Observing the earth from space: Does a virtual reality overview effect experience increase pro-environmental behaviour?

Astronauts (and recently businessmen) often express a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment, after observing the overwhelming beauty of Earth from space. Despite recent attention for this "overview effect", it is unclear whether experiencing the effect directly impacts pro-environmental behaviour. Using a virtual reality experience, the current research tests in two experimental studies the direct impact of an immersive overview effect experience on both short-term and longer term subsequent pro-environmental behaviours (donating to an environmental NGO, consuming less diary and meat). Furthermore, it investigates whether the technological immersiveness of the VR experience amplifies the effect, and the mediating role of connectedness to nature. Results show no effects of the short (7 minutes) overview effect VR video on pro-environmental behaviour (Study 1). For the longer video (15 minutes, Study 2), the results showed that the most immersive experience (video featuring meditative music and voice-over) appeared to increase connection with nature and higher donation amounts to an eco-NGO, but not significantly. No effects were found for subsequent meat and dairy consumption behaviours (measured on day 2, 4, and 6). These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the specific features determining the effectiveness of the overview effect experiences on actual pro-environmental behaviour, providing important insights to businesses and educational institutions.

Correction to: Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic to combat climate change: comparing drivers of individual action in global crises.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s13412-021-00727-9.].

Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic to combat climate change: comparing drivers of individual action in global crises.

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change are two global crises that require collective action. Yet, the inertia typically associated with behavior change to limit climate change stands in contrast to the speed associated with behavior change to stop the spread of COVID-19. Identifying the roots of these differences can help us stimulate climate-friendly behaviors. We assessed the extent to which a number of theory-based drivers underlie behaviors aiming to counter COVID-19 and climate change with an online survey (N = 534). We focused on the role of a number of drivers derived from prominent behavior change theories and meta-analyses in the field, namely, personal threat, threat to close others, threat to vulnerable others, fear, participative efficacy, injunctive and descriptive social norms, and governmental policy perceptions. We investigated (1) what drivers people perceived as most important to engage in behaviors that limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change and (2) the strength of the associations between these drivers and engaging in behaviors that limit the spread of the pandemic and climate change. Results highlight three key drivers for climate change action: changing perceptions of governmental policy and perceptions of threat to close others and priming participative efficacy beliefs.

Shifting public engagement: How media coverage of climate change conferences affects climate change audience segments.

While it is often assumed that media attention for events, such as international climate change conferences, can influence public opinion, research studying changes in public opinion concerning climate change is scarce. Research on climate change audience segments and the theory of motivated reasoning suggest that media effects depend on the level of audience engagement with climate change. We analyze how exposure to media coverage of the COP21 affected public opinion in the Netherlands. Based on a two-wave online panel survey (N = 876), we identified five audience segments that varied in their degree of climate change beliefs, involvement, policy preferences, and behavioral intentions. Different media effects across segments were found indicating (dis)confirmation bias, specifically, for medium levels of positive and negative engagement. The findings indicate that important events may cause limited changes in public opinion and emphasize the importance of studying segment-specific and content-specific media effects.