Theory and language of climate change communication

Climate change communication has become a salient topic in science and society. It has grown to be something like a booming industry alongside more established ‘communication enterprises’, such as health communication, risk communication, and science communication. This article situates the theory of climate change communication within theoretical developments in the field of science communication. It discusses the importance and difficulties inherent in talking about climate change to different types of publics using various types of communication tools and strategies. It engages with the difficult issue of the relationship between climate change communication and behavior change, and it focuses, in particular, on the role of language (metaphors, words, strategies, frames, and narratives) in conveying climate change issues to stakeholders. In the process, it attempts to provide an overview of emerging theories of climate change communication, theories that recently have begun to proliferate quite dramatically. In some cases, we can, therefore only provide signposts to the most relevant research that is being carried out with regard to climate change communication without being able to engage with all its aspects. We end with an assessment of how communication could be improved in light of the theories and practices discussed in this article

Pollinating insects: what do they mean to people and why does it matter?

1. People value pollinating insects, and especially bees, in a wide range of different ways: as beautiful or fascinating creatures; as providers of goods; as objects of stewardship; as participants in a greater, interconnected whole – in which humans also participate; and as creatures with lives and characters. 2. An understanding of pollinators as creative connectors, sustaining and creating life by moving from plant to plant, is particularly powerful. Pollinators prompt people to think about nature as an interconnected whole, in which they too participate; and can unlock feelings of wonder, awe, groundedness, concern, responsibility, and nostalgia. 3. Social and cultural values provide a powerful resource for effective communications, a store of pre-existing meanings and associations that can be used to frame messages. Communications about pollinators would resonate more powerfully if they framed pollinators as creative connecters, emblematic of the interconnected and interdependent nature of ecosystems. By contrast, communications which focus on what pollinators do for us (e.g. pollination framed as an ‘ecosystem service’) are rational but unemotional. 4. Communications drawing on these insights should: • Highlight first and foremost the critical role played by pollinators as creative connectors in a greater, interconnected whole • Acknowledge our dependency on that greater interconnected whole, but also our responsibilities as participants in it • Be willing to embrace and use non-scientific language, ideas and tonalities in talking about both pollinators and the interconnected whole of which they are part, for example: o spiritual/religious language in evoking feelings of awe and wonder at the greater interconnected whole o evocations of an idealised, traditional way of life, and the possibilities of reconnecting in some small way o metaphorical characterisations of pollinators as spreading life and love • Recognise that we face choices about the environment not just as individuals, but as a society; that people see evidence of our society as a whole making the wrong choices; and that the actions of any body seeking to campaign about pollinators will speak as loudly, if not louder, than the messages it promotes • Emphasise – in messages, but also in developing the case for a campaign – the link between the holistic perspective, subjective wellbeing, and reconnection: o reconnection with nature: the consolation of knowing that one has a place in an enduring, greater whole, and a responsibility to play a positive role in that whole o reconnection with self: the experience of a moment of self-aware contemplation in contrast to the day-to-day stresses of life o reconnection with history: a sense of contact with an idealised traditional way of life 5. If developed effectively, such campaigns will contribute to many of the key actions in the National Pollinator Strategy, and in particular actions relating to “supporting pollinators across towns, cities and the countryside” (including encouraging the public to take action) and to “raising awareness of what pollinators need to survive and thrive”. 6. Because they prompt people to think about and respond emotionally to the interconnectedness of nature, pollinators framed as creative connectors could play an important role in communications seeking to increase awareness and change behaviour in relation to a much wider range of policies and approaches which relate to the connectedness of nature: for example, maintaining wider natural connectivity, protecting biodiversity, and ensuring environmental resilience through approaches such as those relating to the concept of landscape level conservation. As such, pollinators could play an important role in delivery of the 25-year plan for the environment, and in particular in efforts to increase public engagement. 7. Compared to other pollinating insects, bees occupy a central position in our culture. The ‘popular bee’ is not a real insect, but a product of a blurring of species, idealisation of the past, ignorance of the diversity of pollinators and, often, a shaky grasp on what pollination actually means. It is, however, a very meaningful and valued insect, and as such can serve as a flagship for communications in all of the above areas. 8. In terms of wider policy and decision-making, this research offers a potential model of how to create an evidence-based catalogue of social and cultural values. The development of such an evidence-based catalogue, using a mix of interpretative and participatory methods to explore how, and in what capacities, people can and do value objects of interest, should be an essential pre-requisite for robust valuation across a wide range of natural environment policy areas, but in practice is rarely undertaken. 9. Some types of social and cultural value can be captured through economic valuation: either through monetisation or through the inclusion of non-monetised criteria in multi-criteria analysis approaches. To do this, however, it is essential that data-gathering tools assess the right things: e.g. that willingness-to-pay questions frame the object of value in the right capacity and from the right perspective. 10. It may be more practical and/or appropriate to take account of some types of social and cultural value in policy and decision-making through other mechanisms, such as public consultation, political representation, or open policy-making. It may not be possible to monetise some kinds of value. In other cases, the effort involved in economic valuation may be disproportionate. If alternative mechanisms are not used, there is a risk that certain kinds of social and cultural value, or certain objects of value, are systematically overlooked. 11. Key levers to ensure that these alternative mechanisms are used effectively include: • Align policy frameworks – for example, set priorities and requirements in overarching national policies which ensure key social and cultural values or objects of value are taken into account. • Provide contexts – for example, create public consultation contexts in which certain kinds of value will be surfaced, or objects of value considered. • Improve processes – e.g. ensure consultation questions frame objects of value in ways that invite the articulate of key values. 12. An evidence-based catalogue of social and cultural values also provides a basis on which to anticipate risks and opportunities arising from changes in public opinion. Social and cultural values may be widely available within a society or culture but not, at any given moment, widely used. It is not always possible to predict how patterns of use will change in response to policies (e.g. forest privatisation, neonicotinoid pesticide policy); but an evidence-based understanding of underlying social and cultural values makes it possible to develop and explore scenarios of how they could change and develop responses accordingly

The country of brand communication in the retail setting: An analysis of Italian products in China

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of country of brand (COB) communication within the retail environment of emerging markets. Drawing from the literature on store image, we developed a framework to analyse static and dynamic elements of COB communication. By adopting an inductive approach, we analysed COB use in a sample of 20 stores of Italian fashion brands in China using the mystery shopping technique. Given the increasing growth of e-retailing in China, the in-store observation is complemented by an analysis of the use of COB within the brand's local website and e-commerce page. In order to have a multi-layered representation of the phenomenon, in-depth interviews with managers of Italian firms in fashion industry are carried out. Findings confirm that retailing represents a primary communication channel for firms operating in China; however, the results of the participant observation show that COB is a cue information utilised only by a small percentage of the sample, mainly in a textual and iconic way. Managerial implications are discussed on the extent to which COB communication in store should be managed within an effective marketing strategy in line with the country and consumer characteristics in order to enhance the brand image in a growing market like China

Firing the climate canon: a literary critique of the genre of climate change

This article makes the case for more climate change, where climate change refers to the prevailing ideologies and frameworks that inform our understanding of environmental change in the first place. It reviews the mainstream literature in popular science writing, fiction and poetry from the point of view of a political frame analysis of climate change, to demonstrate how a certain understanding of climate change maps onto conventions of literary genre. This understanding, and associated literature, are critiqued on the basis of their continued attachment to dualistic and teleological narratives of human mastery and progress, such as to make the case for a literature which offers something radically other. The current political context, not least Donald Trump’s victory and Brexit, are cited as evidence of the contemporary importance of alternatives to the establishment approach to climate mitigation than either denial or scepticism – in both literature, and more broadly

Impacts of adaptation and responsibility framings on attitudes towards climate change mitigation

It is likely that climate change communications and media coverage will increasingly stress the importance of adaptation, yet little is known about whether or how this may affect attitudes towards mitigation. Despite concerns that communicating adaptation could undermine public support for mitigation, previous research has found it can have the opposite effect by increasing risk salience. It is also unclear whether people respond differently to information about mitigation and adaptation depending on whether action is framed as an individual or government responsibility. Using an experimental design, this study sought to examine how public attitudes towards mitigation are influenced by varying climate change messages, and how this might interact with prior attitudes to climate change. UK-based participants (N = 800) read one of four texts in a 2 × 2 design comparing adaptation versus mitigation information and personal versus governmental action. No main effect was found for adaptation versus mitigation framing, nor for individual action versus government policy, but we did observe a series of interaction effects with prior attitudes to climate change. Mitigation and adaptation information affected participants’ responses differently depending on their pre-existing levels of concern about climate change, suggesting that mitigation framings may be more engaging for those with high levels of concern, whereas adaptation framings may be more engaging for low-concern individuals. Government mitigation action appears to engender particularly polarised attitudes according to prior concern. Implications for climate change communications are considered

Libertarian paternalism: Policy and everyday translations of the rational and the affective

Following the financial collapse in 2008 many commentators went onto pronounce the end of neoliberalism as a credible system for managing welfare state capitalism. The narrow economic belief in individuals as rational utility maximizers (the linchpin of neoliberal governance) was proved to be uncomfortably inaccurate. In light of these claims, British governments and think tanks have published various research and pol-icy documents promoting the use of soft forms of state power to ‘nudge’ citizens into behaving responsibly and rationally. Through an analysis of key policy documents and academic texts, I examine the repertoires and formulations informing this emerging governmental rationality (‘libertarian paternalism’) and draw together these perspectives to explore their effects in terms of framing policy understandings of the rational and the emotional. I conclude the article by utilizing a discursive psychology approach with the aim to problematize existing policy (mis)understandings of emotion as automated and unreflexive