Summary

An Instagram poll (a feature in Instagram Stories) successfully persuaded viewers in Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas to have a significantly more positive attitude towards renewable energy jobs.

Study Design

A sample of individuals with moderate and conservative partisanship scores located in the Houston and Corpus Christi designated market areas in the Gulf Coast were targeted in the study. A series of live-action renewable energy job advertisements posted through Instagram stories on an energy jobs account were targeted to individuals in the treatment groups over a single week in January 2023. Respondents answered two questions via an Instagram poll:

1. If you were job hunting, would you consider a job in clean energy?
2. Are clean energy jobs good for Texans?

Key Findings

For all respondents, those who viewed the renewable energy job ads were significantly more likely to say that they would consider a job in clean energy. 

There was no significant effect for the question “Are clean energy jobs good for Texas?”.