Partisanship overcomes framing in shaping solar geoengineering perceptions: Evidence from a conjoint experiment

[Geoengineering News]

https://www.cambridge.org/engage/coe/article-details/6714ba7912ff75c3a1f41eeb

Authors

Beatrice Magistro, Ramit Debnath, Paul O. Wennberg, R. Michael Alvarez 

24 October 2024

 

D O I: 10.33774/coe-2024-58hpj

Abstract

The discourse on solar geoengineering (SG) is evolving, yet public perceptions of SG as a climate change solution remain underexplored, especially in the context of today's political polarization in the United States. We examine how different SG narratives—framed as complementary, substitutive, or posing a moral hazard—interact with partisan information sources to shape public attitudes. Using a conjoint experiment with 2,000 American voters, we find that partisan alignment with the information source strongly influences trust in the messenger and support for SG, overshadowing any impact of message framing. When co-partisan sources present information, both Democrats and Republicans are more likely to trust the communicator and support SG. Despite these partisan influences, policy preferences remain consistent with ideological baselines. These findings highlight the importance of political identity in shaping perceptions of emerging climate technologies like SG, even in contexts of low public awareness.

Source: Social Science Research Method