IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i19p5257-d270501.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Descriptive Imagery and Appeals on Emotions and Intentions Related to Pro-Environmental Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Mykolas Simas Poškus

    (Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, LT-08303, Vilnius, Lithuania)

  • Rasa Pilkauskaitė Valickienė

    (Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, LT-08303, Vilnius, Lithuania)

  • Arvydas Kuzinas

    (Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, LT-08303, Vilnius, Lithuania)

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to assess whether reinforcing imagery affects the emotional valence and effectiveness of pro-environmental public service announcements (PSAs). Two experiments that utilized PSAs constructed from a combination of text-based appeal and an image were carried out. The first experiment used the following appeals; (1) highlighting injunction, (2) highlighting injunction together with a negative descriptive norm, and (3) highlighting injunction together with a positive descriptive norm. These appeals were written on a photograph that either depicted nature scenery or the same scenery with digitally added litter. The results of the first experiment demonstrated that a congruent combination of text appeals highlighting injunction together with a positive descriptive norm and positive descriptive imagery elicits the most positive emotions when compared to other appeal and image combinations. The second experiment demonstrated that appeals with positive descriptive norms and an injunctive message coupled with a congruent descriptive image affect behavioral intention more than appeals with an injunctive only message coupled with a congruent descriptive image, thus demonstrating the additive effect of descriptive imagery and appeals presented together.

Suggested Citation

  • Mykolas Simas Poškus & Rasa Pilkauskaitė Valickienė & Arvydas Kuzinas, 2019. "The Effects of Descriptive Imagery and Appeals on Emotions and Intentions Related to Pro-Environmental Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5257-:d:270501
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/19/5257/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/19/5257/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Onwezen, Marleen C. & Antonides, Gerrit & Bartels, Jos, 2013. "The Norm Activation Model: An exploration of the functions of anticipated pride and guilt in pro-environmental behaviour," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 141-153.
    2. Lancendorfer, Karen M. & Atkin, JoAnn L. & Reece, Bonnie B., 2008. "Animals in advertising: Love dogs? Love the ad!," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 384-391, May.
    3. Shane Frederick, 2005. "Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 25-42, Fall.
    4. Crawford, Heather J. & Gregory, Gary D., 2015. "Humorous advertising that travels: A review and call for research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 569-577.
    5. Noah J. Goldstein & Robert B. Cialdini & Vladas Griskevicius, 2008. "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 472-482, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zijian Harrison Gong & Haoran Chu, 2022. "Seeing Risks or Solutions: Psychological Distance and Ecological Worldview Moderated the Effect of Disgust Images on Attention to Environmental Messages," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Han, Heesup & Hyun, Sunghyup Sean, 2018. "What influences water conservation and towel reuse practices of hotel guests?," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 87-97.
    2. Olsthoorn, Mark & Schleich, Joachim & Faure, Corinne, 2019. "Exploring the diffusion of low-energy houses: An empirical study in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1382-1393.
    3. Karola Bastini & Rudolf Kerschreiter & Maik Lachmann & Matthias Ziegler & Tim Sawert, 2024. "Encouraging Individual Contributions to Net-Zero Organizations: Effects of Behavioral Policy Interventions and Social Norms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(3), pages 543-560, July.
    4. Kiatkawsin, Kiattipoom & Han, Heesup, 2017. "Young travelers' intention to behave pro-environmentally: Merging the value-belief-norm theory and the expectancy theory," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 76-88.
    5. Hynes, Niki & Wilson, Juliette, 2016. "I do it, but don't tell anyone! Personal values, personal and social norms: Can social media play a role in changing pro-environmental behaviours?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 349-359.
    6. Carlos Andres Trujillo & Catalina Estrada-Mejia & Jose A Rosa, 2021. "Norm-focused nudges influence pro-environmental choices and moderate post-choice emotional responses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-23, March.
    7. Heesup Han & Myong Jae Lee & Wansoo Kim, 2018. "Promoting towel reuse behaviour in guests: A water conservation management and environmental policy in the hotel industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1302-1312, December.
    8. Wintschnig, Bea Alexandra, 2021. "The Attitude-Behavior Gap – Drivers and Barriers of Sustainable Consumption," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 6(2), pages 324-346.
    9. Bing Han & David Hirshleifer & Johan Walden, 2023. "Visibility Bias in the Transmission of Consumption Beliefs and Undersaving," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(3), pages 1647-1704, June.
    10. Li Yan & Hean Tat Keh & Kyle B. Murray, 2024. "Feeling the values: How pride and awe differentially enhance consumers’ sustainable behavioral intentions," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 75-96, January.
    11. Yoon, Haewon & Scopelliti, Irene & Morewedge, Carey K., 2021. "Decision making can be improved through observational learning," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 155-188.
    12. Verma, Vivek Kumar & Chandra, Bibhas & Kumar, Sumit, 2019. "Values and ascribed responsibility to predict consumers' attitude and concern towards green hotel visit intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 206-216.
    13. Justin F. Landy, 2016. "Representations of moral violations: Category members and associated features," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 11(5), pages 496-508, September.
    14. Kettle, Keri L. & Mantonakis, Antonia, 2024. "Look for the signature: Using personal signatures as extrinsic cues promotes identity-congruent behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    15. Insoo Cho & Peter F. Orazem, 2021. "How endogenous risk preferences and sample selection affect analysis of firm survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1309-1332, April.
    16. David J. Cooper & Krista Saral & Marie Claire Villeval, 2021. "Why Join a Team?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(11), pages 6980-6997, November.
    17. Zakaria Babutsidze & Nobuyuki Hanaki & Adam Zylbersztejn, 2019. "Digital Communication and Swift Trust," SciencePo Working papers Main halshs-02050514, HAL.
    18. Brice Corgnet & Roberto Hernán Gonzalez & Ricardo Mateo, 2015. "Cognitive Reflection and the Diligent Worker: An Experimental Study of Millennials," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, November.
    19. Francesco Capozza & Ingar Haaland & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2021. "Studying Information Acquisition in the Field: A Practical Guide and Review," CEBI working paper series 21-15, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    20. Luigi Guiso, 2015. "A Test of Narrow Framing and its Origin," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 1(1), pages 61-100, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5257-:d:270501. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.