Abstract

This study was conducted to verify the effect of participation through social media in promoting and participating in campaigns used to increase citizens’ evaluation of carbon-neutral policies. Social media is a representative medium of the MZ generation and has the strength of real-time interaction and free exchange of opinions. Therefore, this study attempted to examine the effect of participation in the carbon neutral campaign on improving people’s perception on TikTok among social media. As a result of the study, it was confirmed that participants in the TikTok challenge had a higher evaluation of carbon neutrality than those in the non-participating condition (Hypothesis 1), and that the effect on the evaluation of carbon neutrality was mediated by the TikTok challenge attitude (Hypothesis 2). Finally, as a result of confirming the moderating effect of trust in government as a way to support the effect of participating in the campaign, it was confirmed through the verification of the moderated mediating model that government trust can function as a supportive way to raise awareness even for those who did not participate in the TikTok Challenge (Hypothesis 3). These findings imply that participation in social media campaigns can be an effective strategy in promoting carbon-neutral policies to protect the environment, which is an important global issue.