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Is There Any Hope? How Climate Change News Imagery and Text Influence Audience Emotions and Support for Climate Mitigation Policies

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  • Lauren Feldman
  • P. Sol Hart

Abstract

Using a national sample, this study experimentally tests the effects of news visuals and texts that emphasize either the causes and impacts of climate change or actions that can be taken to address climate change. We test the effects of variations in text and imagery on discrete emotions (i.e., hope, fear, and anger) and, indirectly, on support for climate mitigation policies. Political ideology is examined as a moderator. The findings indicate that news images and texts that focus on climate‐oriented actions can increase hope and, in the case of texts, decrease fear and anger, and these effects generally hold across the ideological spectrum. In turn, the influence of emotions on policy support depends on ideology: Hope and fear increase support for climate policies for all ideological groups but particularly conservatives, whereas anger polarizes the opinions of liberals and conservatives. Implications for climate change communication that appeals to emotions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Lauren Feldman & P. Sol Hart, 2018. "Is There Any Hope? How Climate Change News Imagery and Text Influence Audience Emotions and Support for Climate Mitigation Policies," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(3), pages 585-602, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:38:y:2018:i:3:p:585-602
    DOI: 10.1111/risa.12868
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marilou Jobin & Michael Siegrist, 2020. "Support for the Deployment of Climate Engineering: A Comparison of Ten Different Technologies," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(5), pages 1058-1078, May.
    3. Septianto, Felix & Lee, Michael S.W., 2020. "Emotional responses to plastic waste: Matching image and message framing in encouraging consumers to reduce plastic consumption," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 18-29.
    4. Ran Duan & Christian Bombara, 2022. "Visualizing climate change: the role of construal level, emotional valence, and visual literacy," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Joshua Ettinger & Peter Walton & James Painter & Thomas DiBlasi, 2021. "Climate of hope or doom and gloom? Testing the climate change hope vs. fear communications debate through online videos," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Jerome Ballet & Damien Bazin & Emmanuel Petit, 2023. "The Ecology of Fear and Climate Change: A Pragmatist Point of View," Environmental Values, , vol. 32(1), pages 5-24, February.
    7. Lauren Feldman & P. Sol Hart, 2021. "Upping the ante? The effects of “emergency” and “crisis” framing in climate change news," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 1-20, November.
    8. Nia King & Katherine E. Bishop-Williams & Sabrina Beauchamp & James D. Ford & Lea Berrang-Ford & Ashlee Cunsolo & IHACC Research Team & Sherilee L. Harper, 2019. "How do Canadian media report climate change impacts on health? A newspaper review," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 581-596, March.
    9. Katherine M. Crosman & Ann Bostrom & Adam L. Hayes, 2019. "Efficacy Foundations for Risk Communication: How People Think About Reducing the Risks of Climate Change," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(10), pages 2329-2347, October.
    10. Zhang, Xiadan & Gong, Xiushuang & Jiang, Jing, 2021. "Dump or recycle? Nostalgia and consumer recycling behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 594-603.
    11. Robin G. Veldman & Dara M. Wald & Sarah B. Mills & David A. M. Peterson, 2021. "Who are American evangelical Protestants and why do they matter for US climate policy?," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), March.

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