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COMMUNITY:
Peer-reviewed article

YouTube, Social Norms and Perceived Salience of Climate Change in the American Mind

June 25, 2015 | Media and Technology
This online experiment explored how contextual information embedded in new media channels such as YouTube may serve as normative social cues to users. Specifically, we examined whether the number of views listed under a YouTube video about climate change would elicit inferences regarding how “others” feel about the climate issue and, consequently, might influence perceptions of issue salience. Participants in this experiment were exposed to a YouTube video about climate change using two experimental conditions, one providing a small number of views under the video and the second listing a large number of views. Results suggest that the “number of views” cue did, indeed, influence participant perceptions of the importance assigned by other Americans to the issue of climate change. Further, compared to low self-monitoring participants, high self-monitoring participants registered an increase in their own judgment of issue importance.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • James Spartz
    Author
    University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Leona Yi-Fan Su
    Author
    University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Robert Griffin
    Author
    University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Dominique Brossard
    Author
    University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Sharon Dunwoody
    Author
    University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.1080/17524032.2015.1047887
    ISSN : 1752-4040
    Publication Name: Environmental Communication
    Resource Type: Reference Materials
    Discipline: Climate
    Audience: Administration/Leadership/Policymakers | General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals | Scientists
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Websites, Mobile Apps, and Online Media

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