When environmental messages should be assertive: examining the moderating role of effort investment

The research reported in this article examined whether environmental advertisers who use assertive language can expect to have varying persuasive impacts depending on how much effort message recipients invest in completing environmentally friendly requests. The findings indicate that assertive messages cause individuals to show more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions toward recycling when they invest significant effort in following the requests. In contrast, nonassertive messages are more effective for individuals who invest little effort. Furthermore, perceived issue importance mediates the interaction between message assertiveness and effort investment for predicting attitudes toward recycling, and in turn enhances intentions to recycle.