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Communicating Sustainability to Ethnocentric Consumers in China: Focusing on Social Distance from Foreign Corporations

Author

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  • Gain Park

    (Department of Journalism and Media Studies, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA)

  • Hyun Soon Park

    (Department of Media and Communication, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 03063, Korea)

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between social distance perception and company/sustainability campaign evaluations. The study also investigates the moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism in the relationship between the variables. This study further compares the effects of construal message framing (high-level vs. low-level construal) on social distance perception. The SPSS PROCESS macro analysis revealed that social distance perception from a corporation negatively affects company evaluations. Moreover, the results demonstrated that consumer ethnocentrism significantly moderates the relationship between social distance perception and company/sustainability campaign evaluations. Finally, the results indicate that construal message framing significantly affects the level of social distance perception from the host of a sustainability campaign. This paper provides practical suggestions for corporates’ sustainability communications and adds to the literature on the reverse effect of construal level theory and social distance reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Gain Park & Hyun Soon Park, 2020. "Communicating Sustainability to Ethnocentric Consumers in China: Focusing on Social Distance from Foreign Corporations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:47-:d:466826
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    References listed on IDEAS

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