Social Media and Climate Change: Behavioral Engagement without Deep Cognition? A Systematic Review

This systematic review investigates the relationship between social media use (SMU), climate change cognition (CCC), and pro-environmental intentions (PEI) and behaviors (PEB). The evidence from 21 articles reveals a consistent positive association between SMU and behavioral outcomes (PEI/PEB), whereas its impact on CCC appears fragmented and frequently non-significant. These findings suggest that the social media ecosystem, characterized by informational fragmentation and algorithmic polarization, constrains deep cognitive engagement, instead fostering phenomena such as eco-anxiety and overestimation of knowledge. Drawing on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), we propose that social media predominantly operates through the peripheral route of persuasion, encouraging immediate yet short-lived behavioral responses driven by social comparison and observational learning rather than critical reflection. In contrast, the literature synthesis supports a set of proposals to activate the central route, thereby enabling sustained and complex pro-environmental behaviors, by leveraging key factors such as intrinsic motivation, digital agency, and exposure to credible scientific sources or strategically designed content, including climate-related memes; absent such conditions, social media is unlikely to produce enduring, cognition-driven environmental behavior change.