Driving Mechanism of Pro-Environmental Donation Intentions: An Experimental Study Based on Social Norms and Personal Norms

Promoting pro-environmental behavior is crucial for addressing environmental challenges and achieving sustainable development. Social norms, as a powerful situational force, are considered an effective strategy for encouraging environmental protection actions. However, the mechanisms and boundaries of different types of social norms remain unclear. This study focuses on the pro-environmental donation context, aiming to reveal how social norms influence donation intentions, particularly the mediating role of personal norms and the moderating effect of social distance. Through two online experimental studies, this study manipulates norm types and social distance while measuring participants’ personal norms and donation intentions. The findings suggest that injunctive social norms are more effective than descriptive norms in promoting donation intentions, with personal norms mediating this effect. Social distance moderates the effect of norm type: descriptive norms are more effective in close social distance, while injunctive norms have a stronger impact in distant social distance. This study not only systematically outlines the psychological pathway through which social norms drive pro-environmental behavior but also reveals a “norm type-psychological distance” matching effect, providing a theoretical basis and practical guidance for targeted and context-specific environmental communication and donation interventions.