Shifting Environmental Attitudes
The Gateway to Change

About The Presentation

This poster presentation titled Shifting Environmental Attitudes – The Gateway to Change was recently presented at PRISA’s 2019 Research Colloquium that took place on 15 October 2019 in Johannesburg, where practitioners were exposed to the most current research in the field of Public Relations and Communication Management, led by both local and international industry experts.

This poster presentation is based on my dissertation titled Shifting Environmental Attitudes And Influencing Pro-Environmental Behaviour Through The Process Of Managing How, When And In What Way We Communicate presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the Mphil in Environmental Management degree in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

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To find out more about this presentation and some of the points from the survey such as the fact that 53% are unsure or don’t believe their company to be communicating transparently about its environmental impact:

The objective of the study was to understand the role of communication as an effective and practical tool to educate, inform, influence decision-making and evoke values, beliefs and norms, to prove the hypothesis that “through the process of managing how, when and in what way we communicate, public relations consultants and communication professionals are in a unique position to shift environmental attitudes and influence pro-environmental behaviour so that a change takes place whereby being environmentally responsible becomes ‘norm’ and no longer merely ‘compliance driven’ because of a policy, code or law, or for a competitive edge”.

This study examined environmental communication through the lens of public relations practitioners and communication professionals who have their fingers on the pulse of the organisation’s communication. A survey conducted with PRISA members looked at understanding the current state of environmental communication in South Africa. It examined how and in what way organisations communicate environmental impacts and practices; the characteristics of public relations practitioners and communication professionals communicating these “green” messages; and practitioner environmental attitudes, using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale.

The study also examined the driving factors and barriers such as ‘greenwashing’ that could result in communicators unintendedly misleading consumers with environmental claims that are false, deceptive, ambiguous or inaccurate, which in turn influences the intention to engage in pro-environmental behaviour that contributes positively to reduce the environmental impact on earth.

Contact Angela

If you would like to know more about the study or would like to consider me as a speaker at your next public relations, corporate or sustainability conference, seminar or workshop where I discuss the outcomes of the study and survey, please connect with me below or review my speaker engagement page where I have listed previous speaking engagements.

You can connect with Angela via LinkedIn or Twitter. Alternatively by email on hello@angelabarter.com or using the form below.