Media communication strategies for climate-friendly lifestyles – Addressing middle and lower class consumers for social-cultural change via Entertainment-Education

Abstract

Abstract. This paper argues that Entertainment-Education (E-E) is a striking communication strategy for reaching middle and lower socio-economic classes with climate-friendly lifestyle messages. On the international level (e.g. in the US and the Netherlands) E-E approaches are being theoretically grounded, whereas in Germany they are not yet. Therefore further theoretical discussion and mapping of E-E approaches is central for future research. As a first step towards providing further theoretical foundations for E-E in the field of sustainability, the authors suggest a threefold mapping of E-E approaches. The threefold mapping of E-E approaches for communicating climate-friendly lifestyles to middle and lower class consumers is based on recent results from academic research and practical developments on the media market. The commonalities among the three is that they all promote pro-sustainability messages in an affective-orientated rather than cognitive-orientated, factual manner. Differences can be found in: the sender of the sustainability message, the targeted consumer groups and the media approach in use. Based on this, the paper draws the conclusion that two new paths for further research activities in the field of Entertainment-Education can be proposed: (1) Improving the existing approaches in practice by using theoretical foundation from the E-E field. This comprises at its core (A) to do formative, process and summative effect research on the messages and (B) to use E-E theory from the field of social psychology, sociology and communication science for further improvement and (2) Generating new E-E theories by analyzing the existing practical approaches in the media to communicate climate change.

Fictional Narratives for Environmental Sustainability Communication

“…A third line of research refers to sustainable media content in the field of entertainment-education that strategically integrates educational and entertaining content (Lubjuhn and Pratt 2009). Various radio series worldwide cover topics such as air pollution, waste reduction, organic farming, conservation of biodiversity or water management (Reinermann et al 2014).…”

Suffizienz, Die Konsumgesellschaft in der ökologischen Krise

“…)«Renner et al 2009 ; Schmidt-Bleek 1998, 203-229; Aachener Stiftung Kathy Beys 2005;Linz 2006 EuropäischeKommission 2005, 4 Mandevilles Argumentationslinie führte in jüngere VergangenheitLotter (2006) weiter. Er stellt die positiven Aspekte der Verschwendung heraus und spricht sich vehement gegen die von Umwelt-Analysten oft geforderte konsumtive Bescheidenheit aus.…”