Matching Minds and Messages: The “Why” and “How” of Boosting Savings Through Construal Alignment

ABSTRACT Extant research has examined how financial message framing influences consumer behavior. However, little is known about whether the effectiveness of such messages depends on enduring individual traits such as Personal Saving Orientation (PSO)—a chronic disposition to integrate saving into daily life. Drawing on Construal Level Theory (CLT), we propose that message effectiveness depends on the fit between the construal level of financial messages and consumers' PSO. Specifically, high‐PSO consumers respond more favorably to low‐level (“how to save”) appeals, whereas low‐PSO consumers respond more favorably to high‐level (“why to save”) appeals. We further propose that construal‐PSO fit sequentially enhances perceived message relevance, goal importance, and ultimately willingness to save. The proposed model received consistent support across three experiments employing both scenario‐based manipulations and real financial advertisements. Our findings extend CLT by identifying PSO as a critical boundary condition for financial message framing and advance persuasion research by demonstrating that message‐trait fit shapes saving intentions through perceived relevance and goal importance. Managerially, the findings challenge one‐size‐fits‐all savings campaigns and show how tailoring “why” and “how” appeals to consumers' PSO enhances communication effectiveness.