Fast or slow system: How does information exposure affect individual climate change mitigation responses?

The mechanism by which information exposure affects climate change engagement remains controversial. One view holds that information exposure can directly affect human behavior through the “fast system,” that is, instinctive and emotional. Another view points out that information exposure must be translated into knowledge first and then affect individual behavior through the “slow system,” that is, deliberative and logical. This paper designs an analytical framework to verify whether information exposure or knowledge is the determinant in promoting individual climate change mitigation responses. Using the latest individual-level survey data gathered in Beijing, China in 2021, estimation results indicate that information exposure has dissimilar influencing mechanisms for different types of behaviors. For concern about climate change, information exposure has a direct effect. While knowledge plays a complete mediating role in the influence path between information exposure and behavioral intention. Moreover, knowledge can be more directly and effectively transformed into mitigation behavior.