The influence of message framing on public beliefs and behaviors related to species reintroduction

Niemiec, Rebecca M.; Sekar, Samantha; Gonzalez, Mireille; Mertens, Andrew

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108522

Cited by 22 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Our findings regarding the overall ineffectiveness of the norms-only message are contrary to findings from recent studies that show sharing information about the large number of others engaging (or starting to engage) in a behavior can enhance conservation action (Geiger & Swim, 2016;Kusmanoff et al, 2020;Sparkman & Walton, 2017). However, several randomized control trials applying normative messaging to biodiversity conservation show null or even negative impacts of social norm interventions (Byerly et al, 2019;Niemiec et al, 2020b). Byerly et al (2019), for example, found that providing information to maple producers about the participation of others in a bird habitat conservation program had a negative effect on the number of producers requesting information about the program compared to an informationonly control.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, Niemiec et al. ( 2020b ) found that while sharing descriptive norms about the number of Coloradans who support wolf restoration in the state changed perceptions of descriptive norms, the altered normative perceptions did not change behavioral intentions to vote for or share information in support of wolf restoration. They suggest this was because the normative information provided regarded too broad a reference group (i.e., all of Colorado) to be influential and people may instead be more affected by normative information related to their specific social groups, especially for such a controversial topic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Our findings regarding the overall ineffectiveness of the norms‐only message are contrary to findings from recent studies that show sharing information about the large number of others engaging (or starting to engage) in a behavior can enhance conservation action (Geiger & Swim, 2016 ; Kusmanoff et al., 2020 ; Sparkman & Walton, 2017 ). However, several randomized control trials applying normative messaging to biodiversity conservation show null or even negative impacts of social norm interventions (Byerly et al., 2019 ; Niemiec et al., 2020b ). Byerly et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Efficacy‐based and normative interventions for facilitating the diffusion of conservation behavior through social networks

Niemiec

Jones

Lischka

et al. 2021

Conservation Biology

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Research suggests that encouraging motivated residents to reach out to others in their social network is an effective strategy for increasing the scale and speed of conservation action adoption. However, little is known about how to effectively encourage large numbers of residents to reach out to others about conservation causes. We examined the influence of normative and efficacy-based messaging at motivating residents to engage in and to encourage others to participate in native plant gardening in their community. To do so, we conducted a field experiment with messages on mailings and tracked native plant vouchers used. Efficacy messages tended to be more effective than normative messages at increasing residents' willingness to reach out to others to encourage conservation action, as indicated by a several percentage point increase in native plant voucher use by residents' friends and neighbors. Messages sometimes had different impacts on residents based on past behaviors and perceptions related to native plant gardening. Among these subgroups, efficacy and combined efficacy and norm messages most effectively encouraged individual and collective actions, as indicated by increased voucher usage. Our findings suggest that interventions that build residents' efficacy for engaging in a conservation behavior and for reaching out to others may be a promising path forward for outreach. However, given our results were significant at a false discovery rate cutoff of 0.25 but not 0.05, more experimental trials are needed to determine the robustness of these trends.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Efficacy‐based and normative interventions for facilitating the diffusion of conservation behavior through social networks

Niemiec

Jones

Lischka

et al. 2021

Conservation Biology

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“…First, biodiversity conservation is essential for the long-term prosperity of people and nature. Its particular characteristics (see below) mean that it would be unhelpful simply to adopt behaviour-change interventions found effective in other domains: indeed, these do not necessarily generalize to biodiversity conservation 52,64 . Instead, the field offers a new arena for exploring important research questions and for testing novel interventions.…”

Section: Increasing Scientific Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Naturally, as with all interdisciplinary collaborations, these collaborations will have their challenges 75 . However, recent examples show that effective collaborations can produce novel and mutually beneficial research that suggests practical routes to achieving behaviour change for biodiversity conservation 50,64,[76][77][78] .…”

Section: Increasing Scientific Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity conservation as a promising frontier for behavioural science

et al. 2021

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Human activities are degrading ecosystems worldwide, posing existential threats for biodiversity and humankind. Slowing and reversing this degradation will require profound and widespread changes to human behaviour. Behavioural scientists are therefore well placed to contribute intellectual leadership in this area. This Perspective aims to stimulate a marked increase in the amount and breadth of behavioural research addressing this challenge. First, we describe the importance of the biodiversity crisis for human and non-human prosperity and the central role of human behaviour in reversing this decline. Next, we discuss key gaps in our understanding of how to achieve behaviour change for biodiversity conservation and suggest how to identify key behaviour changes and actors capable of improving biodiversity outcomes. Finally, we outline the core components for building a robust evidence base and suggest priority research questions for behavioural scientists to explore in opening a new frontier of behavioural science for the benefit of nature and human wellbeing.

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What's the story of the elephant? Evaluation of choose‐your‐own‐adventure activities on public perception of human–elephant conflict

Tan,

Loo,

Ahmad Husam

et al. 2024

Integrative Conservation

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Choose‐your‐own‐adventure (CYOA) narratives offer immersive experiences that can effectively convey complex conservation concepts, fostering empathy and critical thinking, particularly in addressing issues like human–elephant conflict. Despite their potential, there is limited research on the use of CYOA activities in conservation education. In this study, we created an interactive story centered on elephant conservation, drawing from existing research to distill scientific concepts into engaging narratives and utilizing various modes of delivery (YouTube and live performances) to reach diverse audiences. We conducted postactivity surveys to assess variations in audience perception, learning, and conservation engagement intentions in relation to sociodemographic factors, activity type, and messages encountered. We then modeled the relationships between ordinal responses and explanatory variables using cumulative ordinal mixed models (N = 398). For the YouTube version, we also considered sociodemographic factors (YouTube n = 53, non‐YouTube n = 47). Our findings indicate a preference for live performances over online YouTube activity, with participants gaining knowledge about elephant conservation from both formats. For the YouTube activity, participants strongly agreed that the activity allowed engagement with the character and topic. They also expressed a higher likelihood of participating in several conservation actions, relative to a control group. While CYOA storytelling shows promise for conservation education, challenges remain in simplifying scientific language, assessing its impact on comprehension of complex issues, standardizing outcomes, and effectively communicating knowledge. Further research is recommended to adapt this approach, making it applicable to various audiences and domains beyond conservation.

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The influence of message framing on public beliefs and behaviors related to species reintroduction

Cited by 22 publications

References 44 publications

Efficacy‐based and normative interventions for facilitating the diffusion of conservation behavior through social networks

Efficacy‐based and normative interventions for facilitating the diffusion of conservation behavior through social networks

Biodiversity conservation as a promising frontier for behavioural science

What's the story of the elephant? Evaluation of choose‐your‐own‐adventure activities on public perception of human–elephant conflict

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