This thesis focuses on how the way people deal with information about complex issues depends of their perceptions of sources that provide the relevant information. The complex issue under consideration throughout this thesis is that of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). In short, CCS involves the capture of carbon dioxide in power plants, the transportation of the carbon dioxide to underground storage sites (e.g., depleted gas fields), and its subsequent storage in these sites. Overall, the current thesis shows that in order for communication about complex issues to be effective, relevant information sources need to be trusted. When trust in information sources is lacking, people’s information selection and their information evaluations are affected in a negative way, with detrimental consequences for the impressions of the issue people form. Additionally, the present work demonstrated the surplus value of having divergent sources provide information in collaboration, instead of separately. Findings are discusses in terms of their theoretical value for the literature on communication, and in terms of their applied value for designers of information campaigns.LEI Universiteit LeidenSocial decision makin
