Battle of the E-cowarriors: Differential effects of environmental appeals by influencers and organizations on youth's pro-environmental attitudes and behavior intentions
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Environmental social media influencers (SMIs)—or ‘greenfluencers’—nowadays receive considerable scholarly and public attention. Yet, SMIs' persuasive power compared to institutional sources like environmental nonprofit organizations (ENPOs) on social media remains uninvestigated. We address this gap with a pre-registered between-subjects experiment (N = 269) among 16-to-25-year-olds from Belgium using real SMIs and ENPOs. We find that both sources affect pro-environmental outcomes, but via different mechanisms and among different groups. ENPOs are perceived as more trustworthy, which translates to higher pro-environmental attitudes and behavior intentions. SMIs affect pro-environmental behavior intentions via wishful identification and perceived similarity—yet only among women with higher environmental concern. Both sources stimulate pro-environmental outcomes via perceptions of attainability. Finally, SMIs' effects on pro-environmental outcomes are not fully explained by these source perceptions, which points to the necessity to study additional mechanisms. Overall, our findings illuminate important boundary conditions and mechanisms of newfangled pro-environmental persuasion via social media.
期刊介绍:
Computers in Human Behavior is a scholarly journal that explores the psychological aspects of computer use. It covers original theoretical works, research reports, literature reviews, and software and book reviews. The journal examines both the use of computers in psychology, psychiatry, and related fields, and the psychological impact of computer use on individuals, groups, and society. Articles discuss topics such as professional practice, training, research, human development, learning, cognition, personality, and social interactions. It focuses on human interactions with computers, considering the computer as a medium through which human behaviors are shaped and expressed. Professionals interested in the psychological aspects of computer use will find this journal valuable, even with limited knowledge of computers.