350  2013 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc. ● Vol. 40 ● August 2013 All rights reserved. 0093-5301/2013/4002-0010$10.00. DOI: 10.1086/670610 Getting Liberals and Conservatives to Go Green: Political Ideology and Congruent Appeals BLAIR KIDWELL ADAM FARMER DAVID M. HARDESTY The authors develop a conceptual model of how the congruence of political ideology and persuasive appeals enhances sustainable behaviors. In study 1, persuasive appeals consistent with individualizing and binding moral foundations were de- veloped to enhance liberal and conservative recycling. In study 2, individualizing and binding appeals were tested on actual recycling behavior using a longitudinal field study to demonstrate the effectiveness of messages congruent with the moral foundations of liberals and conservatives. Study 3 demonstrated that enhanced fluency represents the underlying psychological process that mediates the rela- tionship between message congruence and intentions. Moreover, study 3 estab- lished that spillover effects resulting from increased intentions to engage in sustainable disposition behavior enhance intentions to engage in sustainable ac- quisition and consumption behaviors. Finally, study 4 ruled out potential message confounds to demonstrate the robustness of the findings. Practical implications for marketers and public policy officials interested in increasing sustainable behaviors are offered. A t the forefront of the sustainability movement are ef- forts to increase environmental consciousness and pro- mote sustainable consumption and disposition (Hanas 2007; McDonagh, Dobscha, and Prothero 2012). Yet, many con- sumers are either skeptical of or reluctant to embrace green marketing efforts (Luchs et al. 2010). Considerable research Blair Kidwell (kidwell.82@osu.edu) is assistant professor of market- ing, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210. Adam Farmer (radamfarmer@uky.edu) is a doctoral candidate in marketing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506. David M. Hardesty (david .hardesty@uky.edu) is Thomas C. Simons Endowed Professor of Market- ing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506. Correspondence: Blair Kidwell. The authors thank Bob Dahlstrom, Jonathan Hasford, Randy Rose, Michael Toland, and the JCR review team for their helpful feedback on earlier drafts of the article, the Von Allmen Center for Green Marketing for partial funding, and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government for assistance in collecting data. Supplemental materials, including survey items and original experimental appeals, are included in appendix A, fol- lowing the main text, and in appendix B, available in the online version of this article. Ann McGill served as editor and James Burroughs served as associate editor for this article. Electronically published April 26, 2013 has been devoted to understanding and overcoming this re- luctance through policy, regulatory, market, and technolog- ical innovations (Crittenden et al. 2011). While some pro- gress has been made in this area (Polonsky 2011; Prothero et al. 2011), much work remains to be done to uncover new approaches for increasing sustainable behavior. Given the sharp divide in attitudes toward many sustain- ability issues (e.g., climate change), particularly on opposite sides of the political aisle (Baumgartner and Jones 2009; Kim, Rao, and Lee 2009), it is surprising that little attention has been paid to understanding consumer differences in po- litical ideology and how to appeal to these differences in order to influence sustainable behaviors. Might unique ap- peals targeted to liberals and conservatives, based on their underlying ideological differences, be more effective at per- suading them to adopt environmentally conscious behav- iors? If so, what process can inform us about how these consumers are influenced? In this research, we investigate how persuasive appeals, congruent with underlying moral foundations, influence sus- tainable practices. Further, a mechanism by which targeted political appeals influence consumers’ ease of processing and ultimately influence sustainable intentions and behavior