Exploring the impact of global warming media use, energy saving and carbon emission reduction analysis on environmental actions

Global warming is a major challenge to humankind. In Taiwan, greenhouse gas emissions have nearly doubled in 20 years. To mitigate the phenomenon, it is important to identify factors affecting people’s environmental action. People receive information about global warming and emission reductions mainly from the media. The first study proposes a synthetic model to examine the impact of global warming media use on environmental action. Results from a national survey in Taiwan show that individuals’ exposure and attention to global warming media coverage (on TV, newspapers and the Internet) have positive direct effects on environmental actions, including accommodating, promotional and proactive actions. Environmental beliefs and self-efficacy have indirect effects on environmental actions through media use. The findings reveal the critical role of global warming media use on people’s environmental actions. Organizations can actively market their mitigation policies or efforts through various media channels to induce more environmental actions. The second study analyzes 1,156 news reports on energy savings and emission reductions from Taiwan’s major news media. Results show that more than 65% of the news reports are local news, about 30% are national news and less than 10% are international news. The mainstream media report the subject mainly from local viewpoints and lack international perspectives. The primary target audience of the reports is the public. Over 65% appeal to the public to take action. Only about 20% appeal to the government and less than 10% appeal to the business sector, even though the industry contributes the most to carbon emissions.

Author(s): Huiping Huang

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