Construal Level Theory Research Articles (Page 1)

ABSTRACT Mitigating climate change requires systemic policy reforms complemented by shifts in individual behaviors, particularly in adopting climate-friendly food choices. Adolescents, an influential yet understudied demographic for dietary change interventions, represent a critical target group. This study explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) to initiate and maintain climate-friendly food choices among adolescents, leveraging exemplification and construal level theory to test whether tangibility increases psychological proximity, and whether this pathway relates to behavior. A mixed-design field experiment (N = 150) across nine high schools tested VR (vs. control) as a between-subjects factor and time (T1, T2, T3) as a within-subjects factor. Results show that VR interventions promote and sustain climate-friendly food choices, with tangibility and proximity operating as serial mechanisms of change. These findings offer insights for researchers, policymakers, and NGOs, highlighting VR’s potential as a tool for fostering sustainable consumption patterns and advancing global climate change mitigation efforts.

ABSTRACT Informed by construal level theory, this study used AI-generated health messages to examine how feasibility (“how”) versus desirability (“why”) framing, in either text or audiovisual modalities, influenced self-efficacy and organ donation sign-up intentions for individuals at different stages of behavior change. Results indicated that feasibility messages significantly boosted self-efficacy, especially among those who had not yet formed an intention, while media modality alone showed no significant effect. Self-efficacy was, in turn, positively associated with the likelihood to register as an organ donor. By integrating psychological theory with AI-generated health messaging, this study offers a cost-effective and scalable approach that can be adapted to various health domains. These insights are especially relevant for health communication professionals seeking to enhance audience engagement and promote critical health behaviors.

In recent years, brands have increasingly adopted value-driven marketing strategies by aligning themselves with social causes such as environmental sustainability, gender equality, and other human rights issues. However, many brands have been criticised for engaging in purpose-washing, superficially promoting social values without genuine commitment, threatening consumer trust and perceptions of brand authenticity. This study explores how purpose-washing practices—including greenwashing, femwashing, rainbowwashing, and wokewashing—shape consumer perceptions of brand authenticity. Using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach, this research synthesises findings from articles published between 2020 and 2025. The review identifies key antecedents of authenticity perception, such as message clarity, cause–brand fit, communication strategies, psychological connection, and perceived sincerity. It also maps the theoretical frameworks used such as Attribution Theory, Congruence Theory, and Construal Level Theory and highlights the psychological and behavioural outcomes associated with perceived authenticity, ranging from positive attitudes and loyalty to skepticism, backlash, and brand avoidance. The results indicate that brand authenticity is crucial in influencing how consumers react to value-driven campaigns, and that any misalignment between a brand’s messaging and its actual practices tends to provoke perceptions of hypocrisy. This study concludes that authentic communication and ethical consistency are essential for maintaining trust in brand activism. The research offers practical implications for marketers, emphasising the importance of transparency and long-term alignment with social values. It also provides a foundation for future empirical studies examining the complex relationship between authenticity, ethics, and consumer behaviour in branding.

Introduction Health-related food choices are often influenced by two central attributes: food type (such as healthy vs. less healthy) and food quantity (such as large vs. small portions). Based on Construal Level Theory (CLT), this research investigates how both chronic and situational construal levels guide consumers’ attention toward these attributes and how this process varies by age. By examining decisions under caloric equivalence, the study aims to explain when and why equally caloric foods are chosen differently among consumers of different age groups. Methods Four experiments were conducted across two main studies. Study 1A examined how individuals’ chronic construal levels, measured by the Behavioral Identification Form (BIF), influence food choices between healthy large portions and less healthy small portions of the same calories. Study 1B experimentally manipulated situational construal levels through temporal distance and tested their causal effects on food choices. Study 2A explored whether age predicts individuals’ tendency to adopt highor low-level construals. Study 2B further investigated whether attentional focus on food type versus quantity mediates the relationship between age and food choice using a nationally representative sample. Results Across Studies 1A and 1B, individuals with a low-level construal were relatively more likely to focus on food quantity and select smaller portions even when these were less healthy, whereas those with a high-level construal focused on food type and preferred healthier options. Study 2A found that older adults were more likely to exhibit lower-level, concrete thinking compared to younger adults. Study 2B showed that age-related differences increased older adults’ attentional focus on food quantity, which in turn led them to choose smaller but less healthy foods. The findings collectively reveal that age affects food decisions indirectly through differences in attentional focus and construal level. Discussion Together, these studies integrate construal level and age within a unified framework of health-related food decision-making. The results demonstrate that construal level serves as a key psychological mechanism explaining why people of different ages make different food choices even when calorie levels are identical. This research provides valuable insights for developing age-tailored health communication strategies and designing more effective dietary interventions that account for cognitive and motivational differences across age groups.

ABSTRACT This study investigates how consumers′ power states influence visual shape preferences, and how scarcity reverses these effects. It challenges prevailing knowledge in sensory marketing. Across four online experiments with over 885 U.S. and U.K. participants, we demonstrate that low‐power consumers prefer circular shapes, which convey warmth and safety, while high‐power consumers tend to choose angular shapes that signal competence and control. Study 1 confirms baseline differences in shape preference across power levels. Study 2 demonstrates that perceived safety and risk mediate the relationship between power and shape preference supporting Risk Perception Theory and the Agentic–Communal Model. Under scarcity, Study 3 reveals a reversal, with low‐power consumers shifting toward angular shapes to prioritize efficiency. Study 4 shows that time pressure strengthens this shift, reflecting urgency‐driven, goal‐directed behavior consistent with Construal Level Theory. These results connect power psychology, risk perception and construal‐level theory providing novel insights for branding, product design, and scarcity‐based marketing strategies. Marketers should align product esthetics with consumers′ power states and situational constraints to enhance persuasion, especially during urgency‐based promotions or resource‐limited contexts.

Purpose This study examines how charity advertising appeals and numeric formats jointly influence donation intentions, drawing on construal-level theory and dual coding theory. Design/methodology/approach Five experiments (N = 1,338) investigated the effects of numeric formats (Arabic vs verbal numerals) and charity advertising appeals (competence-based vs warmth-based) on donation intentions, with perceived fit and expected value as mediators and sense of power as a moderator. Findings Competence-based appeals were more effective with Arabic numerals, whereas warmth-based appeals were more effective with verbal numerals. Perceived fit and expected value mediated these effects and sense of power moderated the interaction. Originality/value This study shows that aligning numeric formats with appeal types enhances donation intentions, offering insights into personalized interactive marketing. It extends research on cognitive mechanisms in charity advertising and provides practical guidance for designing more effective strategies to increase engagement and donations across diverse audiences.

Studies are scarce on examining the influences of tourism marketing messages on tourists’ perceived message authenticity and destination trust, particularly in the post-crisis contexts. Drawing from the construal level theory and the prospect theory, and using a 2 × 2 experimental design approach, two separate experiments were conducted to investigate the direct effect of benefit appeal (i.e., self- and other-benefit) on participants’ perceived message authenticity, and the moderating effect (i.e., destination message framing strategy and tourist attribute) on the relationship between benefit message appeal and perceived message authenticity. Applying the trust transfer theory, this study also confirmed the positive sequent relationship between message authenticity, destination trust and visit intentions to the destination. This study provides both theoretical contributions to destination marketing and managerial implications for marketing strategy development.

The topic of environmental protection has received more and more attention, among which pro-environmental behavior is a major focus of attention. Based on the findings of construal level theory, behavioral labels, and personal norms, combined with the principles of mental imagery, this study explored how behavioral labels affect consumers’ pro-environmental behavior through three experiments, and analyzed the mechanism of construal level, personal norms and mental imagery. The study found that pro-environmental behavior labeling can effectively promote consumers to implement corresponding behaviors, and verifies the applicability of behavior labeling theory in this field. Mediating mechanism analysis showed that mental imagery and personal norms mediated the relationship, while construal level moderated the effect of behavioral labels on personal norms. Different from the positive moderating effect of conventional cognition, it was found that the construal level played a negative moderating role in the related mechanism. The study reveals the enhancement effect of behavioral labeling in pro-environmental behavior and its boundary conditions, which provides new inspiration for the expansion of related theories and practical application.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-18357-4.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the cultural divergence in negotiation styles between China and the USA through the lens of Construal Level Theory (CLT). Specifically, it examines whether Chinese negotiators exhibit a more abstract mindset compared to American negotiators and explores how these tendencies manifest across different industrial sectors. Design/methodology/approach A structured survey of 1,081 business management students from China and the USA was conducted, using eight negotiation-style items that capture abstract-concrete differences in both purpose and process. Principal component analysis was used to create composite scores. Regression models including GLM and robustness checks were used to test cultural effects and industry variations. Findings Chinese negotiators demonstrate significantly higher abstract construal levels than their American counterparts, both in negotiation purpose and process. The findings are robust across models and controls. Notably, the abstract-concrete divide is more pronounced in knowledge-intensive industries such as information technology, manufacturing and health care. Originality/value This study integrates CLT into international negotiation research, offering empirical validation of cognitive distance as a function of national culture. It contributes to a deeper understanding of how cultural mindsets shape negotiation behaviors and provides practical insights for cross-cultural conflict management and negotiation training programmes.

ABSTRACTFuture‐oriented thinking appears conducive to fostering creativity. However, various unreconciled theoretical accounts have been proposed, and whether past‐oriented thinking facilitates creativity has been under‐explored. By leveraging differing expectations associated with past‐oriented thinking, this paper compares the (1) creativity‐facilitating schemas, (2) construal level theory, and (3) conceptual combination hypotheses of how time‐oriented thought relates to creativity. This research conducted two experiments simultaneously investigating past‐, present‐, and future‐oriented thought (Study 1, N = 258) and inducing the juxtaposition of past and present time frames (Study 2, N = 205). Results replicated and supported the creativity‐facilitating schema hypothesis. Furthermore, the current research revealed an interesting possibility that the schema and construal level explanations operate antagonistically to create a suppression effect in the link between past‐oriented thinking and creativity. This research provides insights into how time‐oriented thought impacts creativity and calls attention to some nuanced directions that future research could address.

ABSTRACT Climate change is increasing the frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme weather, including extreme heat. As 87 million U.S. households include pets, and 97% of those households identify their pets as a family member, it is important to understand how a changing environment is impacting interspecies families. Applying the construal level theory for psychological distancing to climate change, this study explored the relationship between a pet impacted by extreme heat and climate anxiety. This secondary-data analysis of the July 2024 AP-NORC Center Poll AmeriSpeak Omnibus® survey of 1,143 U.S. adults included a subsample of 798 pet caregivers. A significant positive relationship was found between the subjective report of a pet impacted by extreme heat and self-reported climate anxiety. Implications for understanding how the construal level theory for climate change applies within the human-animal connection and the role of pets in identifying risk for climate anxiety.

Purpose The question of when and how customer mistreatment occurs remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of future focus among hospitality employees on their high-level construal and subsequent perception of customer mistreatment based on construal level theory. Additionally, this study aims to test daily work meaningfulness as a key boundary condition. Design/methodology/approach This study involved a ten-day daily diary research with hospitality employees. In the first stage, hospitality employees completed measures of future focus and provided demographic information. During the subsequent two-week period, participants completed questionnaires twice daily, measuring their daily construal level, perceived daily customer mistreatment and perceived daily work meaningfulness. The final sample comprised 88 hospitality employees, with a total of 841 surveys. Findings Hospitality employees’ future focus increased their daily high-level construal, which, in turn, enabled them to perceive more daily customer mistreatment. Moreover, daily work meaningfulness weakened the direct relationship between daily high-level construal and daily customer mistreatment as well as the indirect relationship via daily construal level. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that fostering employees’ future focus and enhancing daily work meaningfulness may reduce the negative impact of customer mistreatment, offering actionable strategies for service organizations. Originality/value This research provides a novel perspective to understand how employees perceive customer mistreatment by testing the predictive role of hospitality employees’ future focus and sheds light on the cognitive aspects of customer mistreatment as the underlying mechanism. Furthermore, this research provides effective guidance for mitigating or reducing employees’ perception of customer mistreatment.

In today’s uncertain technological landscape, the need to futureproof generative AI (GAI) research is clear yet understudied. Drawing on Construal Level Theory and Time Perspective Theory, this study investigates how consumers process GAI information with futureproofing attributes across temporal distances. Using PLS-SEM and NCA, multigroup analysis identified distinct information-processing pathways shaped by uncertainty and futureproofing perceptions. Results show that both future- and present-oriented consumers associate futureproofing attributes with uncertainty rather than futureproofing perceptions in distant contexts. Consumers also evaluated uncertainty and futureproofing differently across temporal distances, with uncertainty mediating the link between attributes and attitudes. The negative relationship between futureproofing perception and uncertainty was elaborated. The research advances Construal Level Theory and Technology Acceptance frameworks by introducing futureproofing as a temporally embedded, AI-specific attribute and highlighting the cognitive tension it creates. Practically, it guides AI marketers to align message abstraction and launch strategies with consumers' temporal orientation.

ABSTRACT While the health effects of climate change are well-documented, the effectiveness of emphasizing these impacts in climate communication remains underexplored. Additionally, these health impacts are often depicted in distant scenarios, such as those affecting communities in developing countries or in psychologically closer contexts, such as threats to local neighborhoods where the health risks are immediate and tangible. Based on construal level theory and narrative persuasion framework, this study examines how distance framing and narrative message formats influence psychological distance, climate health worry, and climate-friendly actions. The results indicated that proximal framing of climate health impacts reduces psychological distance, increases climate health worry, and encourages climate-friendly behaviors. Narrative messages were more effective than non-narrative ones in reducing psychological distance, increasing climate health worry and promoting climate-friendly behaviors, particularly when combined with proximal framing. Our study offers significant practical implications for professionals and communicators in the field of climate change communication.

ABSTRACT This article investigates corporate communications during mass customer terminations by examining how consumers perceive altruistic and egoistic messaging across psychological distance dimensions. Focusing on an electricity retailer (ER) that encouraged customers to switch providers, the research draws on Construal Level Theory (CLT) to explore customer reactions to relationship termination. Using an interpretive case study, it identifies how transparency and customer advocacy influence trust, and how expectations about future outcomes reveal abstract and concrete construal. Altruistic messages reduce psychological distance and build trust, whereas egoistic framing increases scepticism and detachment. The study introduces the Dual Perception ion Compass (DPAC), a conceptual framework that maps customer perceptions through the CLT lens, highlighting how message framing alters construal. These insights support managers in crafting communication strategies that align with customer values and emotions. By anticipating consumer interpretations, firms can respond to volatile market conditions with empathy, clarity, and integrity.

Exploring consumer adoption of zero-emission vehicles: Integrating behavioural reasoning and construal level theory in early technology diffusion

Virtual influencers (VIs) are computer-generated characters that serve as influencers and offer novel advertising strategies for travel and tourism brands. Virtual influencers are gaining prominence as a way of attracting people's attention on social media, but limited research has been conducted on this subject. In the present study, we explore the effects of VIs versus traditional human influencers (HIs) for material and experiential products on influencer attitudes. Drawing on construal level theory, we conducted three between-subjects experiments using a 2 (influencer type: HI vs. VI) × 2 (product type: material vs. experiential) design. Our findings suggest that VIs endorsements of experiential products lead to higher influencer attitudes than HI endorsements, which generate more desirable outcomes for material products. Results also show that perceived credibility and calculative motive play significant mediating roles in these effects.

Floods are among the most frequent and destructive natural disasters globally, inflicting extensive damage on infrastructure, causing significant economic losses, displacing communities, and triggering public health crises. Developing countries are particularly vulnerable due to inadequate infrastructure, substandard housing, widespread poverty, and low adaptive capacity-challenges that are especially pronounced in rural areas. In the absence of effective mitigation systems, the impact of floods on rural communities can intensify, potentially resulting in the complete collapse of local livelihoods. Therefore, enhancing the resilience of these communities through targeted capacity-building and resilience strategies is essential. This study aims to identify the key factors influencing the adoption of flood preparedness measures in rural regions of Iran. The primary research instrument was a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). This study employed Construal Level Theory (CLT) as its theoretical framework. The findings revealed that CLT components-including geographical distance, temporal distance, social distance, hypothetical distance, belief in climate change, and flood risk perception-significantly influence the adoption of protective measures prior to flood events, collectively explaining 67.1% of the variance. Notably, this research marks the first application of CLT in the context of flood preparedness, both in Iran and globally. As such, it offers novel insights for the development of effective flood management strategies in rural communities and lays a foundation for strengthening the resilience of their livelihoods.

We examine how two cognitive characteristics of chief executive officers (CEOs)—their construal level and cognitive flexibility—influence a firm’s ambidexterity (i.e., the firm’s ability to pursue exploration and exploitation simultaneously). Drawing on construal level theory, we argue that CEOs who think at more abstract levels are better able to adapt to the changing conditions of exploration and exploitation flexibly, and are thus more effective at achieving ambidexterity. We examined these proposed hypotheses in a sample of 344 Korean small- and medium-sized enterprises, using surveys of matched CEOs and executives at two points in time with a one-year lag. We find that higher CEO construal levels are associated with greater CEO cognitive flexibility, which in turn positively influence firm ambidexterity. Additionally, findings from a post hoc analysis indicate that the effects of CEO construal levels and cognitive flexibility differ depending on the firm’s size. This study provides new insights on managerial cognition and the microfoundations of ambidexterity.

Purpose The literature on ethical consumption focuses only on ethical factors and respondents are affected by social desirability bias. Thus, consumers affirm that they will avoid purchasing unethical products, yet few actually do. This study aims to address this gap by comprehensively evaluating brand, product quality, sales channels and ethical factors in the Japanese coffee market and elucidates the attitude-behavior gap structure in ethical consumption. Design/methodology/approach The authors administered an online survey to 1,094 Japanese coffee consumers aged 20–60. Eligibility criteria included age and a habit of drinking at least four cups of coffee per week. Findings Structural equation modeling results indicate that ethical factors negatively impact loyalty, independent of social desirability bias, even in a survey environment. Additionally, the more frequent the consumption, the greater the negative effect of ethical factors. This is consistent with construal level theory’s claim that the closer the psychological distance, the more specific objects are emphasized compared to ideal objects. Practical implications Practitioners should not accept consumers’ survey responses regarding ethical consumption, which is susceptible to social desirability bias. Instead, practitioners should understand the mechanism of the apparent attitude-behavior gap and develop products accordingly. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that social desirability bias does not affect the research environment by comprehensively assessing coffee consumption factors beyond ethical factors.