Impact of social class on green consumption in intertemporal social decision-making

Social class serves as a critical determinant influencing public green consumption. However, its pathways and underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. Grounded in the perspective of intertemporal social decision-making, this study used the MacArthur ladder to manipulate the perceived social class of 183 participants from a Chinese university (M age = 19.57, N male = 76, N female = 107) , and subsequently examined its effect on green consumption via an equivalent substitution task. Additionally, the roles of temporal discounting and social discounting were investigated. The findings indicate that social class positively predicts participants' attitudes and behaviors toward green consumption, as well as the attitude-behavior gap. Furthermore, decision-making contexts moderate the relationship between social class and green consumption.In intertemporal decision-making scenarios, social class positively predicts green consumption attitudes and behaviors. However, the mediating roles of intertemporal and social discounting were not supported. This is because when temporal and social discounting are co-activated, cognitive overload shifts consumption toward automatic routines. This study elucidates the mechanisms through which social class influences green consumption within an intertemporal social decision-making framework. Practically, these findings offer actionable implications for segmentation strategies in green consumption marketing. Tailoring communication frameworks by social class may enhance efficacy—specifically, foregrounding intertemporal benefits for higher social-class segments, while accentuating social characteristics for low-social-class segments.