Little is known on how to encourage effortful (rather than effortless) conservation behaviors, and prior research investigated only single (rather than multiple) message appeals in terms of their persuasive power in promoting pro-environmental intentions. The current study uses a framework from evolutionary psychology to propose and test a blend of message appeals that is most likely to drive green behaviors perceived as effortful. An experiment with a 2 (yes versus no anthropomorphic cue) × 2 (negative versus positive message frame) between-subjects design was run, and effort was included as a measured factor. The findings reveal that negatively framed messages are most effective in prompting effortful (but not effortless) pro-environmental intentions only when they are coupled with anthropomorphic cues (no differences between loss and gain messages were found when no anthropomorphism was used). These effects were replicated across two types of behaviors: water conservation and waste reduction.

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Although marketers have been using various message tactics to breathe life into their brands, the concepts of animism and animistic cues, particularly in social media marketing, have received little theoretical and empirical attention. Therefore, we conducted two studies to uncover what drives animistic thinking on social media, how animism is linked to anthropomorphism, how animism can benefit brands online, and what the boundary conditions for this phenomenon are. The findings demonstrate that animistic (vs. non-animistic) cues elicit animistic thinking, which leads to more favorable brand evaluations. This effect is moderated by superstitious beliefs. The results provide new knowledge for both marketing researchers and practitioners, revealing that it is easier to activate animism than anthropomorphism on social media and that such activation can be done via easily devisable cues (such as simple movement), particularly when addressing highly superstitious consumers.

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