Pro-environmental behavior in climate change mitigation: The role of psychological distance

This research examines consumer pro-environmental behavior and loyalty to energy-efficient appliances, aiming to mitigate the effects of climate change by integrating construal level theory and environmental responsibility foundational theory as the underlying frameworks. This study further develops a behavioral model to better understand how consumers perceive climate change and how their subjective psychological distance cognitively interprets objects, influencing their purchase behavior for energy-efficient appliances. This study also examines the mediating roles of the environmental responsibility chain with proximal psychological distance and behavioral intention. A structural equation model was applied to explore the model and hypotheses for 1020 valid respondents from Bangladesh. Findings reveal that proximal psychological distance has a significant positive relationship with environmental attitude, environmental ethics, self-responsibility, social responsibility, moral norms and behavior intention. Nevertheless, proximal psychological distance, self-responsibility, and moral norms have an insignificant relationship with consumer loyalty. To our knowledge, it is the first empirical study in Bangladesh to comprehensively explain consumer purchasing behavior intention and loyalty to energy-efficient appliances. Theoretical, managerial, and social contributions of consumers' pro-environmental behavior in climate change mitigation are discussed.