Linking Climate Change and Green Consumerism among Young Shoppers

Climate change heightens young consumers’ environmental awareness, yet causal evidence on how climate salience influences their green behaviors in non-Western contexts remains limited. This study applies the Theory of Grounded Cognition to test whether simulated adverse weather events evoke stronger environmental concern, responsibility motivation, and green behavioral intentions. An online between-subjects experiment was conducted with 164 Gen-Z university students in Malaysia, randomly assigned to adverse or normal weather scenarios. Participants completed validated scales measuring environmental concern (EC), environmental responsibility motivation (ERM), green switching intention (GSI), green brand equity (GBE), and green word-of-mouth (GWOM). Manipulation and realism checks confirmed scenario validity. It was found that exposure to adverse weather scenarios significantly increased EC and ERM, as well as GSI and GWOM, compared to the control. No significant effect was found for GBE. The findings provide experimental evidence that climate-salient scenarios intensify affective responses and some pro-environmental behaviors among Gen-Z consumers. However, brand equity evaluations appear less responsive to transient climate salience, suggesting that authentic corporate commitments and transparent practices are required for sustained brand differentiation.