Table Of Content‗I Live Sustainably‘: Exploring
sustainable narratives through
the lens of identity expression
and motivational drives
A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management
Henley Business School, Department of Marketing and Reputation
Irene Garnelo-Gomez
August 2017
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DECLARATION
I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of
others, this dissertation is the result of my own work and has not been
submitted for any other degree at the University of Reading or any other
institution.
Irene Garnelo-Gomez
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ABSTRACT
This thesis explores narratives of individuals who self-identify as living
sustainably, with two interlinked aims: (1) to explore how such individuals use
sustainable narratives as an expression of their identity, and (2) to explore what
motivates them to live sustainably. While novel insights emerge from each of
these explorations, findings are also used to shed light on how expressions of
identity and motivational drives interplay in sustainable narratives. A brief review
of key theories in identity and motivation literatures identifies the Dynamic Model
of Identity Development (Hillenbrand & Money, 2015) as well as the Four Drive
Theory of Human Motivation (Lawrence & Nohria, 2002) as useful frameworks to
guide parts of the empirical research. A more elaborate review and exploration
of the existing literature on identity and motivations in relation to sustainability is
then provided in the discussion of findings. For the purposes of the empirical
research, a total of 35 semi-structured interviews were conducted with
individuals self-identifying as living sustainably. While the initial part of the
interviews was conducted inductively using a range of projective techniques, the
final part of the interviews was guided by the theories described above. The
combination of inductive and deductive research enables both theory building
and theory testing for the purpose of this study. Drawing on the analysis of
participants‘ expressions of identity and motivational drives, as well as the
analysis of their interplay, a new typology is developed. This typology classifies
individuals as ‗Holistically‘, ‗Privately‘, ‗Publicly‘ or ‗Accidentally Sustainable‘, and
offers a representation of associated identity characteristics and motivational
drives for each group. Importantly, the findings reveal that individuals in each
group differ in terms of key aspects of identity expression. These include
whether aspects of personal or social identity are salient, and whether
individuals are mostly motivated to live sustainably as a means of acquiring a
status and financial benefits, to bond with others, to learn and develop
themselves, or to defend their beliefs. While each group emerges with a
distinctive portfolio of unique insights, it is the interplay between identity
expression and motivational drives that is perhaps most interesting. This
culminates with the presentation of a novel typology of identity and motivational
elements which can – for the first time – describe, differentiate and explain
sustainable narratives of individuals self-identifying as living sustainably.
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A mi abuelo Carlos, por recordarme siempre que la vida hay que vivirla
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to start these acknowledgements by thanking my supervisors,
Professor Kevin Money and Dr David Littlewood. I thank Kevin for
encouraging me to think about the ‗bigger picture‘ and to tell ‗the story‘; and
for always treating me as a friend and an equal. I thank David for the
attention to detail he added to my research and for continuing supporting me
even after leaving Henley; and for helping me to start my academic career. I
would also like to thank Professor Carola Hillenbrand, for making me feel I
had a third supervisor, for assisting me with the pre-test of the interview
guide and for helping me with the consistency of my writing.
Thanks also to the Department of Marketing and Reputation at Henley
Business School for sponsoring my doctoral research, as otherwise I would
not have completed a PhD. I would also like to thank all the organisations
and individuals who helped me with the collection of data, both for the pilot
and the main study. And thank you to Lito Tsitsou for helping me with the
proofreading and editing of the thesis.
Thanks to my mentors Dr Cifuentes-Gomez, Dr Christofidou and Dr Gascon-
Salvador, for guiding me with their friendship and wisdom. I also wish to
thank the friends I made at Henley Business School– Julia, Simona, Rasha,
Lorenzo, Jongmin and Tiju. Special thanks to Anastasiya, Filipe and Irene,
for accompanying me through the good and bad days of this journey on an
everyday basis. I would also like to thank my ‗Amiguines‘ in London and my
‗Molones‘ in Reading for always being there when needed and for making my
life happier during these years. Thanks also to my friends in Villadepalos and
Priaranza del Bierzo for supporting me from the distance. And thank you to
my goddaughter Ana, for brightening up my days with her smile even when
being 1,816 km away.
Above all I would like to thank my family. Special thanks go to my parents
and my brother for always believing in me, much more than I have ever done.
Without your love and support this could not have happened. Last, but not
least, I would like to thank my partner, João. Thank you for being by my side,
especially during the most demotivating and painful moments. Thank you for
pushing me to work on the thesis when I could not find a reason and for
comforting me when tired and in tears.
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