TY  - JOUR
AU  - O'Neill, S
AU  - Nicholson-Cole, S
Y2  - 2014/05/21
Y1  - 2009/03/01
SN  - 1075-5470
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/11343/27663
AB  - Fear-inducing representations of climate change are widely employed in the public domain. However, there is a lack of clarity in the literature about the impacts that fearful messages in climate change communications have on people's senses of engagement with the issue and associated implications for public engagement strategies. Some literature suggests that using fearful representations of climate change may be counterproductive. The authors explore this assertion in the context of two empirical studies that investigated the role of visual, and iconic, representations of climate change for public engagement respectively. Results demonstrate that although such representations have much potential for attracting people's attention to climate change, fear is generally an ineffective tool for motivating genuine personal engagement. Nonthreatening imagery and icons that link to individuals' everyday emotions and concerns in the context of this macro-environmental issue tend to be the most engaging. Recommendations for constructively engaging individuals with climate change are given.
N1  - application/pdf
LA  - English
PB  - SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
KW  - Social and Cultural Geography; Environmental Politics; Climate Change Mitigation Strategies; Social Impacts of Climate Change and Variability
T1  - "Fear Won't Do It" Promoting Positive Engagement With Climate Change Through Visual and Iconic Representations
DO  - 10.1177/1075547008329201
IS  - Science Communication
VL  - 30
IS  - 3
SP  - 355-379
L1  - /bitstream/handle/11343/27663/252618_7060.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=n
ER  -