Media Effects Research Lab - Research Archive
Matters of Modality: Pro-environmental Behavior and Information Sharing Intentions of a Sustainability Message
Student Researcher(s)
Megan Norman (Ph.D Candidate);
Jiaqi (Agnes) Bao (Ph.D Candidate);
Triwik Kurniasari (Ph.D Candidate);
Faculty Supervisor
INTRODUCTION
Over past decades, human activities have continued to cause environmental degradation and contribute to climate change. In today’s world, it is essential to communicate sustainability-related issues as effectively as possible to encourage the public to protect the environment. The use of visualizations or informational graphics (infographics) has become increasingly popular in conveying information, as infographics are considered to be attention-grabbers, particularly in the digital era. This study investigates the role of modality—text-only messages and infographics—not only to convey messages, but also to see how individuals would potentially engage in pro-environmental actions. By using cue summation theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), we also examine perceived visual informativeness as a mediator between modality and intentions for pro-environmental behavior and information sharing intentions using a message stimulus about recycling and waste-reduction behaviors.
RESEARCH QUESTION / HYPOTHESES
RQ: For consumers, what is the relationship between modality (text or text + graphics) and pro-environment behavioral intentions and sharing intentions?
H1: Participants who view the infographic will report higher levels of pro-environmental behavior than participants assigned to view the text-only flyer version.
H2: Participants who view the infographic will report higher levels of sharing intentions than participants assigned to view the text-only flyer version.
H3: Perceived visual informativeness will mediate the effects of modality (text or text + graphics) on intentions of pro-environmental behavior and information sharing.
METHOD
We conducted an online, between-subjects experiment using Qualtrics and recruited respondents through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). We recruited 150 participants in the United States, and they were compensated $0.10 for completing the survey. Participants were randomly assigned to one condition (infographic or text-only) and were asked to carefully view the stimulus for 30 seconds before answering 18 multiple-choice questions. Questions included manipulation checks, perceived visual informativeness, information sharing intentions, pro-environmental behavioral intentions, and demographic information.
RESULTS
After running a series of T-tests, for H1 and H2, we found that the infographic condition scored higher than the text-only condition on pro-environmental behavioral intentions and sharing intentions. However, there were no significant direct effects between modality (infographics vs. text only) and either of the dependent variables— pro-environmental behavior and sharing intentions. For H3, a mediation analysis controlling for demographic variables showed a significant indirect effect between modality and sharing intentions. Therefore, H3 was supported and perceived visual informativeness was found to mediate modality and pro-environmental behavioral intentions and modality and sharing intentions. Although the results showed no differences between modality and intentions for pro-environmental behavior and information-sharing, the mean scores of the participants assigned to the multimodality condition (text + graphic) were slightly higher than the participants assigned with single modality condition (text-only). From this perspective, the results partially supported the cue summation theory that multimodality communication is more effective than a single mode of presentation. “Place Figure01 here”
CONCLUSIONS/DISCUSSION
Using a cue summation and ELM framework, we found a significant indirect effect between modality through perceived visual informativeness and pro-environmental behavior and sharing intentions. Practitioners and scholars are encouraged to consider the perception of visual informativeness of sustainability-focused messages, especially of messages that can be packaged and shared easily on social media. Dissemination of visual communication has implications for effectively communicating environmental issues, such as recycling behaviors, to the public to prevent further environmental degradation. Especially in the context of climate change, developing better graphical representations is vital to spreading information and encouraging people to take action and live a greener lifestyle.
For more details regarding the study contact
Dr. S. Shyam Sundar by e-mail at sss12@psu.edu or by telephone at (814) 865-2173