Author
Amazeen, M.A., Sovacool, B.K., Krishna, A. et al.
Description
The “Future of Energy”? Building resilience to ExxonMobil’s disinformation through disclosures and inoculation
Published in Nature
Abstract
"Disinformation campaigns can significantly impact beliefs about climate change. This study involved an online experiment with 1045 U.S. participants, exposing them to a misleading ExxonMobil advertisement, some with disclosures and others preceded by inoculation messages. Participants were divided into five conditions: a control group, a group exposed to pre-bunking messages from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and groups shown social media posts featuring the ad—with or without disclosures—claiming ExxonMobil’s commitment to renewable energy. Results showed the ad effectively influenced beliefs, but disclosures helped participants recognize the content as advertising, and inoculation messages reduced susceptibility, though not entirely. These findings highlight the value of using disclosures and inoculation to counter climate disinformation, providing a foundation for communication strategies that support climate action."
Key take aways about fossil ads
- "As the fossil fuel industry continues to spread disinformation throughout media platforms around the globe, an institution positioned as a bulwark to this threat—the news media—has been an accomplice."
- 'Native advertising' refers to paid content designed to resemble the editorial content of the news media in which it appears. This is used by the fossil fuel industry to influence public opinions about their operations. News organizations generate revenue by creating and distributing such ads, often through their own in-house content studios.
- Misleading native advertising by the fossil fuel industry in news media effectively influences peoples beliefs. Even a single exposure to misleading climate claims can shape beliefs.
- An disclosure warning - like 'this is an ad' - help some people recognize native advertising as advertising, yet many consumers do not notice the disclosures or understand their meaning. Moreover, disclosures often disappear when native advertising is shared on social media, limiting their effectiveness.
- An inoculation warning - which warn people in advance of misleading techniques or facts in advertisements - were found to be more effective than disclosures in reducing susceptibility to misleading claims. "In some cases, a forewarning message effectively mitigated the influence of the disinformation. In other cases, the forewarning message minimized but did not entirely counteract the influence of the native advertisement."
- The ExxonMobil ad used in this study "is part and parcel of a common practice extending across the fossil fuel industry including ads from BP, Chevron, Equinor, Saudi Aramco, Shell and the industry lobby group, the American Petroleum Institute (API), many of which are similarly misleading, if not outright false."
- Misleading advertising by the fossil fuel industry only serves "to create content confusion, amplify fossil fuel companies’ greenwashing narratives, and further fuel public distrust in mainstream news media."
Citation
Amazeen, M.A., Sovacool, B.K., Krishna, A. et al. The “Future of Energy”? Building resilience to ExxonMobil’s disinformation through disclosures and inoculation. npj Clim. Action 4, 19 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00209-6