Climate Change Communication: Examining the Social and Cognitive Barriers to Productive Environmental Communication.

Objectives. This study explores the efficacy of visual appeals that may be used to communicate environmental risk.Methods. To better understand the social and cognitive barriers present in environmental risk communication associated with climate change, we conducted a series of six focus groups. Gro...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell) Vol. 101; no. 5; pp. 2085 - 2101
Autores principales: Merkel, Sonia Hélène, Person, Angela M., Peppler, Randy A., Melcher, Sarah M.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Sep2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=146139722&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 146139722
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00384941
        SSQ
      jtl: Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell)
      issn: 00384941
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Sep2020
      vid: 101
      iid: 5
      pid: 480
      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
    artinfo:
      ui:
        146139722
        10.1111/ssqu.12843
      ppf: 2085
      ppct: 16
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Climate Change Communication: Examining the Social and Cognitive Barriers to Productive Environmental Communication.
      aug:
        au:
          Merkel, Sonia Hélène
          Person, Angela M.
          Peppler, Randy A.
          Melcher, Sarah M.
        affil: University of Oklahoma
      su:
        Climate change
        Intergenerational mobility
        Class differences
        Sociodemographic factors
        United States politics & government
      sug:
        subj:
          Climate change
          Intergenerational mobility
          Class differences
          Sociodemographic factors
          United States politics & government
      ab: Objectives. This study explores the efficacy of visual appeals that may be used to communicate environmental risk.Methods. To better understand the social and cognitive barriers present in environmental risk communication associated with climate change, we conducted a series of six focus groups. Groups were asked to view images of environmental issues and select the best representation of their feelings out of a range of preselected emotions. While further research is required, preliminary investigation based on the focus groups suggests several themes. Results. First, an individual's familiarity with both an area and an event will decrease the individual's perception of urgency; conversely, the participants expressed greater concern for events that were local and new—in other words, familiarity diminishes urgency, while emergent problems create alacrity. Second, participants expressed a sentiment of tacit blame, in which the participant's own contribution to the issue received less emphasis when ascribing fault. Last, the participants reacted positively toward messages that emphasized a hopeful and solution‐based narrative and were seemingly less motivated by images that relied on fear‐based messaging. Conclusions. Preliminary findings suggest that hopeful, solution‐based messaging may be more effective in facilitating pro‐environmental behavior than either fear‐ or guilt‐based appeals.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N