Facebook has served as an increasingly important platform for communicating risks in relation to climate change. On the one hand, a large number of people nowadays obtain information about public affairs on social media. On the other hand, both government agencies and non-governmental organizations have established Facebook pages to promote a low-carbon lifestyle. Therefore, the role of Facebook in shaping pro-environmental behaviors warrants examination.
Based on the fear appeal theories, exposure to risk information would trigger both negative emotions and cognitive appraisals (efficacy), which, in turn, may affect subsequent actions. However, the dynamics between emotions and efficacy was not clear yet. Furthermore, previous research in this field mainly focused on tradition media, with little attention paid to the newer forms of communication, such as Facebook. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the linear relationship between Facebook use (including both passive use and active use), perceived vulnerability, worry, efficacy, and pro-environmental behaviors. It is noteworthy that this study distinguishes between a more passive form of use, which refers to information exposure and “like” messages, and a more active form, which includes commenting on and forwarding messages.
Using an online survey of 1,000 respondents in Taiwan, this study found that passive Facebook use (ß = .14, p < .01), perceived vulnerability (ß = .11, p < .01), and self-efficacy (ß = .33, p < .01) were positively related to pro-environmental behaviors. In addition to direct effects, passive Facebook use also exerted indirect effects on pro-environmental behaviors through perceived vulnerability (ß = .03, p < .01) and self-efficacy (ß = .04, p < .01). The indirect path from passive Facebook use through perceived vulnerability and self-efficacy to pro-environmental behaviors was also statistically significant (ß = .04, p < .01). In contrast, active Facebook use did not affect pro-environmental behaviors either directly or indirectly. Although passive Facebook use exerted some impacts on worry, its indirect effect on pro-environmental behavior was not significant because worry did not serve as a valid predictor of behaviors. The finding partially supports the mediating notion of fear appeal in that the effect of negative emotions on behaviors was mediated by the coping appraisal process.