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Preliminary Recommendations for Achieving Attitude
and Behavior Change to Mitigate the Effects of
Climate Change:
* Focus
especially on people who have a high probability of
championing the cause, thus reaching the most people
with minimal effort. One broad group in particular
may be religious leaders, who by virtue of their
sheer numbers and the position of respected
authority they hold within their organizations may
be especially well placed to exert positive
influence on many of their followers.
* Know
the values/attributes of the people who need to
change (the change agents). Appeals for attitude
change should have cognitive, emotional and
behavioral components; depending on the audience,
one appeal can be emphasized more than another.
Create a message that is aligned with the
values/attributes of the change agents.
*
Respond to the need to change behavior in terms of
the shared values of family, religion, ethics and
life sustainability.
* Over
time, develop and promulgate a carefully-crafted
repertoire of social marketing around the climate
change issue and its mitigation.
*
Emphasize that the issue of climate change is unique
and different from other previous world problems.
It constitutes a superordinate goal, requiring
cooperation among many diverse peoples in order to
reach resolution. Networks, formal and informal,
will need to be built in order to ensure the
involvement of a broad spectrum of people and ideas,
as well as geographical reach.
*
Recognize types of and reasons for resistance and
address as needed. Recognize that underlying the
defensive behavior is anxiety about one’s own role
and what one will need to change about oneself in
order to resolve the issue. Be supportive and
respectful of people as individuals while
emphasizing the continuing need for them to become
active participants in the mitigation effort.
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