ABSTRACT
One piece of research found that images that induced fear were good for attracting attention, but ineffective at motivating genuine personal engagement. Scaring people can work as a kind of 'spark' to generate awareness, but this must be coupled with constructive, practical information and support so that people can do something about it. Un-threatening images that relate to people's everyday actions and concerns are more effective, and this links directly to work on using 'social norms' to promote sustainable behaviour. Showing people pictures of other people engaging in meaningful sustainable behaviours is likely to be a more productive way of motivating sustainable behaviour. A study at Cardiff University found that people who had experienced a flooding event were more likely to express concern over climate change and – crucially – to show a greater willingness to save energy to prevent the effects of climate change.
