Project Milestone 2 📃 - The Report on Survey Experiment about social media influence on climate change beliefs is now available to be downloaded.
📃 Report Description
This report presents the findings of a survey experiment conducted as part of the ALMONDO project to explore how social media content influences public beliefs and engagement with climate change issues. Participants were exposed to three types of information treatments derived from real-life social media posts: pro-climate content from the IPCC, dismissive content from the CO2 Coalition, and unrelated content as an active control. The goal is to evaluate how these treatments affect posterior beliefs and the respondents’ willingness to engage in climate-related actions, such as signing petitions or donating to causes. The report outlines the experimental protocol, survey structure, and preliminary results from a pilot study, highlighting the dynamics of climate-related opinions and the varying impacts of information provision on individual beliefs.
While many studies find significant effects of information provision on beliefs about climate change, the influence on policy support and commitment to climate action appears weaker. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding how different types of information can shape public engagement with climate issues, guiding effective communication strategies for climate action. Preliminary findings from the pilot study suggest a general awareness of climate change among respondents, but a notable disconnect between beliefs about climate change and support for related policies. Future work aims to expand the sample size and further analyse the effects of social media exposure on climate beliefs and behaviours.