More than scientists: How message and messenger attributes influence viewers’ climate change intentions

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0331672 September 10, 2025 2 / 20 More Than Scientists: How message and messenger attributes shape viewers’ climate change motivations Climate change is arguably the largest collective problem that humanity has ever faced, and is threatening to devastate ecosystems, food systems, infrastructure, human health, and livelihoods [1]. Despite overwhelming scientific consensus of the looming climate crisis [1–3], communicating its reality to the public is an extraor- dinarily difficult task. Not only are its causes complex, but its threats are gradual, invisible, and long-term, with its direst consequences unlikely to be experienced by most people living today. Early communication efforts to increase public awareness focused on explaining the scientific basis of climate change. This approach was guided by the assumption that acquiring climate change knowledge would motivate individuals to adopt mitigative behaviors [4]. But imparting facts and scientific evi- dence has, for the most part, failed to increase public concern about climate change, possibly because the issue poses significant demands on the scientific literacy of the public [5]. Acceptance of climate change communication and beliefs might also be subject to politically motivated reasoning, as the message recipient might accept information pertaining to climate change only if it aligns with the viewpoint of their pre-existing political affiliations [6–10]. Determining how to motivate audiences to act represents a crucial and urgent

challenge for climate change communicators. This study explores this issue by sys- tematically evaluating the effects of linguistic and messenger attributes on viewers motivations to act against climate change, and whether specific attributes are partic- ularly motivating (or demotivating) for viewers with different political orientations. The study makes use of 40 videos from the More than Scientists website (https://more- thanscientists.org), in which climate scientists explain why climate change is person- ally relevant to them. Message framing Message framing offers a promising approach to designing effective climate change messages [9]. Framing involves presenting specific aspects of an issue to increase their saliency, thereby promoting a specific definition, interpretation, evaluation, and response [11]. By interacting with pre-existing dispositions and values, a frame may influence individuals’ risk perceptions and responses. Indeed, subtle differences in framing can determine message acceptance or rejection [12]. In a study using a policy capturing methodology and 60 climate change adaptation messages sourced from the Internet, Hine et al. [13] found messages that included strong negative emo- tion content or provided concrete adaptation advice increased adaptation intentions in audience segments who were dismissive, uncommitted or alarmed about climate change. But messages that highlighted local impacts and did not explicitly mention climate change were particularly effective in increasing adaptation attentions in the dismissive segment.

Previous climate change communication research has found that message frames can impact public opinion and behavior [9]. Much of this work has involved experi- mentally manipulating messages to emphasize specific aspects of climate change Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.