Talking to Nature: The Role of Nature Anthropomorphism and Spatial Distance in Enhancing Sustainable Consumption through the Formation of Global Identity

This research explores how nature anthropomorphism in advertising messages cultivates favorable attitudes toward sustainability and purchase intentions toward environmentally friendly products. Employing a 2 (nature anthropomorphism: presence vs. absence) x 2 (spatial distance: distant vs. close) between-subjects experiment, this study finds that messages with anthropomorphized (vs. non-anthropomorphized) nature foster more positive attitudes toward sustainability through the mediation of a shared global identity among consumers. Moreover, this mediation effect becomes more prominent when anthropomorphized nature messages are paired with spatially distant (vs. close) messages. The study further emphasizes that favorable attitudes toward sustainability predict purchase intentions. These findings suggest that integrating nature personas and spatial distance framing into advertising messages enhances purchase intentions for environmentally friendly products, and this effect occurs through sequential mediation involving global identity and sustainability attitudes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.