The study of communication strategies of climate change risk

Author: Yuh-Yuh Li – National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan

The development of science and technology sometimes is accompanied by unexpected consequences, such as environmental problems of climate changes and air pollutions. Government often would like public to acknowledge the dangers of potential environmental risks, but it is also critical to frame these information about risks so that public will not overwhelmed by these risks and thus oppose the development of science and technology. This research seeks to examine the effects of two risk communicate strategies: the exposure of factual knowledge and the exposure of scientists’ consensus. The first strategy of factual knowledge is to assess how subjective knowledge works on public attitude. The second strategy, consensus information, is to assess how scientists’ consensus influence public attitude. Our research assumes that the effectiveness will be dependent upon personal cultural identity. This research, in this regard, considers the significance of personal cultural background when it comes to the usage of risk communication strategy. Surveys of university students will be done with both the treatment group and control group to compare the treatment effect. The results will be compared across countries who conducted similar surveys. It is expected that the project will broaden our understanding of public risk perception, and we can develop a tailored local risk communication strategy for local communities.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Idea in progress
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Comparing science communication across cultures