Attribution of Responsibility, Risk Perception, and Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility in Predicting Policy Support for Climate Change Mitigation: Evidence from South Korea

A recent nationwide survey reported that South Koreans perceive large corporations as the party that should be the most responsible for tackling climate change. This public opinion result offers insight into the argument that defining who is responsible for the climate change issue can guide campaigners and policymakers in designing effective communication strategies. This study examines how attributing responsibility to large corporations can affect behavioral intention to support government policy and regulation via a moderated mediation model of the perceived risk of climate change and corporate social responsibility (CSR). A nationwide online survey of 295 South Koreans was conducted. The findings reveal an indirect effect of responsibility attribution on behavioral intention through risk perception. Moreover, perceived CSR moderated the causal link between risk perception and behavioral intention, such that South Koreans reported higher levels of behavioral intention when they reported higher CSR. However, perceived CSR failed to moderate the indirect effect. These findings have implications for communication processes and policymaking to address climate change problems in South Korea.