In a first experiment more than a hundred students were randomly assigned to either a status seeking, or a neutral control condition. Participants in the status seeking condition were asked to read a short essay (which in previous experiments had been shown to successfully elicit status motives). Participants in the neutral condition...you get the idea...
After completing the status priming, participants were lead to what they were told was a different experiment, and then given different hypothetical purchasing options for different products; cars, soaps, and dishwashers. For each of the product tpes the participants were shown either a "green" version or a conventional version, and

"for each choice, the two products were equal in price, were manufactured by the same company, and were accompanied by three features that described key aspects of each product. Importantly, the non-green product was superior on dimensions of luxury and performance, whereas the green product was superior on the pro environmental dimension."

The graph below shows the percentage of people who chose the green product in both of the priming conditions. Although it clearly depicts the influence that status concerns had on pro-green choice behavior in the experiment, this result is not yet the full story.

The - in my opinion - more interesting part of the story occurred when the researchers repeated the above experiment, but introduced a slight twist in how they asked people to report on their preferences for the different products. In this second, modified design, one group of participants was asked to reveal their preferences according to instructions that read 

"Imagine that you are out shopping at a store."

while the other half read instructions that ordered them to

"Imagine that you are shopping online by yourself at home."

As shown in the next graph, people's status concerns no longer increased preferences for the green product when this choice was imagined to be a private choice made in the anonymity of the internet. Apparently "going green to be seen" only does the trick, when you can actually expect to be seen...

Similarly, the researchers found that the relative price of the products played a significant role in determining whether status motives influence green preferences: Without status priming, participants did as well-behaved rational economic actors do and liked the green products more when they were cheaper, and less when they were more expensive. However - and not too surprising at this point - , when status concerns were primed, green products were more attractive to participants precisely when they were described as being more expensive than their conventional counterparts.

Besides showing off a cool study design for investigating a very relevant topic the study might even lend itself for some practical advice:

In the authors own words:

"Whereas status motives have traditionally been associated with selfishness, our framework suggests that activating status motives may be an effective strategy for promoting proenvironmental or other types of prosocial behavior. Indeed, while economic or environmental concerns can certainly foster green behavior, the social aspects of conservation are often ignored. Yet we find that social motives such as concern for status can be significant in fostering green behavior."

For marketers, this might even suggest that linking green products to status (e.g., celebrity endorsers, prestigious events), could prove profitable

" especially when a green product is relatively expensive"

Whatever works to save the planet, I'd say...

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Main Reference:

Griskevicius, Vladas. (2010) Going green to be seen: Status, reputation, and conspicuous conservation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(3), 392-404. DOI: 10.1037/a0017346