Gloom and doom warnings about climate change are often ineffective, as evidenced by a global survey involving 59,000 participants from 63 countries. Researchers developed an app to tailor climate change messages effectively, finding that scare tactics can sometimes backfire, especially in places like Norway where such approaches are less effective compared to more constructive messages.
The researchers collected data between July 2022 and May 2023, so the figures are very recent. Both the app and the method behind it have now been presented in theThe researchers exposed people to different variations of climate messages and tasks related to climate change. They then investigated their attitudes towards the different climate measures and other types of responses.
Some messages produce different results in different countries. This message, which appeals to the recipient’s sense of knowledge, increased support for climate measures in Romania by 9 percent. In Canada, however, it reduced support by 5 percent. “Writing a letter to future generations is most effective in increasing political support for climate measures, and in increasing the belief that climate change is a problem. The second most effective measure is to say that almost all climate experts agree,” Klöckner said.“All the alternatives made people in Norway less inclined to share a climate message on social media,” adds Richter. In other words, in complete contrast to the results seen globally.