We are happy to share that BRISPO member Petrus te Braak published a new open access article in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications: "The social resonance of environmental media messages: a connectionist-inspired reception analysis". The article is authored by Pascal Verhoest, Joke Bauwens, Petrus te Braak, and Marijke Huysmans. Full text is available here.
Why do some environmental messages make people feel hopeful or motivated, while others cause resistance or fear? This new study explores how people from different backgrounds respond to environmental communication, and why certain messages don’t always land as intended.
The research looks at how people’s existing ideas and experiences shape how they interpret information, such as news articles about wastewater reuse in agriculture. Using a new approach, the authors tested how different versions of the same message were received by over 1000 participants.
The key finding? How people react depends not just on how a message is framed, but also on what they already believe or associate with the topic. The study shows that effective environmental communication needs to consider these different perspectives, especially when aiming to reach diverse groups.
Citation: Verhoest, P., Bauwens, J., te Braak, P. et al. The social resonance of environmental media messages: a connectionist-inspired reception analysis. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 882 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05243-7
