Money or Time? The Impact of Conceptual Matching Between Money/Time Concept in Advertising and Green Product Types on Willingness to Pay a Green Premium

With the growing global demand for sustainable consumption, businesses urgently need to address the "willingness-to-pay dilemma" in green marketing—while existing research has yet to provide a systematic explanation of the intrinsic matching mechanisms between advertising message framing and product attributes. This research examines the interaction between money and time concept in green advertising and product types on the consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for green products across three behavioral studies. Study 1 employed a between-subjects design to explore the matching effect between advertising concept type (money vs. time) and product type (utilitarian vs. hedonic) on consumers’ willingness to pay a green premium. The results indicated that money concepts activated a low construal level that matched with utilitarian products, while time concepts activated a high construal level that matched with hedonic products, which enhanced consumers’ willingness to pay a green premium. Study 2 examined the mediating role of perceived diagnosticity in the relationship between advertising concept-product type congruence and green premium willingness. The finding indicated that when money concept ads were pared with utilitarian products and time concept ads with hedonic products, consumers’ perceived diagnosticity increased, which in turn boosted their willingness to pay a green premium. Study 3 explored the moderating role of purchasing perspective in this relationship. The results revealed that purchasing perspective moderated the indirect effect of perceived diagnosticity on willingness to pay a green premium: consumers with high perceived diagnosticity were more likely to pay a premium when considering a self-purchase perspective, while those with low perceived diagnosticity were unaffected by the purchasing perspective. This research introduces time and money concept into the field of green product advertising strategy, and deeply excavates the mechanism of how the time and money concept match with different types of green product, which has certain theoretical and practical significance.