Systems thinking (ST) represents an important cognitive paradigm for the transition towards a circular bio-economy, as greater awareness of the environmental impact of fossil-based products may lead to a switch to sustainable alternatives produced from secondary biomass which is not used as feed or food. However, the relationship between ST and the adoption of bio-based products, as well as the general mechanism of how ST affects environmental behavior, is not yet well-understood. The present study therefore aims to close these research gaps by conducting a survey-based experiment with a ST-motivated treatment, in which participants are asked to list as many consequences of their consumption behavior as possible (N=446 US consumers). Our findings suggest that the treatment is able to slightly activate a ST perspective, along with indirectly affecting consumer intentions to buy bio-based products by means of ST. Subsequent mediation analyses further reveal that an ecological worldview as well as variables from the norm-activation model function as mediators of the relationship between ST and purchase intention.

系统思维 (ST) 代表了向循环生物经济过渡的重要认知范式，因为对化石产品对环境影响的更多认识可能会导致转向由不用作饲料的二次生物质生产的可持续替代品或食物。然而，ST与生物基产品的采用之间的关系，以及ST如何影响环境行为的一般机制尚不清楚。因此，本研究旨在通过以 ST 为动机的治疗进行基于调查的实验来缩小这些研究差距，其中要求参与者尽可能多地列出其消费行为的后果（N = 446 美国消费者）。我们的研究结果表明，这种治疗能够轻微激活 ST 视角，以及通过 ST 间接影响消费者购买生物基产品的意愿。随后的中介分析进一步揭示了生态世界观以及来自规范激活模型的变量作为 ST 与购买意愿之间关系的中介。