AI Insight
This study examined how different types of climate change narratives affect people's intention to engage in pro-environmental behaviors through two online experiments with over 1,600 participants total. Solution-oriented narratives (focusing on actions and solutions) were significantly more effective than problem-oriented narratives (focusing on climate threats) at promoting pro-environmental behavioral intentions, with this effect partially explained by increased environmental self-efficacy. The effectiveness of solution-oriented narratives was strongest when communicated by central government sources rather than local government sources.
Why it matters
These findings provide evidence-based guidance for designing climate communication campaigns, suggesting that messaging should emphasize solutions and actionable steps rather than solely focusing on problems. The research also indicates that the credibility and authority of the messenger matters, with national-level sources potentially being more effective for solution-focused climate messaging.
Understand the Science
IntroductionThis study addresses a key gap in climate communication research by examining the differential effects of problem-oriented versus solution-oriented climate narratives on pro-environmental behavioral intention (PEBI) and the underlying mechanisms.MethodsWe conducted two online survey experiments (n1 = 524; n2 = 1,130) to systematically investigate the relationships among narrative strategy, environmental self-efficacy, narrator, and PEBI.ResultsThe findings reveal that solution-oriented narratives are significantly more effective than their problem-oriented counterparts in promoting PEBI. Mediation analysis further demonstrates that environmental self-efficacy partially mediates this relationship. In addition, moderated mediation analyses indicate that narrator moderates the effect of narrative strategy on environmental self-efficacy. The positive indirect effect of solution-oriented, relative to problem-oriented, narratives on PEBI through environmental self-efficacy was significant when the central government was the narrator but not when a local government was the narrator.DiscussionResults advance our understanding of how narratives shape PEBI and provide practical implications for designing more effective climate communication.