Save the Planet or Save Some Money? How the Framing of Environmentally Friendly Behaviour Affects Consumers.

Many firms market products that encourage environmentally friendly consumption. These firms can use of one two forms of advertising appeals to promote this consumption. They can highlight the benefits to the consumer (i.e., self-benefit appeals), such as providing cost savings, or they can highlight benefits to society (i.e., other-benefit appeals), such as lower emissions. Across three studies we find that the ability for each type of appeal to generate environmentally responsible consumption is influenced by the consumption setting. In settings where public accountability is high, other-benefit appeals are more successful, and in private consumption settings self-benefit appeals are more successful.