Abstract
This experimental study examined factors affecting the evaluation of environmental advertisements. We analyzed the effects of involvement with the environmental problems and eco-products, and media-literacy. Also, we experimentally considered whether the advertisement’s framing ( “ecology-focused” and “economy-focused”) moderates the effects of involvement and media-literacy on its evaluation.
We conducted a scenario experiment by a mail survey in 2009. The number of respondents was 204 and the collection rate was 37.8%. We used a fictional car ad and a refrigerator ad as the experimental stimulus.
The results showed that involvement with the environmental problems did not affect the evaluation of the advertisements; however, involvement with eco-products had a positive effect and media-literacy had a negative effect on the evaluation. The results of the experimental manipulation showed that media-literacy had a stronger negative effect and involvement with eco-products had a weaker positive effect on “ecology-focused” condition than on “economy-focused” one; while there was no significant difference between the mean of evaluation on “ecology-focused” condition and “economy-focused” one.
