Does Fear of the New Coronavirus Lead to Low-Carbon Behaviors: The Moderating Effect of Outcome Framing

Abstract

Purpose: Air pollution has been found to aggravate the infection and mortality of COVID-19, leading to increasing attention on pro-environmental behaviors. Considering individuals' psychological distance from COVID-19, this research aims to examine the relationship between fear of COVID-19, air pollution concern, and low-carbon behaviors. Methods: Two survey-based studies were conducted in this research. Study 1 consisted of 323 participants and examined the relationships between psychological distance (PD) from COVID-19, fear of COVID-19, air pollution concern, and low-carbon behaviors. Study 2 identified the moderating effect of outcome framing using an intergroup experiment in which 304 participants were randomly assigned to two groups (gain framing vs loss framing). Results:The results of Study 1 showed that the closer the PD was, the higher the fear was. Fear of COVID-19 and low-carbon behaviors were positively associated. Additionally, air pollution concern acted as a mediator in their relationship. The results of the moderating effect test in Study 2 showed that fear and air pollution concern led to higher low-carbon behavioral intention within gain framing than within loss framing. Conclusion:This research revealed that personal fear of public health emergencies will lead to environmental pollution concern and pro-environmental behaviors, and information from the outside plays a moderating role. The results provide implications for policy advocacy of the health and environmental sectors and for guiding people's low-carbon behaviors.

Did Anything Good Come Out of the Pandemic? COVID-19-Stress Induced Self-Regulatory Sustainable Apparel Consumption among the Millennials in the U.S.

“…For example, anxiety due to the perceived threat to climate change and poor environmental health led to adaptive behaviors such as climate activism to reduce the carbon footprint [23,54]. The fear of COVID-19 was found to be positively correlated with lowcarbon footprint behaviors [29][30][31]. Integrating this literature with the cognitive dissonance theory [45] and compensatory consumer behavior model [41], we suggest that this COVID-19-stress will motivate millennials to protect the environment in the hope of improving environmental health and becoming more immune to the health risks associated with the pandemic.…”

“…Several studies have indicated that the fear and stress experienced during the pandemic influenced intentions for sustainable consumption [1][2][3][4][5][29][30][31]. Because millennials are widely known for their environmental concerns/awareness [6][7][8][10][11][12][13]78,80], it is particularly important to explore how they have responded to the environmental crisis amid the pandemic through their consumption habits.…”

“…Because millennials are widely known for their environmental concerns/awareness [6][7][8][10][11][12][13]78,80], it is particularly important to explore how they have responded to the environmental crisis amid the pandemic through their consumption habits. Studies have shown an increase in wasteful [32][33][34][35][36] and sustainable consumption [29][30][31] amid the pandemic to cope with the fear and stress experienced due to the pandemic. While wasteful and sustainable consumptions are contradictory in nature, the extant literature indicated that millennials engaged in the wasteful consumption of essential products (e.g., food; toilet paper) but refrained from apparel shopping amid the pandemic [39].…”

“…However, there is limited research on alternative ways of coping with COVID-19-stress which can reduce millennials' dependence on maladaptive practices. Although a few research studies indicated how the anxiety and stress experienced during the pandemic encouraged sustainable consumption intentions (e.g., buying environmentally friendly products) [29][30][31], there is a lack of research on how COVID-19-stress can beget intentions for sustainable apparel consumption and if that could be an effective strategy for coping with COVID-19-stress among millennials. Our study opens avenues for research in this area.…”

The Covid-19 pandemic in context of climate change perception and resource-saving behavior in the European Union countries

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar, the study by Hassen et al (2020) observed shifts toward more healthy and sustainable diets. Liu et al (2021) discovered that fear of COVID-19 was positively associated with low-carbon behavior. However, Urban and Kohlová's (2022) study found no uniform effect on the behavioral costs of pro-environmental behaviors, nor on green decision-making.…”