From Passive Exposure to Green Action: A Sequential Chain-Mediation Model Linking Environmental Belief and Risk Perception to Pro-Environmental Behavior in China

Environmental degradation is no longer a distant threat; it now permeates social media feeds, casual conversations, and daily digital content. However, whether incidental exposure to environmental news leads to meaningful behavioral change remains poorly understood. This study examines how incidental environmental news exposure (IENE) relates to pro-environmental behavior (PEB) among Chinese social media users, with particular attention to the sequential chain-mediating roles of environmental belief (EB) and perceived environmental risk (PER). A theoretical model was developed and tested using survey data from 468 respondents collected in November and December 2024, and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that IENE is significantly and positively associated with EB, PER, and PEB. Notably, EB was not directly associated with PEB; its association operated almost entirely through PER, which accounted for 87.6% of the total EB–PEB association. PER emerged as the principal psychological pathway linking passive news exposure to behavioral engagement, and the structural model explained 42.1% of the variance in PEB. Because the design is cross-sectional, the results establish covariance patterns consistent with the proposed sequence rather than temporal or causal order. These findings indicate that cognitive risk appraisal, rather than environmental belief alone, constitutes the proximal mediating mechanism within the modelled pathway to pro-environmental action. Policymakers and media practitioners should accordingly design communication strategies that extend beyond general awareness-raising to link environmental threats explicitly to perceived personal and societal risk.