Research

Persuading Brazilians of the Benefits of Wind Energy Jobs

Two short videos featuring Brazilian wind turbine workers on the job were persuasive in communicating the benefits of wind energy careers but unsuccessful at persuading Brazilians to consider a wind energy job for themselves.

Can Extreme Weather Persuade People to Make Polluters Pay?

Short videos featuring stories of people impacted by extreme weather, such as hurricanes and wildfires, can be particularly persuasive in convincing people who recently experienced a climate-fueled extreme weather event that polluters should pay for climate-fueled natural disasters.

Do clean energy messages produced lasting attitudinal change?

A longitudinal study that exposed participants to a variety of pro-clean energy videos on social media over the course of three months significantly increased perceptions that clean energy improves the local economy and reduces energy costs. However, this result largely decayed after a month of no exposure, indicating that persistent exposure to messaging is needed, particularly for conservative audiences.

Plugging the “Leaky Funnel” of Online Voter Registration

The “leaky funnel” of online voter registration is a consistent problem where potential new voters drop off during the process. This study found that social pressure messages such as “90% of eligible voters in your state are registered to vote” increased form completion by 40% over a baseline form.

Educating South Africans about the Benefits of Home Solar

Load shedding or rolling blackouts are an ongoing problem for electricity consumers in South Africa who are eager to avoid what are often 10-hour daily interruptions. In this campaign, video messages were successful at convincing participants that it is easy to recoup the cost of installing solar. Baseline agreement to other messages about the benefits of solar energy was so high that the videos had no effect on the outcomes (known as the ceiling effect).

Raising Awareness about the American Climate Corps

Several short videos about the American Climate Corps (ACC), a federal green jobs program, were successful in persuading young adults about its benefits and encouraging them to recommend the ACC to others looking for a job in the climate and clean energy sector.

Persuading Moderates of the Benefits of Renewable Energy Development

The Renew Our Grid creator campaign significantly persuaded audiences that renewable energy makes power grids more reliable and to support their community taking advantage of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives to improve their local grid.

How to Convince UK Residents to “Break Up with Gas”

Household energy bills in the UK are increasing due to the rising price of methane gas. Across a variety of message frames, an economic frame was the most successful at persuading UK audiences to consider switching from methane gas to renewable energy.

EVs Can Save Super-Drivers Money

Three creator-produced short videos significantly persuaded audiences that an electric vehicle saves drivers money compared to a gas car and to say that they would recommend an EV to a friend or family member.

Persuading Spanish-Speakers that Electric Appliances Save Money? They’re Already There.

Two creator-produced videos in Spanish had limited success at persuading audiences that switching to electric appliances can save money, possibly because baseline agreement with statements like "I am interested in researching electric alternatives" had 10-20% higher levels of agreement for Spanish-speaking participants than in a previous test to English-speaking audiences.