Do global climate summits influence public awareness and policy preferences concerning climate change? |
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Authors: | Zorzeta Bakaki Thomas Bernauer |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Government, University of Essex, Colchester, UK;2. Center for Comparative and International Studies &3. Institute of Science, Technology and Policy, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland |
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Abstract: | A survey-embedded experiment implemented around the time of the 2014 annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (N ≈ 1200) examined whether such summits are able to increase citizens’ awareness of climate problems. This study finds that exposure to positive or negative cues about the COP increases climate change awareness, particularly among participants who start out with a low level of awareness. Neither positive nor negative cues about the COP significantly affect people’s policy preferences. Our finding resonates with Bernard Cohen’s observation that the mass media may not often be successful in telling people what to think, but they are successful in telling readers what to think about. |
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Keywords: | Climate change COP news awareness policy preferences survey-embedded experiment |
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