Intergenerational associations between parental low-carbon concern and early adolescents’ low-carbon consumption behaviors: a moderated mediation model

Low-carbon consumption on the demand side is essential for achieving long-term cleaner production and systemic emission reduction. While existing research has predominantly focused on adult consumers and individual-level determinants, considerably less is known about how low-carbon consumption behaviors develop during early adolescence and how family processes are involved in their early formation. Drawing on an ecological socialization perspective, this study examines whether parental low-carbon concern is associated with early adolescents’ low-carbon consumption behaviors through adolescents’ own low-carbon concern. Using multi-informant data from 399 matched parent-adolescent dyads in China, we tested a moderated mediation model. Parental low-carbon concern was positively associated with early adolescents’ habitual and purchasing low-carbon consumption through adolescents’ own low-carbon concern. Adolescent-perceived parent–child relationship quality strengthened this indirect association, whereas adolescents’ environmental self-identity showed an unexpected negative moderation effect. These findings provide a differentiated account of family environmental socialization in low-carbon consumption, while the unexpected moderation by environmental self-identity requires further investigation.