This is a summary of recent qualitative research into the types of messaging and imagery that may persuade people to join the next wave of new recruits to climate activism in the UK. In collaboration with a prominent climate activism group (CAG), I invited people who were sympathetic to climate issues, but currently not involved in any form of environmental activism, to take part in focus groups. I ran four 1.5 hour focus groups with eight participants in each. They were broadly diverse in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and class.
Participants were shown eight example Facebook ads, which asked people to attend a local talk run by the CAG. The inspiration for these ads was Britain Talks Climate’s attitudinal segmentation of the British public. The succinct descriptions of seven different attitudes towards the climate crisis led to the creation of seven very different messages, plus one ad that was typical of the CAG. Note, this is exploratory research to provide direction for future work. Nevertheless, many of the findings are reflective of previous research in this area.
Key findings
Initial disruption is toxic Promoting disruptive tactics, whether explicitly or implicitly, leaves no room to reach the reader, to engage with them on their deep climate anxiety and feelings of impotence, and to bring them into a personal conversation with the CAG.
Be non-combative and non-aggressive It’s vital messages have a non-combative tone. Even when not talking explicitly about protesting, we found that combative or aggressive language put participants off. And what participants saw as combative or aggressive would surprise many climate activists - even relatively soft language was called out.
Be humble, be respectful, ask for help Even softly-worded demands of people - to take a stand, to do their bit, to attend a talk, to take responsibility - are off-putting. Most people want to be asked to contribute. Politely, without an assumption that they will.
Images of relatable climate impacts resonate Relatable climate impacts, for example a flooded British street, are attention-grabbing and resonate really well with people.
Images of family-friendly protests can work While most images of climate protests don’t play well, showing children and parents engaged in peaceful protest is by far the most acceptable option
Energy Security works, but don’t mention Russia Britain’s energy security is a good message to engage people with - people are concerned about prices and the risk of fuel shortages as a result of geopolitical disruption. However, mentioning Russia backfires. It’s seen as too explicitly political.