towards the performance of behaviors), considers how it influences consumer behavioral outcomes, and identifies implications for social marketing. Value-in-behavior was tested in the context of energy efficiency, an important area for pro-social marketing. A survey of a random sample of 1444 consumers measured value perceptions towards the performance of energy efficient behaviors. Latent class analysis identified four segments based on consumers’ perceived value of energy efficiency behaviors. The demographic and psychographic predictors of these latent classes are shown, and ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression are used to identify the relationships between the latent class value segments and behavioral outcomes. Implications for marketing theory and practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.