Memento Mori: mortality salience, legacy and time perspective in sustainable consumption

Purpose The purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of the interplay between mortality salience, mortality legacy and sustainable consumption behavior. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online questionnaire from 1,000 consumers aged over 25 in the USA. Findings The results show that mortality salience induces sustainable behavior and that mortality legacy mediates this relationship. Moreover, a limited future time perspective is found to moderate the mediation process in the path from mortality salience to mortality legacy. Furthermore, age did not emerge as a significant moderator of the indirect effect of mortality salience on sustainable consumption behavior through mortality legacy. Originality/value The findings connect the terror management theory with the socioemotional selectivity theory. They also reveal that marketers can nudge consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior by incorporating mortality salience and legacy appeals into their marketing communications.