Visitor Survey Responses to Framed Climate Changed Messaging, Survey Validity Test

This study assessed visitor outcomes from attending presentations by members of the National Network for Ocean Climate Change Interpretation [NNOCCI] community of practice at four test aquariums and two control site aquariums where climate change interpretation is delivered by professional environmental educators who have not received NNOCCI training. Four unique self-complete surveys were developed, each collecting comparable demographic data and then each uniquely querying: obligations to act on climate change information for people, animals or the ocean; confidence that actions will result in improved conditions for various target entities; feelings of distress and emotional reaction to the topic, feelings of national ability to respond, and feelings about the resilience of oceans; and the motivating impact of the talk to promote social action or engagement with others on the topic. Results demonstrate that NNOCCI trained presenters were more likely to solicit responses that are positive, although some produced greater feelings of concern and anxiety, these feelings were accompanied by increase feelings of hopefulness about the ability of Americans to respond to the problem. Across all constructs, these distinctions were apparent. These results suggest that the NNOCCI strategy shows promise for increased positive outcomes once the program is fully deployed. The evaluators recommend that additional data be collected to allow for statistical analysis of results and to further validate and clarify constructs within the instruments in order to support final production of a monitoring tool that can assess individual presenter, institutional and regional variation that may influence program design.

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