The influence of risk perception on climate change communication behavior: a dual perspective of psychological distance and environmental values

Promoting climate change communication is an effective way to raise awareness of carbon neutrality and thus promote low-carbon behavior among the public. In this study, a model with risk perception as the independent variable, psychological distance and environmental values as mediating variables, and climate change communication behavior as the dependent variable was constructed. Results show that: (1) different from most previous studies, individuals’ psychological distance to climate change is relatively close. (2) Psychological distance and environmental values play a chain mediating role in the relationship between risk perception and climate change communication behavior. (3) Compared with offline climate communication, the public tends to communicate and obtain climate change information through online channels. (4) Women, middle-aged, individuals with higher education level, and higher income level have stronger willingness to engage in climate change. Finally, in conjunction with the findings, corresponding policy implications were proposed.