Key trends in environmental advertising across 30 years in National Geographic magazine

1. Review of literature

‘Post-environmentalists’ such as Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus have shaken up the movement by advocating a more market-oriented approach to ‘selling’ green, based on the thesis that environmental concern will not emerge until people feel they can afford it, and that pointing out the economic advantages of pro-environmental behavior is the most promising route to behavior change (Shellenberger and Nordhaus, 2004). Others argue that the way to long-term change are appeals that reinforce core environmental values and tap into people’s identities, and that economic-advantage appeals may just reinforce cultural frames that run counter to environmental values (Crompton and Kasser, 2009; Lakoff, 2004). Inherent in this analysis is the idea that environmental concern, and environmental messages designed to tap into that concern, may be somehow tied to the economy, or to a specific aspect of the economy such as gasoline (auto fuel) prices. Recent research has supported a link between the economy and public environmental concern (Kahn and Kotchen, 2010; Nisbet, 2011), such that economic problems crowd out concern about the environment. What is not known, however, is whether marketers have sensed this relationship and modified the amount of green advertising in response to economic trends.

In terms of other important green ad characteristics, communications researchers have long understood the importance of frames, which provide a conceptual map that helps identify and describe the communicative power of a text (Entman, 1993). Framing analysis has been used in the context of many areas of communications study; of particular relevance to this study are strategic communications and the environment. In terms of advertising, the use of frames has been found to elicit more focused, evaluative judgments among viewers about products and brands (Edell and Staelin, 1983; Homer and Yoon, 1992; Shimp et al., 1988). Beyond individual products, strategic message frames have been argued to affect the way potential consumers think and feel about entire corporations by defining a message’s range of meaning and shaping viewer interpretations (Hallahan, 1999).

Message frames have been studied in the context of a number of different environmental issues over the years (Dardis, 2007; Ketchum, 2004; Paek and Zhongdang, 2004), most recently global warming (Boykoff and Boykoff, 2004; Brossard et al., 2004; Olausson, 2009). Although environmental framing content analyses have been done for decades, very few have been done across decades. Peterson (2005) looked at ecological frames in magazine advertisements aimed at children over time, but looked at just three years: 1987, 1997 and 2002.

In order to evaluate environmental strategic communications from a wide range of sponsors, for a wide range of products across an extended time period, this study seeks to identify a limited number of basic message frames that are relevant to current questions in environmental communications. Davis (1995) coded for three such basic frames: gain vs. loss, current generation vs. future generations and taking less vs. doing more. When ads are framed negatively, viewers are more likely to centrally process the information than for gain-framed ads (Homer and Yoon, 1992). Gain and loss frames have been studied extensively for decades and have been found to have consistent and predictable effects in the context of prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, 1979). Audiences are more likely to be persuaded by messages that focus on consequences of behavior for them rather than for other groups (Cantrill, 1993). According to Davis (1995), individuals tend to engage in responsible behaviors when messages are framed personally (current generation frame). Environmental messages frame actions in a number of ways including taking less vs. doing more. Individuals or organizations can take less by using less electricity or reducing their carbon footprint and they can do more by recycling or donating time to environmental causes. Neither frame is more compelling for influencing behavior (Davis, 1995); however, the types of actions adopted by individuals and organizations can have consequences for environmental goals.

Because this study is about the evolution of advertising over time, it also examines ad- or brand-related variables that are known to change over time. Marketing research has found that brands and approaches to advertising cannot stay stagnant. They must evolve in order to stay meaningful in the minds of consumers. A number of strategies have been identified by which marketers grow their brands over long periods (Tybout and Sternthal, 2005). One fundamental approach involves moving up the value chain in terms of the characteristics that are emphasized about a product, generally known as the ‘product benefit ladder’. Products are often introduced and promoted based on some basic but attractive attribute, an inherent quality common to all products of the same basic type. As competitors enter the market, it becomes necessary to add and to emphasize product features that differentiate the product from its rivals. In order to further develop a brand, marketers will then seek to focus on the specific consumer benefits – health and lifestyle improvements – these product features deliver. Finally, brands are evolved into personalities that share and represent meaningful social values. At this point, advertising downplays or ignores product features altogether and turns instead to narratives and symbols that directly or indirectly communicate what the brand should mean to consumers.

Within the brand positioning literature, these types of arguments about features and benefits are referred to as ‘points of difference’, and can be specific or general in nature. In addition to direct competitive comparisons, brands are often compared to prior versions or to consumer expectations. That is, a product or brand can be argued to be different from: (1) the competition; (2) what it used to be; and/or (3) what you might expect. This construction is especially appropriate for the analysis of green advertising. ‘Green’ is not itself a brand, but a generalizable point of difference that can be invoked in the promotion of a broad range of products, organizations and brands. The question is how green is being used as a point of difference, and how has this positioning changed over time?

The foregoing current issues in environmental communications, along with communications research in the areas of environmental message framing, strategic communications framing and brand development, lead to the following hypothesis and research questions:

2. Method

National Geographic magazine was selected for this analysis for a number of reasons. It is consistently among the highest-circulation publications in the country (The Association for Magazine Media, 2000–10), and has had the same editorial mission and general readership demographics over the past 30 years (National Geographic Advertising Sales Director Robert Bamberg, personal communication, September 2009). As the nation’s leading nature publication, it is a natural outlet for marketers who are looking to make green appeals, and for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who are looking to fundraise among a sympathetic public. The magazine has also been highly consistent in terms of advertising format. It did not accept advertising at all until 1925, and during the sampling frame for this study all ads were placed at the beginning and end of the magazine with a basic ratio of 85% editorial and 15% ads, greatly facilitating the counting and coding of ad pages. The magazine has had a consistent advertising policy for the past 50 years as well, accepting all advertising (except tobacco) that is not seen as inflammatory by the editors (Robert Bamberg, personal communication, September 2009). Overall, it was determined that National Geographic was an ideal lens through which to analyze the evolution and changing nature of green advertising over the past 30 years.

The 30-year time frame was chosen because it was the longest practicable sampling frame that extended well before the advent of global warming as an issue. This time frame is also long enough to encompass important changes that have taken place in the environmental movement and in the emergence and practice of green advertising (in the context of the US economy and media culture).

This period begins in the decade of the first Earth Day (1970), and represents a time frame when the environmental movement in the USA came of age in a number of significant ways (Environmental History Timeline, n.d.). While the history of environmentalism can be traced to early history (Neuzil and Kovarik, 1996), in the US context it can be argued it became a ‘mass’ social movement in this era. The largest US environmental organization (the National Wildlife Foundation) went from 20,000 members in 1959 to 650,000 in 1991 (Sale, 1993). In the political arena, Al Gore, a leading environmental crusader, was elected vice president in 1992, and went on to become the leading spokesperson on climate change for years thereafter.

The movement was fueled by a number of socio-historic factors, including the emergence of ‘new social movements’ in the wake of post-industrialization (Scott, 1990), and, significantly, the expanding impact of mass media (Neuzil and Kovarik, 1996). The powerfully visual nature of environmental stories attracted attention from a media system increasingly dependent on powerful visuals (Cracknell, 1993). Media coverage of spectacular natural events such as floods, earthquakes and famine raised public environmental concern. By the 1989 European elections, the UK Green Party garnered an unprecedented 15% of the vote (Grant, 2007). This new public zeitgeist was not lost on marketers, and 1989 has been described as the tipping point in the green consumer bandwagon (Grant, 2007). Joel Makower’s The Green Consumer (1990) became a marketing phenomenon.

Finally, this 30-year period marked an important era in terms of US energy policy. From the oil crisis of the early 1970s, through amplified debate about the role of nuclear energy, the emergence of global warming as an environmental emergency and a number of US wars in the Middle East, energy policy became a clear focus of public interest and debate. It was therefore determined that, in the US cultural context, this time frame was especially significant in the history of environmentalism, the growing impact of media (and new media) and the emergence of green consumerism.

Advertising from National Geographic magazine was gathered from January 1979 through December 2008. This sample comprised 360 issues of the monthly magazine, totaling over 62,000 pages, which included 9,852 pages of advertising, of which 692 pages were coded as green advertising pages. The final database included 577 green ads (many ads were double-paged, and the sample included one eight-page green advertising pull-out section). The three researchers developed the code book and the code sheet, and acted as coders. Coding categories and frames were drawn from the preceding literature, or developed by the researchers to address specific theoretical and practical questions.

‘Green advertising’ was broadly defined and was meant to include all ads that invoked environmental protection in some meaningful way. By definition, all ads from environmental advocacy organizations were defined as green. Product and corporate ads were coded as green if some environmental point-of-difference was emphasized in ad copy or graphics. That is, if the product/ corporation was promoted as more environmental than: the competition; it used to be; or, you may have thought. Only strategic communications with a clear sponsor were included; public service announcements (about preventing forest fires, for example) were excluded.

This operational definition of ‘green’ was chosen to cast a wide net, but not so wide as to include ads that merely have images of nature or make claims of ‘natural ingredients’, for example. While other studies have sought to look beyond environmental claims to all images of nature in advertising (Hansen, 2002) or news content (Lester and Cottle, 2009), the purpose here was to identify explicit claims that the advocated idea or behavior directly benefits or protects the environment. This operationalization illustrates the difficulty of negotiating the edges of what constitutes ‘green’. Especially when dealing with imagery, the impact of incidental learning and indirect meaning transfer are of critical importance. However, because this study was longitudinal and quantitative in nature, a more tightly bound operationalization was chosen.

Preliminary coding was conducted on 36 issues (10% of the total), which were selected using a systematic random approach to ensure it included issues from each of the years. Initial coding resulted in near-perfect agreement (99%) on which ads were green based on the foregoing definition. The preliminary intercoder data was then used by the researchers to finalize the code book and code sheet, as well as for coder training. In addition to percent agreement (often referred to as Holsti’s Method), intercoder reliability was measured using Krippendorff’s Alpha. While simple percent agreement does not adjust for chance agreement, Alpha is a relatively conservative measure, especially when the levels of nominal variables being coded are not evenly distributed in the data, as was the case for some of the variables in this study. Both statistics are presented to provide maximum information.

Final intercoding was performed on 30 issues, with one month randomly selected from each year (all 12 months of the year were represented in the intercoder data). The ads were first classified into seven issue types developed by the researchers and designed to be mutually exclusive and exhaustive: pollution, greenhouse gas reduction, solid waste problems, species/habitat protection, energy efficiency, energy independence, and general state of the environment (93% agreement; Alpha = .81).

Sponsor coding identified the source of the ad as a corporation, an association/front group, advocacy organization/NGO or government (96% agreement; Alpha = .88). Corporate and government sponsorships were clearly distinct; association/front groups were defined as representing for-profit industries or interests, while advocacy organizations/NGOs were non-profit groups dedicated to environmental protection. The ad type coding comprised: advocacy (when the ad sponsor is engaging a public policy issue in which it has a stake in the outcome); product (when a specific product or class of products is being promoted); image/CSR (when the sponsor is associating itself with environmentalism using one of six specific CSR strategies); and, fundraising (when explicit solicitation of funds is present in the ad) (96% agreement; Alpha = .93).

Additional coding focused on the point-of-difference levels (for ad types coded product only): product attribute (focused on an inherent or natural characteristic of the product); product feature (focused on a specific manufacturing or design superiority of the product); consumer benefit (focused on how an attribute or feature results in a specific benefit or benefits to the consumer); or values (focuses on or associates with powerful and widely shared social beliefs) (91% agreement; Alpha = .87).

The next set of codes captured basic message frames: gain vs. loss (93% agreement; Alpha = .72), current generation vs. future generations (94% agreement; Alpha = .74); and, taking less vs. doing more (96% agreement; Alpha = .89).

Intercoder ads were reconciled to reflect the majority coding (because there were three coders, disagreements were resolved by simple 2–1 votes) and added to the final database. Two coders did 25% of the remaining issues each and the third coder did 50% of the remaining issues. The preliminary intercoder data was included in the remaining issues and was finalized in the course of the individual coding.

External variables for two key economic indicators believed to be related to the level of environmental advertising were also included. Longitudinal changes in real gross domestic product (GDP) were obtained from the U.S Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic analysis (www.bea.gov). Changes in domestic retail gas price were obtained from the US Energy Information Administration (www.eia.doe.gov; December 2010 Monthly Energy Review, year-over-year percent changes in average retail prices for unleaded regular gasoline).

3. Results

Before addressing the specific hypotheses presented above, it is important to introduce and reflect on the nature of the advertisements that were encountered in the sample. The following description and interpretation is designed to provide depth and context to the ensuing quantitative analysis.

The ads in the sample represent a progression not just in terms of the types of environmental issues addressed, but in the practice of advertising itself. In the late 1970s, a good deal of advertising was still reflective of the Ogilvy approach: extensive ad copy and detailed lists of product features and functionality (Ogilvy, 1985). A Datsun 200-SX double-page spread from 1979 is an example. An image of the car (with a wooden roller coaster in the background) occupies the top third of the space, supported by the headline ‘Gonna drive you like you’ve never been driven’. A crisp and punchy introduction is followed by five more product-benefit subheads, each with its own paragraph of supporting reasons to believe. The car in the image is literally driving across the text, as if the written words were as stolid and firm as concrete.

Though reminiscent of a time before shortened attention spans, this ad style and format has fallen out of fashion. As audiences began to enjoy more choices of passive media formats – most significantly a wide variety network cable channels – advertisers began to simplify their approaches and focus on quick emotional associations. The Leo Burnett touch – heavy on dramatic imagery and light on copy – became symbolic of this shift (think Marlboro Man, Charlie Tuna, and the Green Giant) (Twitchell, 2000). Though animated brand personalities are an extreme example, the influence of this more modern handling of graphics and copy is reflected in a General Motors (GM) ad from 2006. Also a double-page spread, it features four different types of vehicles across the bottom; on one panel is a single sentence (‘In our FlexFuel Vehicles, Yellow Means Go’), on the opposite page are a sparse eight sentences of copy, floating airily above the horizon. This ad relies much more heavily on visual elements and color to convey its message.

This progression in advertising styles was operationalized by the point-of-difference level variable summarized in the following section, and was evident across products, industries and causes. Because of the highly educated and influential demographic that comprises National Geographic readers, several of the ads encountered were designed not to sell products, but to promote specific public policy positions. One of the most consistent ad sponsors was the US Council for Energy Awareness, a front group for the nuclear power industry (now part of the Nuclear Energy Institute). A 1985 full-page ad features an animated graphic of a man walking up the bar-line on a graph, which is in turn supported by a hand emerging from an American-flag sleeve. A quote beneath this image (from Dr Lynn E. Weaver, Dean of the Auburn School of Engineering) says: ‘Nuclear-generated electricity has become one the basic props supporting the entire national economy.’ The extensive copy beneath includes a number of economic arguments about efficiency and independence, as well as a bar chart comparing the contributions from different energy industries. A 1993 ad by the same group, in contrast, features a photo of a smiling school teacher under a playground jungle gym with children climbing above. The main headline is above the photo (‘School principal Pete Carey has good reason to believe that nuclear energy is good for the air and (and the kids)’). The body copy beneath the photo is much shorter, and focuses on the human element, not economic arguments, facts, figures and charts.

The gain/loss factor included in this study can be illustrated by two advocacy ads, one from an environmental organization and one from an energy company. A 1990 half-page ad from the Dragonette Society for the Preservation of Endangered Animals, Inc. shows an African elephant wandering alone in the jungle next to the headline ‘The Orphans’. The five paragraphs of ad copy point out that the lucky orphan elephants are saved, but that the majority suffers a lonely life and possible death at the hands of poachers. A 1989 full-page ad from the American Forest Council (a front group for the paper industry) shows a majestic forest and discusses how there are ‘730 million more acres of lush forest land in the U.S. – and more trees than we had 70 years ago’. These types of messages comprised the data used in the coding and quantitative analysis.

H1 posited a relationship between economic factors and the level of green advertising. In order to control for the effects of inflation, these economic indicators (GDP level and average retail gas price level) are analyzed in terms of the year-over-year change. This approach is consistent with the theoretical relationships. Increases in GDP indicate an improving economy, which is seen as leading to more green advertising appeals. Likewise, increasing average gas prices are seen as increasing interest in fuel efficient (green) products and energy solutions.

Correlation analysis confirms that the percentage of green advertising pages is significantly correlated with annual GDP change, r(30) = .57, p < .01, and with annual changes in average retail gas prices, r(30) = .57, p < .01. As would be expected, GDP change and gas price change are also moderately correlated with each other, r(30) = .46, p < .05, with stronger economic growth leading to greater demand for fuel and therefore higher prices. These relationships are illustrated in Figures 1(a) and (b).

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Figure 1(a).

Comparison of percentage of green ad pages and changes to GDP (1979 to 2008).

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Figure 1(b).

Comparison of percentage of green ad pages and changes to retail gas prices (1979 to 2008).

Because it is unlikely that the causal direction between these variables runs in the other direction (green ad pages in National Geographic leading to changes in GDP and gas prices), ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to examine the predictive power of GDP change and gas price change on green ad pages. Analysis indicates that GDP change is a significant zero-order predictor of green ad pages, β = .57, t(28) = 3.63, p < .001, and explains a significant portion of the variation in the dependent variable, adjusted R² = .30, F(1, 28) = 13.14, p < .001. Gas price change was also a significant zero-order predictor of green ad pages, β = .57, t(28) = 3.69, p < .001, and explains a significant portion of the variation in the dependent variable, adjusted R² = .30, F(1, 28) = 13.58, p < .001.

GDP change and gas price change were also entered into the model together, to control for one another and to examine the degree to which they provide unique predictive power on green ad pages. Together they explained a significant portion of the variation in green ad pages, adjusted R² = .40, F(2, 27) = 10.70, p < .001, and each was a significant unique predictor (GDP change, β = .38, t(27) = 2.37, p < .05; gas price change, β = .40, t(27) = 2.44, p < .05).

Advertising space in National Geographic magazine is reserved several months in advance, and it would take some time for marketers to change strategy in response to changing economic conditions. It is likely that such changes would occur within a year, the unit of analysis for this study. However, the selection of a calendar is somewhat arbitrary in this sense. Changes in economic indicators at the end of one calendar year would likely be reflected in changes to advertising strategy in the next year. Therefore, lagged analysis of economic indicators was also conducted. The percentage of green advertising pages was regressed on one-year lagged GDP change, which was a borderline significant predictor, β = .3, t(27) = 1.89, p = .07. In a similar analysis, one-year lagged gas price changes were a significant predictor of green ad pages, β = .3, t(27) = 2.86, p < .01. Because of the high correlation between concurrent year and one-year lagged GDP and gas price changes, they could not be entered into the same model without creating multicollinearity issues. Taken together, these results indicate support for H1a and H1b.

RQ1 asked about the trend in the level of environmental ads over the past 30 years. Content analysis revealed that for National Geographic magazine, from 1979 to 2008, 692 of 9852 ad pages (7.0%) were coded as green ad pages, comprising 577 individual ads. Percentages ranged from 0.0% (79 of 360 issues had no coded green ads) to 36% (8 of 22 ads coded green in July 2008). [These levels are reflected in the solid lines in Figures 1(a) and (b).]

RQ1a asked about the trends in the types of environmental issues being addressed in green advertising. In terms of environmental issue type, of the 577 total ads, 60 (10.4%) were coded pollution, 39 (6.8%) greenhouse gas reduction, 63 (10.9%) solid waste problems, 156 (27.0%) species/habitat protection, 146 (25.3%) energy efficiency, 47 (8.1%) energy independence, and 66 (11.4%) general state of the environment. Grouping by decade (1979–88; 1989–98; 1999–2008) and seven different issue types, a crosstab analysis indicates a distribution different from expected values, χ²(12, N = 577) = 274.42, p < .001.

Notable time trends related to these classifications included a complete lack of greenhouse gas ads in the first decade of the sample frame (1979–88), but a predominance of energy efficiency ads (144 observed vs. 44 expected). The second decade (1989–98) was characterized by the dominance of species/habitat preservation as an issue (76 observed vs. 43.5 expected), the emergence of greenhouse gas reduction as an issue, and a decline in energy independence messages. The most recent decade (1999–2008) was characterized by a more level distribution of issue types, with a continued increase in the percentage of ads focused on greenhouse gas reduction and a decrease in energy independence messages, as well as an increase in messages that focus on the general state of the environment.

RQ2 asked about the primary sponsors of green advertising and trends in sponsorship over time. The dominant sponsor type for the full sampling frame was corporations (398 of 577 ads), followed by advocacy organizations (97 ads), associations/front groups (80 ads), and the government (2 ads). A 3 (decade) by 4 (sponsor type) crosstab indicates a distribution of sponsors that is different from expected values, χ²(6, N = 577) = 99.77, p < .001. As illustrated in Figure 2, the distribution of sponsor types in the middle decade was more even than expected: corporate ads were lower (66 observed vs. 111.1 expected) while association/front group ads (46 observed vs. 22.3 expected) and advocacy organization ads (47 observed vs. 27.1 expected) were higher (government ads are not included in the figure because they represented an insignificant number of total ads). The distribution of sponsor types from the most recent decade indicates that corporations remain the dominant sponsor type, with far fewer ads coming from advocacy organizations and less than 5% of messages coming from associations/front groups.

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Figure 2.

Percentage of green ads by sponsor type by decade (1979 to 2008).

RQ3 was about the general types of green advertising and trends over time. These general types were coded as: advocacy, product, image/CSR and fundraising. Overall, image/CSR was the most common ad type (213 or 577 total ads), followed by product (189), advocacy (150) and fundraising (25). A 3 (decade) by 4 (ad type) crosstab indicates a distribution of ad types that is different from expected values, χ²(6, N = 577) = 123.54, p < .001. As illustrated in Figure 3, the main reason for this was the steady increase in image/CSR as the main type of environmental advertising. While there were fewer image/CSR ads in the first decade (27 observed vs. 64.6 expected) relative to product ads (97 observed vs. 57.3 expected), by the most recent decade image/CSR was the dominant environmental ad type (127 observed vs. 89.0 expected).

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Figure 3.

Percentage of green ads by ad type by decade (1979 to 2008).

RQ3a asked about differences in ad type by sponsor over time. A 4 (sponsor type) by 3 (decade) by 4 (ad type) crosstab indicates a distribution of ad types by sponsor type across the three decades that differs from expected values, χ²(6, N = 577) = 123.54, p < .001. As reflected in the overall ad type by sponsor analysis, this was due primarily to a change in ad type by corporations. Corporations moved from product ads to image/CSR messages, and moved away from advocacy messages.

RQ4 asked about the general types of message frames used in green advertising and if these frames have changed over time. Message frames were coded as: gain/loss, taking less/doing more, and current generation/future generation. Most environmental ads were gain framed (449 of 577 ads), focused on current generations (466 ads) and advocated doing more (362 ads). A 2 (gain/loss) by 3 (decade) crosstab indicates message framing by decade differed from expected values, χ²(2, N = 577) = 88.30, p < .001. After being more even in the middle decade, in the most recent decade gain-framed messages have become much more dominant (226 observed vs. 187.5 expected).

Similar analysis indicated no significant difference by decade for current generation/future generation frames. A 2 (taking less/doing more) by 3 (decade) crosstab indicates a difference in the distribution over time for this message frame, χ²(2, N = 577) = 59.89, p < .001. Green ads focused on doing more have become more dominant relative to ads focused on taking less. This trend was particularly pronounced in the middle decade (131 observed vs. 101 expected).

RQ4a asked about the distribution of message frames by different sponsor types over time. A 2 (gain/loss) by 4 (sponsor type) crosstab indicates that the distribution of gain/loss frames differs among sponsor types from expected values, χ²(3, N = 577) = 109.48, p < .001, with association/front groups and advocacy organizations more likely to use loss frames (40 observed vs. 17.7 expected and 47 observed vs. 21.5 expected, respectively), as illustrated in Figure 4.

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Figure 4.

Percentage of gain/loss framed green ads by sponsor type.

Analysis of gain/loss framing by sponsor type over time indicates this is changing. In the most recent decade, association/front groups and advocacy organizations have moved toward gain-framed messages. In the 1999–2008 time frame these counts do not differ from expected values: association/front groups had 9 gain-framed ads and zero loss-framed ads; advocacy organizations had 34 gain-framed ads and 5 loss-framed ads.

Overall, there were no significant differences from expected values in terms of current generation/future generation framing, with all sponsor types favoring current generation focus. However, longitudinal analysis indicates a slight shift in the most recent decade, with corporations moving a bit more toward future-generation frames (46 observed vs. 39.2 expected), χ²(2, N = 577) = 7.60, p < .05.

In an expected result, advocacy organization messages were predominantly about doing more (93 observed vs. 60.9 expected) while corporations and association/front groups focused more evenly on taking less and doing more, χ2(3, N = 577) = 65.90, p < .001. Longitudinal analysis of this message frame indicates an increasing trend toward the doing more frame among corporations. While 69.8% of corporate ads focused on taking less in the first decade, this declined to 22.7% in the second decade and was 39.4% in the most recent decade.

RQ5 asked about how green positioning has changed as a point of difference over time. Coding for green point-of-difference level applied to the 189 product ads in the sample. This 4-level ordinal variable comprised: (1) product feature; (2) product benefit; (3) consumer benefit; and (4) values. This can be seen as an ascending benefit ladder, moving from the most concrete and objective product-differentiating factors to the most abstract and subjective ways a brand has unique meaning in the minds of consumers. Therefore, higher point-of-difference values indicate fewer ads focused on basic product attributes and more identity- and values-oriented message appeals.

Overall the mean point-of-difference level for all product ads was 2.20. The volume of product ads varied quite a bit over the sampling time frame, with a greater number of product ads during the first few years, a period of far fewer product ads from the mid-1980s through the 1990s, and a slight uptick in the number of product ads in the last few years. Because some years had few or zero in terms of product ads making environmental point-of-difference claims, these ad types were aggregated to the 5-year level for analysis, resulting in six 5-year periods. The mean point-of-difference level ranged from a low of 1.67 in the 1994 to 1998 period to a high of 2.76 in the 2004 to 2008 period. The basic U-shaped trend is illustrated in Figure 5.

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Figure 5.

Mean green point-of-difference level for product ads by five-year period (1979 to 2008).

Treating this variable as continuous, univariate analysis of the mean point-of-difference levels among these six date-ranges indicates significant differences, F(5, 183) = 9.59, p < .001. Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons confirm that the final two date-ranges differ significantly from the prior four. The mean green point-of-difference level for product ads is significantly higher in the final decade of the sampling frame than in the prior two decades.

4. Discussion

This study is the first extensive longitudinal content analysis of environmental ads that has sought to examine variables of interest to advertising practitioners, communications researchers and environmental advocates. Results presented here provide a more detailed picture of the nature and extent of green advertising, and provide further empirical support for some key theoretical relationships. The way green is being framed and positioned in strategic messages is evolving, and the degree to which marketers employ environmental advertising is driven in part by economic factors.

As the bellwether nature publication in the USA, National Geographic magazine is an excellent lens through which to investigate trends in green advertising. The level of green advertising has varied quite a bit over the past 30 years, with peaks in 1980 and 1990, as well as a significant up-swing in recent years. It is too soon to say if this latest surge is another peak or a more permanent trend. In either case, green advertising, as measured in this study, is at its highest level in the past 30 years, and even if marketers back off on the number of green appeals to some degree in the current economic downturn, it is likely to remain at a higher level than in the past.

The types of issues being addressed in environmental strategic messages has also shifted over time. Reflecting the era before global warming, greenhouse gas reduction was barely addressed in the 1980s and did not emerge as a significant focus until the 2000s. Significant emphasis on energy efficiency has also given way to a more general environmentalism, and energy independence has been largely abandoned as a theme. Perhaps reflecting the concerns of National Geographic magazine readers, species/habit preservation is the main focal issue in this magazine’s green ads.

Although the data indicate some shifts in the sponsorship of environmental advertising, corporations remain the dominant voice. Because of the cost of advertising, this was an expected result. However, it should be noted that after achieving a slightly higher share of voice in the 1990s, advocacy organizations have seen a decline in their share of strategic environmental messages. This is likely due to the fact that corporations are using green marketing appeals more and more. This finding supports the concern among some environmental advocates that advocacy organizations may have their messages drowned out in a sea of green advertising appeals. It is also interesting to note that after a move toward associations/front groups to carry environmental messages, corporations have moved back toward delivering these messages directly. In the 1990s, associations/front groups were employed to promote energy policy, in particular nuclear power. This approach was largely abandoned in the 2000s, at least in the context of National Geographic magazine. The resurgence of corporate-sponsored green messages has been driven by a steady increase in the use of green in image and CSR communications.

Image/CSR has become the primary type of environmental strategic communication. After experimenting with advocacy messages, most related to energy policy, and product promotion, most related to fuel efficiency, strategic communicators have moved toward using the environment to burnish their corporate image. After a modest increase in the 1990s, the number of fundraising appeals has fallen to a fraction of the total number of green ads. Marketers continue to invoke the environment for the promotion of particular products for which efficiency and emissions are particularly relevant, but the main way they are talking green is in relation to their overall corporate business practices and brand personality.

In terms of the framing of environmental ads, corporations have consistently focused on gain frames for current generations. They have shifted, however, from a focus on taking less to an emphasis on doing more. This is likely a function of the move away from product ads (focused on taking less through efficiency) to image/CRS ads (focused on how the company is doing more to protect the environment and promote sustainability). Overall, advocacy organizations are significantly more likely to use loss-framed messages. Because these groups are looking to change attitudes and behaviors, loss frames may indeed be more effective. However, in the context of green advertising overall, they may be seen as more negative in tone. Recent trends indicate that advocacy organizations may be moving toward more gain-framed appeals.

The dominant voices in green advertising are corporations, and the way they are using green as a point of difference appears to be shifting. This evolution can be viewed in the context of brand development and positioning. Many ads from the 1980s and 1990s focused on how the environmental aspects of a product resulted in a desirable feature, usually fuel efficiency. In the 2000s, marketers began to promote the environmental aspects of their products as a consumer benefit or a broader social good. Green in these ads was an assumed or implied desirable end, a way for consumers to feel good about themselves and self-identify as socially responsible.

Finally, results support the idea that key economic indicators affect the level of green strategic messaging. This perspective argues that environmental concern will be greater in stronger economies and in better economic times. By extension, consumers will be more attuned and receptive to green appeals when the economy is improving and marketers will employ more green advertising. Likewise, when gas prices are rising, consumers will be more receptive to green messages about fuel efficiency. The results reported here lend empirical support to these theorized relationships. Changes in GDP and gas prices predict the level of green advertising. If marketing and advertising is considered a reflection of society and public attitudes and preferences, these relationships can be more broadly interpreted as support for post-materialist theories of environmentalism more generally. Higher levels of environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviors have been theorized to be linked to in part economic factors. The data presented here support the notion that these factors also include short-term trends in economic indicators.