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Relying on construal-level theory, we experimentally test how the level of concreteness and abstraction of climate change imagery affects climate change responses among a diverse sample of U.S. adults ( N = 448). Results show that concrete visual messaging practices cannot directly lead to increased level of concern or behavioral intentions. Instead, they may backfire for conservatives, less-efficacious people, and people who are low in proenvironmental values. Our findings contribute to the effective climate change visual communication literature by incorporating a construal-level perspective, while also offering practical implications regarding how to use visuals more effectively to engage the public with climate change.

AbstractDecades of research identify risk perception as a largely intuitive and affective construct, in contrast to the more deliberative assessments of probability and consequences that form the foundation of risk assessment. However, a review of the literature reveals that many of the risk perception measures employed in survey research with human subjects are either generic in nature, not capturing any particular affective, probabilistic, or consequential dimension of risk; or focused solely on judgments of probability. The goal of this research was to assess a multidimensional measure of risk perception across multiple hazards to identify a measure that will be broadly useful for assessing perceived risk moving forward. Our results support the idea of risk perception being multidimensional, but largely a function of individual affective reactions to the hazard. We also find that our measure of risk perception holds across multiple types of hazards, ranging from those that are behavioral in nature (e.g., health and safety behaviors), to those that are technological (e.g., pollution), or natural (e.g., extreme weather). We suggest that a general, unidimensional measure of risk may accurately capture one's perception of the severity of the consequences, and the discrete emotions that are felt in response to those potential consequences. However, such a measure is not likely to capture the perceived probability of experiencing the outcomes, nor will it be as useful at understanding one's motivation to take mitigation action.

Purpose– The purpose of this article is to present a tool for assessing the sustainability knowledge of an undergraduate population.Design/methodology/approach– Multiple-choice questions were developed through soliciting expert input, focus groups, pilot testing, distribution via a large-scale online survey and analysis using item response theory.Findings– The final assessment consists of 16 questions from the environmental, economic and social domains, covering foundational concepts within the topic of sustainability.Research limitations/implications– This assessment represents an initial effort to quantify knowledge of the broad and abstract concept of sustainability. The authors plan to continue refining these questions to better differentiate between students with higher levels of knowledge and to replace those with answers that may change over time.Practical implications– With knowledge of sustainability concepts becoming increasingly included in institution-wide learning objectives, there is a growing demand for a way to measure progress in this area. Our assessment tool can easily be used (via a campus-wide survey or distributed at the classroom level) by institutions to gauge current levels of knowledge and track changes over time, as well as assess the effectiveness of courses and curricula at meeting sustainability knowledge goals.Originality/value– This assessment of sustainability knowledge is the first of its kind to include all three separate domains of sustainability, and we expect it to be useful across a variety of college and university contexts.

Although trust is widely recognized as key to effective public administration, little is known about trust dynamics, especially in typical governance relationships. We conducted an intensive longitudinal experience sampling study via a weekly survey of Florida residents' ( N = 97) trust in and perceptions of the trustworthiness of the (US) National Hurricane Center over a 25-week hurricane season. We estimated two-level time series models to examine reciprocal relationships among four constructs: trust, ability, benevolence, and integrity. All four exhibited significant intraindividual variability such that participants demonstrated change in their ratings of the agency over time. Ability perceptions showed the greatest variability over the study duration. In line with classic models of trust, previous-week trustworthiness perceptions were significant predictors of subsequent trust. Our results also provide some support for self-reinforcing accounts of trust by demonstrating that previous-week trust predicted subsequent trustworthiness. Several of the one-week lagged relationships weakened substantially when tested with two-week lags, suggesting that trustworthiness is the stronger driver of trust. Overall, our results demonstrate that trust is not static, even in business-as-usual governance relationships. Results position perceptions of ability, benevolence, and integrity as partially responsible for changes in trust over time. Further, an exploratory analysis suggested that people who reported higher average integrity perceptions tended to have more stable trust. Thus, all the dimensions of trustworthiness serve as short-term levers for administrators seeking to positively manage relationships with the public, and integrity may be most critical for supporting steady levels of trust.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of higher education institution as a sustainability communication channel. The theory of planned behavior was used to examine the degree to which a student's tenure at a large university with active and visible sustainability initiatives is associated with changes in views about sustainability and changes in reported sustainability behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThis study involved a campus-wide online survey on undergraduate students at a large mid-western university. A direct measurement approach to the theory of planned behavior was used to measure changes in attitudes, normative beliefs, perceived behavioral controls and self-reported behaviors on five different environmental sustainability behaviors.FindingsOverall findings support the notion that higher education institutions can be effective communication channels for sustainability issues, as students who have been in college for a longer period of time reported somewhat more positive attitudes, normative and efficacy beliefs and more sustainable behaviors.Practical implicationsBy measuring specific components of the theory of planned behavior, this study provides insights on specific areas in which campaigns targeting college students in different college years could become more effective.Originality/valueFew studies have assessed college as an effective sustainability communication channel despite the fact that it is potentially a powerful channel to reach a large population at their critical age. This study also measures specific components to sustainability behaviors by using the theory of planned behavior as a guiding framework.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of sustainability knowledge to pro-environmental behaviour. A common misperception is that unsustainable behaviours are largely driven by a lack of knowledge of the underlying societal costs and the contributing factors leading to environmental degradation. Such a perception assumes if individuals "only knew better" they would engage in more sustainable behaviours. The "knowledge deficit model" has been critiqued for not including social psychological research about how knowledge is incorporated into decision-making and its subsequent effect on human behaviour. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model has been used extensively to examine intention to engage in a variety of behaviours, therefore this model is applied to examine the effect knowledge has in predicting behaviour.Design/methodology/approachTo better understand these relationships, the authors examined the relationships between sustainability behaviours through an online survey of over 500 students at a large university in the USA.FindingsResults indicate that knowledge had a significant, albeit weak, bivariate correlation with behaviour (r= 0.113,p< 0.001). However, when controlling for TPB variables (attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural control), knowledge was not a significant predictor of behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors conclude with several implications to guide university sustainability programmes.Originality/valueThis study places sustainable knowledge in the context of other social psychological factors which also influence behaviour. The results show that as the students are educated about sustainability, fostering behaviour change will require education not only about how actions affect sustainability but also about social norms, attitudes towards sustainable behaviours and the level of self-efficacy in doing those behaviours.