KOREASCHOLAR

This research employs two studies to examine the effects of individuals’ (promotion versus prevention) regulatory focus on a variety of environmentally responsible reactions. Results of Study 1 revealed a significant positive correlation between chronic promotion focus and general environmental concern but no significant correlation between chronic prevention focus and environmental concern. Study 2 examined the relationships between an individual’s regulatory focus, both measured and primed, and environmental concern, attitudes toward and intentions to perform environmentally responsible behaviors, and affect toward self and others who did or did not engage in environmentally responsible behaviors. The influence of regulatory fit (i.e., promotion focus & recycle message; prevention focus & reduce message) on these same variables was also investigated. Results showed that participants’ general environmental concern, attitudes toward and intentions to act on specific conservation messaging, and positive emotions toward themselves and others that do respond favorably to the messages intensified as their chronic promotion focus rose. A positive relationship between chronic promotion focus and negative emotions directed at others that do not make an effort to do what the conservation message advocates was also evident. In addition, general environmental concern fully mediated the effect of chronic promotion focus on positive emotions as a result of others’ environmentally responsible actions. Partial mediation via environmental concern also takes place on intentions to follow the message advice and positive emotions directed toward oneself on doing so. Chronic prevention focus was not significantly related with general environmental concern, attitudes toward or intentions to engage in the recommended conservation behavior. As participants’ chronic prevention focus rose however, their negative emotions as a result of they themselves as well as others not following this advice increased. Study 2 also revealed that priming a promotion focus strengthened environmentally responsible attitudes and intentions, and positive emotions toward others that behaved responsibly. Results also showed that a promotion prime also triggered greater negative emotions directed at others that did not behave responsibly. Conversely, a prevention focus prime did not significantly alter attitudes or intentions to do as the conservation message advocated. Further testing revealed greater positive affect toward others’ environmental responsibility as a result of prevention priming. No fit effects between chronic or primed regulatory (promotion or prevention) focus and conservation messages (framed as recycle, reduce, or recycle and reduce) were found in this study however. This lack of effects may have been due to the majority of participants inferring that the conservation messages contained both recycle and reduce components regardless of the type of message they viewed. This work has extended our understanding of Regulatory Focus Theory by demonstrating the relationship of promotion focus to environmental concern and its influence on environmental attitudes and intentions. Our results suggest that environmentally responsible attitudes and intentions may be encouraged by fostering the adoption of a promotion focus. Our results further suggest that fostering a promotion focus may yield both positive affect for self and others who do behave in an environmentally responsible manner and negative affect for self and others who do not behave in an environmentally responsible manner.

• Namita Bhatnag(University of Manitoba)
• Jane McKay-Nesbitt(Bryant University)