Reputational concerns in pro-environmental behavior vary across socioeconomic status: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

Empirical evidence suggests that social presence activates individuals' reputational concerns, which in turn promotes pro-environmental behavior among high socioeconomic status (SES) individuals. However, it remains unclear whether reputational concerns differ across SES. This study employed the two-stage environmental donation paradigm, where participants first donated to environmental organizations in the (non) observable condition, then received information on their group's average donation (either upward, equal, or downward relative to their first donation) while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded, and finally had a second donation opportunity. Behavioral results indicated that participants donated more when being observed (vs. non-observed), except for second donations under upward norms, with low-SES individuals showing a greater change rate in their second donation under downward (vs. upward) norms, while high-SES individuals experienced more pressure in the observable (vs. non-observable) condition. Neural results showed that, during the middle stage, low-SES individuals exhibited a greater feedback-related negativity (FRN) for both downward and upward (vs. equal) norms, while high-SES individuals exhibited a more negative FRN in response to upward (vs. equal or downward) norms under observation. At the later stage, high-SES participants exhibited a larger P3 evoked by equal and downward (vs. upward) norms only under observation. In contrast, low-SES individuals exhibited weaker alpha power (8–13 Hz) evoked by equal and downward norms under observation (vs. non-observation). The results indicate that reputational concerns in pro-environmental behavior vary across SES in both implicit and explicit evidence. Future interventions designed to promote pro-environmental behavior should consider individual differences, such as establishing methods for high-SES individuals to uphold the positive reputation and implementing social norms interventions for low-SES individuals.