Description

Set up of research

In this research by Ainscough and Willis, the authors employ a two-part process. The first phase consists of a small, representative “jury” of 25 British people learning about the climate crisis and various ways people have tried to address it, then coming up with climate policy proposals, and finally ranking which of the suggested proposals they like most. After this in-depth research phase, a polling of the resulting policy proposals took place among a larger population (N=2000) to see what a generally less-informed public tends to favor. 

 

Citizen's jury concerned about self-regulation of ads

The jury expressed concern about the current system of self-regulation of the advertising industry, and was strongly in favor of the idea of establishing an independent body to govern the climate impact of marketing. Regulating high carbon ads was seen as an effective way to firstly inform and educate the general public about the climate crisis, and secondly to incentivize companies to emit less carbon. The researchers highlight the fact that most people support the idea of advertising regulation, but that this support is predicated upon such regulation being part of a larger set of measures. Moreover, they indicate that people don’t usually recognize the importance of social norms, as these tend to remain invisible. Research participants tended to discuss ads’ influence in terms of individual consumption choices rather than shaping social norms. A full ban on high carbon advertising, though not the most popular measure discussed by the jury, received 47% percent approval during polling. 

 

Conclusions

The polling phase of the research revealed that most people think the current system of self-regulation is flawed and needs changing. Additionally:

  • All proposals put forward by the jury to limit or regulate high carbon advertising received at least 60% approval.
  • A full ban on high carbon advertising received 47% approval during polling.
  • Only 29% of respondents supported the idea of not changing the current system at all, being the least popular option.
  • A correlation was found between political alignment and support of ad regulation. People identified as “right of center” were less likely to support regulation proposals and more likely to support “do nothing”, while the opposite is true for people identified as “left of center”. 
  • Of 2000 people polled, 999 expressed high concern about climate change, while only 190 people expressed low concern or no concern.
Author

Jacob Ainscough & Rebecca Willis

Organization

Climate Citizens; Lancaster University

Website

https://climatecitizens.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Lancaster-University.-Public-attitudes-to-management-of-advertising-for-high-carbon-products-and-services.pdf