The Fresh Start Mindset: A Cross-National Investigation and Implications for Environmentally Friendly Global Brands

Abstract

This research situates the fresh start mindset—the consumer belief that people can make a new start, get a new beginning, and chart a new course in life—within the neoliberal global milieu and examines the fresh start mindset cross-nationally and as a predictor of interest in environmentally friendly global brands. Theoretically, the authors argue that the fresh start mindset is associated with globally focused beliefs (global identity and environmental consciousness) and globally relevant psychographic characteristics and is predictive of consumer interest in environmentally friendly global brands. Study 1, conducted in countries with varying sociohistorical-cultural trajectories (United States, Mexico, Russia), establishes cross-nationally: (1) a valid fresh start mindset scale; (2) positive relationships between the fresh start mindset and globally focused beliefs as well as personal beliefs and traits (growth mindset, optimism, future focus); (3) that travel abroad, social media use, and religion predict the fresh start mindset; and (4) that the fresh start mindset predicts consumer interest in a global brand’s environmentally friendly product. Study 2 provides additional evidence that the fresh start mindset predicts consumer interest in environmentally friendly global brands. Findings indicate the fresh start mindset is an important targeting characteristic for managers of environmentally friendly global brands.