How should green messages be framed: Single or double?

Abstract

Researchers and marketers have been showing more interest in the areas of green product attributes. They found that consumers usually associate low quality with green products. Little is known about how to design a green message and how to present product attributes in the advertisement. The objective of this study is to examine the different impacts of message content (single vs. double message) and message order (green message presented first vs. later) on green brand attitude in green advertisement, and its moderating effects by its central and peripheral attributes. Two 2 x 2 experimental between-subjects designs were utilized to test the hypotheses. The results of Study 1 indicate that after consumers watched the double-message advertisement, they formed a significantly more positive green brand attitude toward the product compared to watching a single-message advertisement. The product attributes demonstrated their moderating effects on the above result. The central attribute expanded the difference between the double message and single message, but the peripheral attribute diluted the double-message effect. Study 2 examined the order effect in the double-message advertisement, and we found that presenting the green message first instead of later was the most effective method to persuade consumers. However, this effect was only significant when the green attribute of the product is the central attribute. The peripheral attribute would decrease the order effect in the double-message format. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided at the end of this paper.