Communicating Sustainability with Visuals: Issue Perception and Issue Engagement

Today the list of environmental disasters threatening lives and natural resources has expanded to include many causes. Even though sustainable solutions have never been so urgent, public still issues low priority to many of these serious threats. Many impacts of environmental deprivation, such as coastal land loss, are invisible to the untrained eye, causing individuals to distance themselves psychologically from the risks. The slow pace of environmental degradation constitutes one of the biggest challenges in sustainability communication. The success of sustainable development will require the public to undergo a significant shift in thinking about environmental issues. This dissertation systemically investigates the influence of visual imagery on how people perceive environmental change. It explores visuals’ ability to influence issue urgency, issue importance, issue engagement, and issue salience. The relationship between these variables is investigated in a sequential and mixed-method format that involves content analysis and focus group discussions Results, which were interpreted in the context of the Visual Perception Model, suggested that affect and cognition influences one another to shape environmental perceptions. Particularly, images that incorporate hypothetical future scenarios are more likely to convey the urgency and importance of an issue. While images with an added affective component (positive and negative cues) make messages more engaging, they can also reduce motivation to take action. Willingness to support environmental solutions appears to be a result of public’s ability to visualize short-term goals and successes

Communicating the Health Impacts of Climate Change: from Conviction to Persuasion

Drawing on rhetorical theory as well as research in health and environmental communication, this thesis analyzes the effectiveness of messages that link climate change with health implications at moving audiences to persuasion. The two texts analyzed are a report produced by a group of physicians advocating for action on climate change and an episode from the Years of Living Dangerously Series. The findings indicate that communicators have the opportunity to frame climate-change-health messages in rhetorically sensitive ways that are more likely to empower audiences. Progressing from problems to solutions and to benefits of taking action can frame distressing health messages more positively and productively. Mindful orientations toward audiences that respect their agency and their self-efficacy appear to offer an avenue for internalized understanding of the stakes of climate change

Greenpeace cyberadvocacy: message strategies and the framing of the say no to genetic engineering campaign

A content analysis was conducted to examine campaign message characteristics and the framing of genetic engineering (GE) in news articles published in sites dedicated to two countries with different policy stances toward GE---Australia (precautionary) and Philippines (permissive).;The findings show the intent to generate awareness and encourage information seeking among audiences. Logical reasoning that highlighted risks using negative appeals indicate latent and aware publics as target audiences. The Australian and Philippine sites showed spikes in news items published preceding the commercial release of GM crops. In both countries, biotechnology policy was the most dominant frame used. The Philippines used significantly more frames and sources in longer articles

The visual rhetoric in public awareness print advertising toward Malaysia perceptive sociolculture design

The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss the role being played by visual rhetoric in Malaysia's public announcement print advertising scene using semiotic approaches.The visual rhetoric seems to be an important element to increase the effectiveness of the process of information exchange. In fact visual rhetoric helps to get messages across to audiences in a persuasive way.The output from this study will propose the system or guideline that would be employed by visual rhetoric in print media to instill advertising awareness.This allows people from various social culture to engage themselves with the activity of comprehending the message carried by the visuals displayed to them. This study will also spread knowledge on the usefulness of visual rhetoric in print advertising beyond the fact that they are a pleasure to the eyes as their presence accounts as beautiful crafts to the eyes of huma

The Pink and Blue Problem: Altercasting in Gendered Advertising

When you meet a baby for the first time, and you don’t know its sex, if its wearing pink clothes, most people will automatically assume it’s a girl; or if they’re wearing blue clothes, it’s automatically a boy. The pink and blue problem is the enforcing of gender stereotypes through color, associated roles, and imagery. The root of this problem is that many people are unaware of the difference between “sex” and “gender”, and that they can be mutually exclusive. Your sex is the body you’re born with, and all the parts that come with it, while your gender is how you identify as a human being. Your sex and your gender do not have to match, though many times it’s assumed that they do when a child is born. As they develop, kids are surrounded with gendered toys, clothes, and products that continue to enforce what each gender should be: pink for girls, blue for boys. This immediately puts the child in a box, as they are given no room to figure out their gender identity for themselves. They are forced onto certain items and associations because of their sex, and shown the norm through pink and blue. For my thesis, I will be analyzing advertisements for different products, analyzing the discourse used, and using the theory of altercasting to demonstrate how this pink and blue problem has a serious impact on developmental youths

“Better Than We Found It”: A Persuasive Narrative & Its Impact

This study examined Maren Morris’s music video for the country song “Better Than We Found It” and her audiences’ response in 672 comments left on her Instagram post of the music video. The study focused on narrative persuasion throughout the video in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, immigration reform/the DREAM Act, and the importance of being good stewards. A thematic analysis was conducted on the music video followed by qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Instagram comments. Results showed that overall commenters expressed support for Maren Morris as an artist and for her music video’s message. Results also indicated signs of a parasocial relationship between Maren Morris and her fans and support for her arguments about the Black Lives Matter movement and good stewardship. Future research should be done on how other musicians are able to use their music and social media platforms to promote social issues