Concrete claims or abstract visions? A Construal Level Theory perspective on sustainability communication and brand evaluation

Abstract

As sustainability becomes an increasingly expected dimension of brand identity, the question of how to communicate it credibly has become strategically consequential. This study examines how the psychological proximity of sustainability communication, in terms of message appeal abstraction and temporal distance, influences consumer brand evaluation. Drawing on Construal Level Theory (CLT), a 2×2 between-subjects experiment (n = 208) was conducted in the context of the automotive industry, exposing participants to AI-generated advertisements varying in message appeal (abstract vs. concrete) and temporal framing (proximal vs. distant). Brand credibility, brand authenticity, and consumer trust served as dependent variables, with perceived greenwashing examined as a proposed mediator. Results show that concrete message appeal consistently and significantly outperformed abstract appeal across all three dimensions of brand evaluation, with medium to large effect sizes. Temporal distance produced no significant main or interaction effects, and the hypothesized congruence effect between message abstraction and temporal framing was not supported. Perceived greenwashing did not function as a significant mediator between message appeal and brand evaluation outcomes, although it emerged as a strong independent negative predictor of consumer trust, credibility, and authenticity. These findings suggest that in high-involvement, high-scepticism contexts such as the automotive sector, the specificity and verifiability of sustainability claims matter more to consumers than temporal framing. The results contribute to CLT-based branding research by identifying a boundary condition for construal congruence effects, and carry practical implications for brand managers navigating regulatory pressure for verifiable sustainability claims.