Join us for a greener future: Understanding the role of message framing in CER communication

Abstract

Companies increasingly engage in Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) activities, aiming to enhance positive brand attitudes. To facilitate this objective, they frequently employ social media platforms to share CER messages and invite consumer participation in these initiatives. This research aims to investigate how the framing of messages influences the effectiveness of CER messages that involve consumer participation (or not). A secondary data analysis using data from Twitter and two scenario-simulated experiments provide converging evidence. Namely, when the CER message on social media does not involve consumer participation invitation, the concrete and coalition messages lead to positive brand attitudes. In contrast, when the CER message on social media involves consumer participation invitation, the abstract and individual messages positively influence brand attitudes. These effects are driven by perceived motive. Our research provides important insights for brand managers aiming to use CER to improve brand performance.