MISCONCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AMONG RUSSIAN-SPEAKING INSTAGRAM USERS
Chekalskaia, Daria (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202102082037
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202102082037
Tiivistelmä
Skepticism can be a healthy phenomenon. However, with the influence of fossil fuel companies, conservative think tanks, and other parties whose agenda had been threatened by the gaining momentum of climate action, climate change skepticism became a serious issue. Once people start to doubt the causes and effects, they are less likely to do something about global warming. In times of climate emergency, passive actions are no longer an option; thus, effective climate change communication strategies are required.
In order to efficiently apply the misconception-based approach to social media communication, it is crucial to know which misconceptions are common within the targeted audience. This paper aimed to explore misconceptions concerning climate change amongst Russian-speaking users of Instagram and identify the most common misconceptions among those who actively follow environmentally-related accounts and mostly believe that climate change is occurring to some extent due to the anthropogenic force.
In this paper, quantitative research methods were used to gain knowledge of the current state of the public’s perception. A significant sample size of the targeted audience was surveyed with closed-ended questions. After that, the results were analyzed with frequency counts, cross-tabulation, and Pearson’s Chi-square test for contingency to observe the trends and find the differences between the groups with different beliefs in the cause of climate change.
The study showed some common misconceptions related to the understanding of climate change mechanisms (for example, greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, and the effect of waste pollution) and the assessment of possible efficient actions slowing down climate change. Besides, it was found that target group mostly included people who believe that climate change is happening not only due to human activities but due to nature itself. Thus, it is recommended to focus misconception-based communication strategy on aforementioned topics.
In order to efficiently apply the misconception-based approach to social media communication, it is crucial to know which misconceptions are common within the targeted audience. This paper aimed to explore misconceptions concerning climate change amongst Russian-speaking users of Instagram and identify the most common misconceptions among those who actively follow environmentally-related accounts and mostly believe that climate change is occurring to some extent due to the anthropogenic force.
In this paper, quantitative research methods were used to gain knowledge of the current state of the public’s perception. A significant sample size of the targeted audience was surveyed with closed-ended questions. After that, the results were analyzed with frequency counts, cross-tabulation, and Pearson’s Chi-square test for contingency to observe the trends and find the differences between the groups with different beliefs in the cause of climate change.
The study showed some common misconceptions related to the understanding of climate change mechanisms (for example, greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, and the effect of waste pollution) and the assessment of possible efficient actions slowing down climate change. Besides, it was found that target group mostly included people who believe that climate change is happening not only due to human activities but due to nature itself. Thus, it is recommended to focus misconception-based communication strategy on aforementioned topics.