Cyclical Time Is Greener: The Impact of Temporal Perspective on Pro-Environmental Behavior

The natural environment is deteriorating. However, humans have not slowed down their pace of resource depletion and environmental destruction. This research takes a particular path to understanding environmental consumption—through a focus on temporal perspective. Evidence from six studies demonstrates the positive effect of a cyclical temporal perspective, versus a linear temporal perspective, on consumers’ pro-environmental behavior. The research shows that individuals with a cyclical perspective are more likely to include the environment in the self, which leads to higher pro-environmental behavioral intentions and more pro-environmental behavior. This temporal perspective effect is attenuated for consumers already high on green values. The authors also examine a marketer-controlled moderator and show that consumers are more likely to purchase a pro-environmental product when they see a temporal-perspective-congruent promotional appeal. The research contributes to both the time perception and the environmental consumption literature and offers several practical implications for organizations to promote sustainable consumer behavior.