Dynamics of Communicating Climate Change Information Hebba Haddad

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Dynamics of Communicating Climate Change
InformationHebba Haddad
Centre for Sport, Leisure and Tourism, Capacity
Building Centre Showcase event 8th June 2011
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Dynamics of Communicating Climate Change
Information

• Started October 2009
• SLT CBC Cluster themes
• Travel, transport and sustainability
• Environment and Landscape
• Supervision team University of Exeter, School of
  Psychology
• Dr Anna Rabinovich and Dr Thomas Morton
• Met Office contact points
• Sarah Tempest, Andy Yeatman (Met Office,
  Communications)
• Dr Debbie Hemming (Met Office Hadley Centre)

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PhD Aims

• Managing uncertainty is the critical challenge to
  climate change communication
• Aim to critically examine the role of the
  informer, information and informed in the
  communication of climate change information
• Investigate how scientists and science
  communicators approach uncertainty and the
  process of communication itself
• Investigate how audiences respond to climate
  change communications as a function of message
  content and their own motivations
• Examine this in the context of sustainable
  behaviour

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Mixed-Methodology
PHASE ONE Qualitative Interviews Aim To get a
better understanding of the role of scientists
and climate science communicators in process of
(public) communication of climate
science Interviews with climate scientists and
climate science communicators
PHASE TWO Quantitative surveys Aim Pilot and
test themes from Phase One Two studies amongst
publics
PHASE THREE Qualitative? Quantitative? Aim Build
on previous two Phases Questionnaires?
Interviews? Focus groups? Experimental work?
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Indicative findingsQualitative interviews

• Semi-structured interviews with 14 participants
  (9 scientists, 5 Communicators)
• Agreement that key role is to inform rather than
  influence behaviour change
• Climate scientists and climate science
  communicators work on different communication
  models
• Scientists focus on an informational (deficit)
  model
• Communicators focus on a more relational model
• Perceived barriers to communication with publics
• Scientists need to communicate uncertainties and
  jargon (Comms)
• Audiences lack of understanding of science
  (Scientists)

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Indicative findingsExperimental study

• 152 Exeter students were presented with a website
  for scientific organisation. Varied
• Uncertainty in climate change predictions (lower
  versus higher)
• Presentational style (open versus corporate)
• Measured perceptions of the organisation (e.g.,
  trustworthiness) willingness to engage with the
  message behavioural intentions

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Indicative findingsExperimental study

• Presentational style influenced perceived
  trustworthiness
• Open style conveyed higher trust/ honesty/
  morality
• Presentational style modified the effects of
  uncertainty on engagement and behaviour

When uncertainty is high, an open communication
style facilitates action (and engagement)
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(Preliminary) Implications

• Scientists and communicators approach
  communication differently
• Scientists focus on informational aspects
• Communicators focus on relational aspect
• Relational processes shape how audiences respond
  to informational content of climate change
  messages
• i.e. the two interact
• Addressing the barrier of uncertainty may not
  always involve resolving uncertainty itself
• Understanding communication processes and how
  these shape audience motivations is key

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Thank you for listening

• Research presented here was conducted during an
  ESRC Studentship under its Capacity Building
  Clusters Award (RES-187-24-0002) in partnership
  with the Met Office
• For more information about this project and the
  work of the Centre for Sport, Leisure and Tourism
  research, see www.exeter.ac.uk/slt/ourresearch/com
  municatingclimatechange
• Hebba Haddad, H.Haddad_at_exeter.ac.uk