Effects of a social awareness communication campaign to promote sustainability at the university

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the efficacy of a United Nations (UN) sustainable communication campaign within a Spanish university community, framed through the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model. Theoretically, the study seeks to explore how a standardised external Stimulus (the campaign) influences the Organism’s internal states—specifically attitudes towards the message source (UN) versus the message object (Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs])—and the resulting behavioural (intention to adopt SDGs). Furthermore, it examines the “homogenisation effect” across diverse cognitive profiles: young students, faculty and research staff (ARS) and technical, management, administrative and services staff (TAS). Design/methodology/approach To this end, a quasi-experimental pretest−posttest design was conducted with 705 participants across three university groups. Their attitudes and intentions were measured before and after visualising an official UN communication campaign. Findings First, results revealed a divergence in persuasion outcomes: the campaign significantly enhanced attitudes towards the institutional source (the UN) but encountered a theoretical ceiling effect regarding the thematic object (the SDGs). However, the increase in behavioural intention indicated that the campaign functioned as an activation stimulus rather than an educational one. The “null” attitudinal effect obtained for the SDGs contravenes the Theory of Planned Behaviour, but is not a failure of the Persuasive Communication Theory, but a shift in its output: the message circumvented further “evaluative change” to directly “improve behaviours.” Second, initial intergroup differences (students vs. staff) were neutralised postexposure, supporting that the “standardisation” of the campaign led to a homogenisation effect. This suggested that source-driven persuasion (UN) is more resistant to segment differences than object-driven persuasion (SDGs). Practical implications This research is pioneering in demonstrating the key role of universities in disseminating sustainable practices, highlighting why standardised social communication campaigns could be used to reach different audience profiles (young students, faculty and administration). Originality/value This research offers a pioneering theoretical application of the SOR model to institutional sustainability. Results have highlighted why standardised social communication campaigns could be used to reach different audience profiles (young students, faculty and administration). Second, the “Standardisation Hypothesis” in social marketing has been validated, suggesting that universal institutional messaging can effectively synchronise the responses of diverse stakeholders (students, faculty and staff) regardless of their initial attitudinal variance. Third, an attitudinal asymmetry has been probed, as far as persuasion is not a linear process where the object and source move in tandem; rather, the source is more “elastic” and susceptible to change than a saturated thematic object.