How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change

This research adds to the growing body of literature on the role of celebrities as emergent spokespersons in climate advocacy using Twitter. This study investigates the effects of framing of celebrities’ messages (emotional framing and framing of celebrity involvement) on public attitudes and behavi...

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Main Author: Sejung Park
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7948
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spelling doaj-0230bc98b6f844fd8318952dac2973a72020-11-25T01:38:36ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502020-09-01127948794810.3390/su12197948How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate ChangeSejung Park0Tim Russert Department of Communication, John Carroll University, University Heights, OH 44118, USAThis research adds to the growing body of literature on the role of celebrities as emergent spokespersons in climate advocacy using Twitter. This study investigates the effects of framing of celebrities’ messages (emotional framing and framing of celebrity involvement) on public attitudes and behaviors to address climate change. A sequential mediation process is examined with structural equation modeling. In addition, this study assesses the role of parasocial relationship (PSR) with celebrities as predictors and moderators of the impact of framing of celebrity involvement. The results indicate that fear appeals were more effective than hope appeals in driving participation in activism, but emotional framing did not affect any other variables. Framing of celebrity involvement appeals using first-person pronouns led to more positive attitudes, but had no effect on behaviors. In addition, PSR was a strong positive predictor of attitudes and behaviors.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7948climate changeenvironmental advocacycelebritymessage framingemotion
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sejung Park
spellingShingle Sejung Park
How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change
Sustainability
climate change
environmental advocacy
celebrity
message framing
emotion
author_facet Sejung Park
author_sort Sejung Park
title How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change
title_short How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change
title_full How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change
title_fullStr How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change
title_full_unstemmed How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change
title_sort how celebrities’ green messages on twitter influence public attitudes and behavioral intentions to mitigate climate change
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2020-09-01
description This research adds to the growing body of literature on the role of celebrities as emergent spokespersons in climate advocacy using Twitter. This study investigates the effects of framing of celebrities’ messages (emotional framing and framing of celebrity involvement) on public attitudes and behaviors to address climate change. A sequential mediation process is examined with structural equation modeling. In addition, this study assesses the role of parasocial relationship (PSR) with celebrities as predictors and moderators of the impact of framing of celebrity involvement. The results indicate that fear appeals were more effective than hope appeals in driving participation in activism, but emotional framing did not affect any other variables. Framing of celebrity involvement appeals using first-person pronouns led to more positive attitudes, but had no effect on behaviors. In addition, PSR was a strong positive predictor of attitudes and behaviors.
topic climate change
environmental advocacy
celebrity
message framing
emotion
url https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7948
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