The Differential Impacts of Threat-Awe and Awe on Consumer Engagement with Extraordinary Environmental Campaigns

Abstract

Threatening Arctic imagery is among the most frequently used forms of visual communication in digital environmental campaigns to emphasize climate urgency. Although such imagery captures attention, it often evokes anxiety, limiting its capacity to promote meaningful consumer engagement. This study argues that this paradox arises from the contrasting effects of awe and threat-awe in the context of extraordinary nature. In Arctic settings, threat-awe diminishes favorable attitudes by reducing individuals’ desire to connect with nature, while this negative influence is weaker among those higher in openness to experience. Across three experiments (including two sub-studies; N = 692), Study 1 demonstrates that threat-awe decreases campaign favorability, Studies 2A and 2B show that this relationship is mediated by a diminished desire to connect with nature, and Study 3 confirms that openness to experience moderates this process as a boundary condition. Theoretically, this research extends awe scholarship to digital environmental campaigns, reconceptualizes desire for nature connection as a central mediating mechanism, and identifies openness as a moderating boundary condition. Practically, it advises NGOs and marketers to emphasize positive awe rather than threat- based appeals and to tailor campaign messages to recipients’ personality traits to achieve a balanced delivery of urgency and efficacy.