“An Inconvenient Truth” Increases Knowledge, Concern, and Willingness to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Abstract

Since May 24, 2006 millions of people have seen the movie "An Inconvenient Truth:'Several countries have evenproposed using the film asaneducational tool in school classrooms. However, it is not yet clear that the movie accomplishes its apparent goals of increasing knowledge and concern,and motivating people to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.Two studies are reported, one with a sample of community moviegoers, and one witha sample ofstudents.Acrossthe two studies,results show that watching "An InconvenientTruth" does increase knowledge about the causes of global warming, concern for the environment, and willingness to reduce greenhouse gases. However, the results of Study 2 suggest that willingness to take action immediately following movie viewing does not necessarily translate into action I month later. Recommendations are made for how the movie could be used to create behavioral change. Keywords conservation behavior, global warming, knowledge-deficit theory On May 24, 2006, Paramount Classics released the film "An Inconvenient Truth" (AIT) in New York and Los Angeles. Approximately 3 years later, the film has received numerous awards and ranks as the fifth-highest grossing

Using the transtheoretical model of behavioural change to understand the processes through which climate change films might encourage mitigation action

“…Indeed, those that utilise primarily cognitive/affective processes of change should be expected to encourage early stage progression, rather than behavioural change. Nolan (2010) found that An Inconvenient Truth inspired little concrete action among students who were recruited to watch it and who did not display high levels of concern about climate change beforehand, but the film did increase concern and motivation to act immediately afterwards. This might be evidence of progression from precontemplation to contemplation, or from contemplation to preparation, among an audience who were at early stages of change.…”

“…Akter and Bennett (2011) discovered that Australians who had seen An Inconvenient Truth were significantly more likely to report having reduced their use of motorized vehicles and/or electricity than non-viewers, and claim that the film influenced behaviour, but the study appears to show correlation rather than causality and it seems equally likely that people already engaged in climate change mitigation action are more likely to see the movie than those who are not. Individuals who saw it at a free showing organised by an NGO in the USA exhibited high levels of belief in climate change and motivation to act beforehand (Nolan, 2010). The film has, however, been incorporated into the school curriculum in several countries (Climate Crisis, undated), which makes it likely it will be seen by children at a range of stages of change with respect to lower-carbon behaviours.…”

“…This might be evidence of progression from precontemplation to contemplation, or from contemplation to preparation, among an audience who were at early stages of change. The finding that viewers often do not act on the increased motivation or behavioural intentions prompted by climate change films (Howell, 2011;Lowe et al, 2006;Nolan, 2010) suggests that films need to be coupled with other interventions if they are to help people progress from contemplation to action. Armitage et al(2004) suggest the use of implementation interventions (Gollwitzer, 1993); public commitments such as pledges may also be useful (Cobern et al, 1995;Schultz, Oskamp, and Mainieri, 1995).…”

“…This includes research on The Day After Tomorrow (Balmford et al, 2004;Leiserowitz, 2004;Lowe, 2006;Lowe et al, 2006;Reusswig, Schwarzkopf, and Pohlenz, 2004); An Inconvenient Truth (Beattie, 2011;Beattie, Sale, and McGuire, 2011;Nolan, 2010); The Age of Stupid (Howell, 2011;; and Just Do It (Lander, 2012). These studies give a mixed picture: the films generally raise concern about climate change, and often promote motivation to act or even behavioural intentions.…”

Communicating adaptation with emotions: the role of intense experiences in raising concern about extreme weather.

“…In an empirical study, exposure to a specific information source, namely Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth," resulted in raising levels of knowledge about climate change and level of concern about climate change (Nolan 2010). This latter study used objective measures of knowledge about climate change and found a positive relationship between level of knowledge and level of concern in two small-N empirical studies.…”