Annual Conference 2019

This study examines the effects of the interaction between social distance and message orientation (i.e., construal level effects) on responses to advertising messages that promote recycling behaviors. The results show that the messages focused on the high-level (why-laden) features were more persuasive in terms of generating more positive attitudes toward advertising when messages are framed in terms of socially distant entities (i.e., the planet, earth, or globe), whereas the messages focused on the low-level (how-laden) features were more effective when asking participants to make judgments for their proximal entities (i.e., the U.S. or local community). For behavioral attitudes and intentions these effects were observed under the how-laden and proximal condition, but not observed under the why-laden and distant condition. The findings demonstrate a unique pattern of construal level fit effects in the context of recycling advertising campaigns. Also, the moderated mediating analysis suggests the role of message persuasiveness in mediating the relationship between construal level fit and outcome variables. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.