Investigating the Long-Term Impacts of Climate Change Communications on Individuals’ Attitudes and Behavior

Abstract

To assess the effectiveness of climate change communications, it is important to examine their long-term impacts on individuals' attitudes and behavior. This article offers an example study and a discussion of the challenges of conducting long-term investigations of behavioral change related to climate change communications (a vital and under-researched area). The research reported is a longitudinal panel study of the impacts on UK viewers of the climate change movie The Age of Stupid. The heightened levels of concern, motivation to act, and sense of agency about action that were initially generated by the movie did not measurably persist over the long term. The results also show that behavioral intentions do not necessarily translate into action. Data analysis raised issues concerning the reliability of participants' causal attributions of their behavior. This and other methodological challenges are discussed, and some ways of avoiding or lessening problems are suggested. In recent years, governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals have all been involved in creating "climate change communications" aimed at changing public attitudes and behavior related to climate change. These include leaflets and flyers; billboard, press, and television advertisements; short videos and full-length movies; and books of many kinds. Many environmental campaigns appear to be based on the presumption that people simply need more information to behave pro-environmentally. Such campaigns and the "informationdeficit" model they are based on have been widely criticized as inadequate to promote behavior change (e Keywords

The Effects of Information on Public Attitudes Toward Renewable Energy

“…Research shows that information can make a difference in some circumstances, but it is often insufficient to elicit desired behaviors (Schultz, 2002). Two recent articles (Howell, 2014;Nolan, 2010), for example, examine the knowledge-deficit framework by studying the effects of attending movies intended to heighten concern about climate change. Howell found that while receiving information through the film media increased concern about the issues, those effects on attitudes were not long-lasting.…”

Engaging beneficiaries of sustainable renovation – exploration of design-led participatory approaches

“…Barr, 2003;Lorenzoni et al, 2007). Howell (2014) suggests that such campaigns e especially if they focus on big, complex problems -can invoke lethargy, i.e., cause a feeling of disempowerment. Similarly, Kaplan (2000) states that people tend to avoid information campaigns that result in them feeling helpless or apathetical.…”

“…By communicating with peers, the individual realises he is not alone in considering or making changes (Heiskanen et al, 2010). This realisation may overcome feelings of lethargy (Howell, 2014). Interventions that stimulate social interaction can make use of these psychological phenomena, as is proposed by for example by Gardner and Stern (1996) and Heiskanen et al (2010).…”

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

“…Focusing on more long-term impacts, however, may give a different picture. The longitudinal panel study, which examined the impacts on UK viewers of a climate change movie, "The Age of Stupid" (Howell 2014), showed that the heightened levels of concern and sense of urgency to act initially generated by the movie did not measurably persist over the long term.…”