Sustainability Student Spotlight: Hannah Bolland-Smith
By Benita Oseleononmen
Hannah Bolland-Smith, a doctoral student student in Marketing at Penn State Smeal College of Business, received the 2026 “Business for a Better World” Dissertation Proposal Award for her research on; How Consumer Empathy for Social Initiatives Can Be Used to Increase Support for Environmental Initiatives. Her research explores how consumers respond to companies that focus on social initiatives over environmental initiatives. Hannah finds that consumers tend to favor companies that focus on social sustainability initiatives because those efforts can lead to stronger perceptions of the company's morality.
“We theorize that consumers perceive focusing on social initiatives to be more reflective of the morality of the company” Hannah said. These increased moral perceptions can result in the consumers viewing the company more favorably.
Her research also explores how companies can apply these insights to increase consumer support towards environmental initiatives. Hannah suggests that companies emphasizing environmental initiatives should also communicate the social and human consequences of those efforts.
For example, a company supporting reforestation could go beyond communicating its environmental benefits and highlight how reforestation can improve air quality and positively impact one's health and wellbeing while providing communities with green spaces for recreation. Connecting environmental action to its impact on people may strengthen consumer’s moral perceptions of a company and increase favorability toward the brand.
For Hannah Bolland-Smith, receiving the “Business for a Better World” Dissertation Proposal Award provides both recognition for the research and the opportunity to continue to develop it.
“I am incredibly honored to receive this award that recognizes papers aiming to improve sustainability within business research,” Hannah Bolland-Smith said.
She is currently revising the paper for potential publication in a major journal in her field. The award will also support additional studies, including intervention studies examining ways to increase consumer favorability towards brands that focus on environmental issues.
For more information, reach out to Hannah Bolland-Smith at hes5407@psu.edu or connect with her on Linkedin through this link
Read more on Hannah’s Dissertation Award here
Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goal:
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