Increasing consumers intention to not purchase a plastic product through positive and negative message frames: The mediating role of shame and the moderating role of the need for social approval

Cigarette packages are prominent exemplars of placing visuals on packages in an effort to influence consumer behaviour. While such intervention methods and the effects on consumer behaviour are widely studied in the health domain, there is a lack of knowledge about the effects of visuals on consumer behaviour in the environmental domain. Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental problem, therefore, this research investigates whether placing positive or negative framed messages with visuals on plastic packages, have an impact on a consumer’s intention to not purchase a plastic product. Previous studies have shown that negative framed messages have a general stronger effect than positive framed messages on achieving a desired behaviour in other domains however, little is known about which messages valence is best when encouraging pro-environmental behaviours. Contributing to research on encouraging pro-environmental behaviours regarding plastic consumption, data from 98...Show moreCigarette packages are prominent exemplars of placing visuals on packages in an effort to influence consumer behaviour. While such intervention methods and the effects on consumer behaviour are widely studied in the health domain, there is a lack of knowledge about the effects of visuals on consumer behaviour in the environmental domain. Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental problem, therefore, this research investigates whether placing positive or negative framed messages with visuals on plastic packages, have an impact on a consumer’s intention to not purchase a plastic product. Previous studies have shown that negative framed messages have a general stronger effect than positive framed messages on achieving a desired behaviour in other domains however, little is known about which messages valence is best when encouraging pro-environmental behaviours. Contributing to research on encouraging pro-environmental behaviours regarding plastic consumption, data from 98 respondents, who were randomly assigned to either a ‘positive no efficacy’ condition or a ‘negative no efficacy’ condition, was analysed. The independent samples t-test showed no significant evidence for believing that a positive framed message would have a stronger effect in reducing plastic consumption than a negative framed message. In addition, the mediation analysis showed that the message valence had a significant effect on shame despite the absence for a direct effect of the message valence on the intention to not purchase a plastic product. The moderated mediation showed no evidence that the need for social approval has a moderating effect on the relationship between the message valence and shame.Show less

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Increasing consumers intention to not purchase a plastic product through positive and negative message frames: The mediating role of shame and the moderating role of the need for social approval