ABSTRACT
Previous research has demonstrated that the presence of observational cues increases the tendency of individuals to exhibit altruistic behavior. This research aims to explore the probability of relationship between observational cues and a form of such behavior, namely sustainable consumption, as well as the moderation effect of price on the relationship. This research employs a between-subject experimental design of 2 (observational cues: present vs. absent) × 3 (price: sustainable product > conventional product vs. sustainable product < conventional product vs. sustainable product = conventional product) and used the measurement of actual buying behavior. The analysis of 182 data collected from undergraduate students of Universitas Indonesia indicated that there was no significant effect of observational cues on increasing sustainable consumption, χ2 (1, N = 182) = 2.348, p = 0.125. The analysis of a three-way interaction model indicated that there was no significant effect on price within the model, χ2 (2, N = 182) = 0.11, p = 0.995. An analysis conducted on the relationship between price and product yielded significant results, χ2 (2, N = 182) = 45.539, p = 0.001. The results called into question the generalization of effects generated by observational cues and highlighted price as an inhibiting factor in sustainable consumption.
