FRAMING MESSAGES TOWARDS PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR: A SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY PERSPECTIVE

The urgency of environmental issues has led to increased efforts to encourage self-determined pro-environmental behaviour. Moreover, persuasive communication has also been established as having the ability to significantly increase pro-environmental behaviour. Currently, there is hardly any research that links the use of communication frames, the motivational constructs of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and pro-environmental behaviour. An experiment was conducted on 420 university students utilising messages framed in terms of addressing needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The results established the differential effect of these messages on motivation and pro-environmental behaviour. In contrast to other studies on SDT, autonomy did not play a significant role in influencing pro-environmental behaviour. Rather, messages on competence and relatedness were more influential in moving participants toward increased pro-environmental activities. Possible influences of culture and collectivism are discussed along with implications for SDT, framing theory, and environmental communications.