Abstract

Promoting sustainable behaviors is essential in addressing the severe environmental challenges posed by human activities. Prior research on persuasive messaging has extensively explored the efficacy of gain vs. loss message framing. When it comes to environmental sustainability, gains (i.e., benefits) and losses (i.e., harms) often accrue in the future, thus temporal distance is an important dimension. The efficacy of presenting gains and losses in the present vs. future remains underexamined in the context of sustainability messaging. In particular, I discuss two theoretical perspectives that make different predictions about how message framing may interact with temporal distance to shape behavior. Across three studies, this thesis investigates how these variables influence purchase intentions for sustainable products. Study 1 found a significant interaction between framing and temporal distance—future-oriented loss messages led to higher purchase intentions than present-oriented loss messages, while temporal distance did not impact gain-framed messages. Study 2 replicated the effect for loss-framed messages, while gain-framed messages exhibited the reverse effect—purchase intentions were higher when gains were present- rather than future-oriented. These effects were marginally significant. Study 3 attempted to replicate these results, but found null effects. Overall, this thesis highlights the complex interplay between message framing and temporal distance, suggesting that the current understanding—both theoretical and empirical—of this topic remains incomplete. Lastly, theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future directions for research are discussed.