As climate change is a development that happens slowly and is widely invisible, many photographers have made it their mission to visualize its causes and impacts on society. Since the early 2000s, they have established visual synecdoches by using repetitive formulas for their images to show the vulnerability of natural and human systems. Whereas such repetition creates awareness and recognition within society, still there is also criticism that any attempt to visualize climate change often leads to the same representations of melting ice, Polar Bears or natural disasters.
The purpose of this work is to find out which repetitive motives are used by the media and how these motives affect the people. By means of a mixed method approach, it examines if the flagships of climate change imageries (such as the polar bear) still promote salience to the audience and if images of climate change solutions evoke positive feelings and can therefore be considered as motivating.
In order to answer the question which climate change imageries are used by the media, a quantitative analysis of image types according to Grittmann and Ammann is conducted. This analysis shows that there are leading motives which are repetitively used as visualizations to accompany online news reports, among them mainly images of causes (smokestacks) and impacts (wildfire, ice imagery and extreme weather). The media rarely report on climate change solutions.
In a second step, a sample of ten images of these leadings motives is selected for the explorative research of image effects. By means of the Visual Communication Process Model (Müller, Kappas, and Olk), it examines how people visually perceive these images, how they understand and interpret them and what emotions they cause. The effects are measured with a self-administered online questionnaire. The results of the survey reveal that the repetition of motives and the use of flagships does not lead to climate fatigue.
Anyway, there is only one solution imagery that clearly verifies the positive effects on the self-efficacy level of the audience. Although such imageries receive attention on social media, they have not reached the mass media so far which could serve as a starting point for future research.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Media Coverage Trends in the 2000s
- Stakeholders in Climate Change Communication
- Challenges of Science Journalism
- Psychological Effects of Communication
- Science Literacy
- Summary and Comment
- Theoretical Part
- Climate Change Communication
- Media Coverage Trends in the 2000s
- Stakeholders in Climate Change Communication
- Challenges of Science Journalism
- Psychological Effects of Communication
- Science Literacy
- Summary and Comment
- Visual Climate Change Communication
- Visual Science Communication
- Definition: The Use of the Term Image
- Climate Change Imagery
- People
- Causes
- Impacts
- Extreme weather
- Floods
- Drought and Heat
- Ice Imagery
- The Role of Animal Imagery
- Solutions
- Summary and Hypothesis
- Method
- Excursus: Scientific Analysis Methods
- Quantitative Analysis of Image Types
- Visual Communication Process Model
- Conception of the Research Plan
- Sample Selection – Research Criteria
- Explorative Research of Image Effects via Online Survey
- Definition of the Target Group
- Results
- Quantitative Analysis of Image Types
- Results Germany
- Results UK
- Results US
- Results Instagram
- Summary and Discussion
- Explorative Research of Image Effects – Evaluation of the Survey Results
- Basic Statistics
- Previous Knowledge of the Participants
- Excursus: Scale Definition
- The Effects of People Imagery on the Participants
- The Effects of Causes Imagery on the Participants
- The Effects of Impacts Imagery on the Participants
- The Effects of Solutions Imagery on the Participants
- Discussion
- The Flagships of Visual Climate Change Communication
- Assessment on the Salience of the Flagships
- Assessment on the Self-Efficacy-Level of Climate Change Solution Imagery
- Conclusion
Objectives and Key Themes
This Master Thesis investigates the use of climate change imagery in the media and its effects on audiences. The main goal is to determine which visual motives are commonly used, whether these motives still promote salience among audiences, and whether imagery of climate change solutions evokes positive feelings and can therefore be considered motivating.
- The role of visual communication in raising awareness about climate change
- The impact of repeated imagery on audience engagement and perception
- The effectiveness of visual representations of climate change solutions in promoting self-efficacy
- The influence of previous knowledge and personal experiences on image interpretation and emotions
- The potential of social media platforms as a means of disseminating climate change solution imagery
Chapter Summaries
The theoretical part of the thesis examines the history and current trends in climate change communication. It delves into the challenges of science journalism, analyzes the psychological effects of communication, and explores the concept of science literacy. The chapter on visual climate change communication defines the term "image" and introduces four visual domains: people, causes, impacts, and solutions. It then examines the imagery associated with each domain and their respective effects on audiences.
The methodical part describes the research plan, including the selection criteria for the image sample and the methodology used for the online survey. The Visual Communication Process Model (VCPM) serves as a theoretical framework for analyzing the effects of imagery.
The results chapter presents the findings from both the quantitative analysis of image types and the explorative research of image effects. The quantitative analysis focuses on identifying the leading motives used by the media. The survey results then evaluate the perceived meaning, interpretation, and emotional reactions of participants to different climate change imageries.
The discussion section analyzes the findings in relation to the hypotheses of the thesis. It identifies key trends in the use of climate change imagery, evaluates the effectiveness of specific flagship images, and examines the potential of social media for disseminating climate change solution imagery.
Keywords
Climate change communication, Climate change imagery, Image effects, Visual communication, Visual communication process model, Salience, Self-efficacy, Flagship species, Social media, Media coverage.
- Citation du texte
- Jana Mengede (Auteur), 2021, Flagships or phase-out models for climate change communication? An analysis of the effects of climate change imagery on the audience, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1156909
