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Sept 2023 (Vol. 64, Issue 3)

Advertising Eco-Friendly Behavior to Young Adults: “Sweat” or “Do Good”? How Young Men and Women Respond to Physical Activity- vs. Caring-Oriented Appeals
In this article, Sandra Praxmarer-Carus and Constanze Gathen (both at Bundeswehr University Munich) examine care-oriented appeals, playing on the promotion, “Take care of our planet.” Previous research has shown that the “individuals who care the least about the climate and environment tend to be young men under the age of 30.” Moreover, “being caring is perceived as feminine” and “young men tend to avoid feminine behaviors.” Noting these findings, the authors assess whether this appeal may face barriers with young males. They find that “care appeals are not attractive to everyone.” What’s more, decision involvement plays a role in the effectiveness of this emotional appeal. When involvement is low (e.g. recycling) “the physical activity appeal, compared with the care appeal, increased behavioral intentions among males.” And, when decision involvement is high (e.g. long-term commitment, such as the purchase of expensive, eco-friendly products), neither the caring- nor the physical activity appeals made a difference. Physical appeals should show people taking action by riding bicycles instead of driving, the authors suggest. Other examples could include “returning reusable containers …planting trees …building a compost bin, hosting a beach clean-up and participating in charity runs.” Among the takeaways:

  • “Environmental advertisers should be aware that care appeals make eco-friendly behaviors appear more feminine, which reduces their attractiveness to young men.
  • “This paper recommends green appeals that are perceived as gender neutral, such as the physical activity appeal used in this study.
  •   “The appeal ‘Sweating for the environment. Get active and join in’ proved more effective among young men than the conventional care appeal ‘Doing good for the environment. Take care and join in.’
  •  “Among women, the appeals did not make a difference.”

Read the full article here.