Working-Together Normative Appeals to Promote Pro-Environmental Donations

Abstract

Investigating the role of social norms in fostering pro-environmental behaviors is crucial for advancing human efforts toward environmental protection. This study employed a one-way, two-level, between-participants experimental design, focusing on the type of social norm as the independent variable and pro-environmental donations as the dependent variable. This study aimed to explore the impact of working-together normative appeals on pro-environmental donations and to understand the underlying mediating mechanism. In total, 128 Chinese university students participated in an online experiment. The findings indicated that working-together normative appeals significantly increased both the intention to donate and the actual amount of pro-environmental donations in the experimental group compared to those in the control group. Furthermore, the perceived behavioral control and intentions towards pro-environmental donations were identified as mediators in the relationship between social norm categorization and pro-environmental donations. Notably, intentions towards pro-environmental donations alone had a substantial mediating effect. These results underscore the positive influence of working-together normative appeals on pro-environmental donations and offer valuable insights into encouraging active participation in the creation of an eco-friendly society, particularly within a collectivist cultural context.