Research

There has been a steep growth in the number of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects globally. However, Americans remain relatively unfamiliar with this climate change mitigation technology, even in communities where the projects would be sited. Using the technology acceptance model as our theoretical framework, this study examined how benefit- and risk-framed messages about CCS might influence community members’ support for CCS deployment. Through a messaging experiment, we found that exposure to the relative benefit or risk of CCS influenced public support for CCS through risk-benefit perception and affective evaluation of the technology.

Sustainable waste management is becoming increasingly difficult with rising populations and soaring consumption patterns. Better recycling and reuse practices not only provide economic and environmental benefits, but also align with the larger goal of promoting circularity. Applying the theory of normative social behavior, this study examines how subjective, personal, and descriptive norms influence New York State residents’ willingness to recycle and reuse, based on two rounds of survey data collected from representative samples. Results indicate that descriptive norm serves as the “initiator” and personal norm serves as the immediate “predictor” of behavioral willingness. These findings have practical implications for public communication about pro-environmental behaviors.

This study evaluated an innovative, video-based, group-values affirmation against a traditional affirmation and a control group to demonstrate that the video induction increased group identity, which led to higher-level mental construal of the threat highlighted in risk messages about beef consumption. Consistent with self-affirmation theory, this higher-level mental construal resulted in lower message derogation, higher risk perception, and stronger intention to reduce beef consumption. These findings support the videobased approach to affirming group values.