The dark side of going green: Dark triad traits predict organic consumption through virtue signaling, status signaling, and praise from others

Abstract

The current study sought to test whether the dark triad personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy can be indirectly linked to organic food consumption through consumers’ levels of virtue signaling, status consumption, and praise from others. Based on a survey (N = 337) and structural equation modeling, we found consistent evidence for the notion that the links between each dark triad trait and (a) organic food purchase intentions, and (b) willingness to pay (WTP) for organic foods are mediated by status consumption and praise from others. Additionally, virtue signaling mediated this interplay for people who exhibit high (vs. low) degrees of narcissism and Machiavellianism, but not those who exhibit high (vs. low) degrees of psychopathy. Given that sustainability-related responses are typically portrayed as prosocial and positive, these results paint a more complex picture, with our findings linking organic consumption to a set of dark personality traits.