The effect of environmental versus social framing on pro-environmental behavior

Previous research suggests that individuals prioritize prosocial over pro-environmental motives whenever these motives conflict, that is, when cooperation and pro-environmental behavior are mutually exclusive. As a consequence, framing pro-environmental behavior as beneficial for others—and thus prosocial on a higher level or in the long run—should increase pro-environmental behavior in comparison to framing it as purely beneficial for the environment per se. We test this notion in three experiments (N1 = 131, N2 = 323, N3 = 259) manipulating the framing between-subjects (control, environmental frame, social frame) in a consequential social dilemma situation. Findings consistently show that both frames increase pro-environmental behavior in comparison to the control condition. Furthermore, in two out of three experiments, social framing further increases pro-environmental behavior in comparison to purely environmental framing. An overall analysis further confirmed that the combination of all hypotheses explained the data best. Together, the findings confirm the superiority of social to environmental framing in promoting pro-environmental behavior whenever prosocial and pro-environmental motives conflict. •When in conflict, prosocial motives trump pro-environmental motives.•Both environmental and social frames increase pro-environmental behavior.•Social framing increases pro-environmental behavior even more.•This might be due to the social frame dissolving the conflict between motives.