Humans love stories.
From the beginning of time, we have been using stories to teach lessons, record history, and inspire action.
And the same is true today.
But the reason why stories have persisted across thousands of years is not just because they are fun to listen to. There is more to storytelling than meets the eye.
Using everything we learned about how people think and the different psychological factors that impact decision-making, let's explore how communication can be used to inspire action.
How Stories Affect the Brain
Stories are more than ways to get our kids to get ready for bed.
They are expert tools for behavior change.
Especially in the world of environmental behavior change where change initiatives are science-based and very data-heavy, storytelling has a unique role.
In her TED Talk titled, How Your Brain Responds to Stories, Karen Eber says,
“Data never speaks for itself. Our brains love to anticipate and as we anticipate, we fill in the gaps on what we're seeing or hearing with our own knowledge and experience and our own bias.”
Just like we talked about in the Psychology Pillar, everyone has their own variety of biases that shape how they see the world. This means that everyone will interpret data and science differently too.
And this is where the power of storytelling comes into play.
“Because our brains love to anticipate, a great story builds tension by making you wonder: ‘What's happening next?’ A good story keeps your attention going.
“A great story also builds an idea. It helps you see something that you can no longer unsee, leaving you changed, because stories actually do leave you changed. A great story communicates value.”
Storytelling is extremely powerful because it satisfies our psychological cravings and introduces new identities, effectively reshaping our behaviors.
Starting With The Audience in Mind
In the age of the internet where anyone can claim anything and it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish between objective facts and convincing lies, people are desperate to find truth.
The problem with this, however, is that raw data is not enough.
If it was, then everyone would get 8 hrs of sleep every night, plenty of exercise, and eat balanced meals every meal.
When dealing with science-based areas of behavior change, we have to start with the audience in mind.
Why should [person] care about conservation? How does it affect them? Where does [the action you are trying to change] fit into their identity and life story?
Instead of creating a communications campaign on subjects that you think are important, look at it from your audience’s perspective. One way to do this is by challenging the stereotypical conservation message that is data-heavy and highly doom-and-gloom.
The way to make conservation messages stand out against the crowd and actually inspire action is to combine the data with a compelling story.
For example, multiple points of research show that the ocean’s health has decreased drastically over the past few decades, including decreased fish stock, coral bleaching, and more disruptive natural disasters.
However, this information alone has not resonated with many people (partly because of the shifting baseline syndrome, partly because raw data isn’t very exciting).
But in the video below, Shark Country (specifically at 28:04-29:14), that data is effectively combined with visuals that communicate the changes to ocean health turning a statistic into an emotional piece that resonates with viewers.
The reason why the video above is effective is because it is a personal message for Bermudians watching. They know those waters, they are familiar with the legacy of Teddy Tucker, and the health of Bermuda’s ocean affects them personally.
Effective communication for environmental conservation involves looking through the eyes of the audience you are targeting to craft narratives, stories, visuals, and messages that inspire action.
For environmental behavior change specifically, data plus storytelling is the key to inspiring change.
Creating Conservation Messages that Stick
While learning about storytelling and communication, I read Dan and Chip Heath’s book, Made to Stick.
One of the main ways to make a message sticky, according to the book, is to follow the 6 SUCCES principles: Simple, Unexpected, Concise, Credible, Emotional, and Stories.
If what you are trying to communicate incorporates those principles, it will likely be sticky.
But while the book was written about the broad realm of communication, I read it through the lens of communication around conservation.
Historically, challenging subjects like climate change, biodiversity loss, fossil fuels, and plastic pollution have not received as much public and political awareness as biologists and experts had hoped.
No one enjoys hearing that driving their nice car or using plastic is destroying the world. Because people want to remain comfortable, these topics struggle to gain traction.
And without adequate awareness and support from the public, confronting these problems can seem impossible.
But what if conservation messages could go viral and become sticky?
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis? That movement gained over $115M worldwide for the disease in just a couple of months.
If conservation messages could have that same sort of impact or gain similar traction, imagine how much progress could be made toward saving the natural world.
So, how can researchers, conservationists, and others create conservation messages that stick?
Below we are going to be exploring 3 excellent examples of sticky communication regarding conservation and what makes them sticky in the first place.
WWF
Protect Our Wildlife Before It’s Too Late
WWF’s Twitter post is brilliant.
Using the recent Twitter rebrand, from a blue bird logo for the last 15 or so years to the new logo of the letter X, WWF highlights the threat of animal extinction.
Now, WWF probably did not expect it to become as viral as it did, but they prepared themselves well by embracing the ideas found in Made to Stick.
Out of the 6 SUCCES principles, their post excelled most at being simple, unexpected, and concise.
This viral image circulated all across the internet for several months. And because it is so striking, unexpected, and, frankly speaking, humorous, it was able to bring a lot of attention to conservation subjects that matter, such as the various places and species that WWF is protecting.
Coral Reef Alliance
Life Is Better In Color
While not a specific post like WWF, Coral Reef Alliance’s campaign around the first-ever coral bleaching awareness month also gained substantial traffic.
November 2023, Coral Reef Alliance decided to use its platform to elevate awareness of the fate of reefs as ocean temperatures continue to increase.
Additionally, they even rebranded their logo to black and white inviting other conservation companies to do the same and partake in the month of awareness.
From the phrase “Life Is Better In Color,” to vivid footage of bleached reefs compared with vibrant healthy reefs, the campaign was striking and incredibly compelling. This is similar to how Shark Country combined before and after shots to help visualize ocean degradation.
And because this campaign tugged on our heartstrings and reminded us of how beautiful healthy corals can be, it is clear Coral Reef Alliance leaned into the 5th SUCCES principle: emotion.
Greta Thunberg
School Strike for Climate
Fridays for Future, better known as School Strike for Climate, is a youth-led global movement started by Greta Thunberg where students skip Friday classes to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change.
This movement started in 2018 and is still going strong.
Why? Because it is ridiculously sticky.
The phrase “School Strike for Climate” is simple and concise, making it easy to remember and easy to catch on.
The images of children skipping school to protest are dramatic.
And the messaging of children begging political leaders for a brighter, healthier future for themselves and the rest of the world also taps into the emotional and storytelling components of the SUCCES principles.
How Effective Communication Can Kickstart Behavioral Spillover
Imagine you’ve just watched Food Inc., an incredibly graphic and unflattering but honest documentary on America’s food industry.
You had heard people talk about the problems with animal processing but after watching the effectively communicated film about it, now you have an emotional incentive to pay more attention to where your meat comes from.
Maybe you start buying meat from more sustainable sources. Or maybe you start cutting down on your meat consumption entirely.
Now that you have become more conscientious about how you eat and where your food comes from, you start paying attention to how much emissions you produce by driving to work every day.
Maybe you start biking now or riding public transportation.
Eventually, having a healthy lifestyle that is sustainable and good for the environment becomes a part of your identity.
Now the clothes you shop for, the restaurants you go to, and the locations you travel to are all filtered through the lens of sustainability.
It started with watching Food Inc. and it ended with you maintaining an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
A change in one behavior leads to a change in another behavior that is related to the same goal: a sustainable lifestyle.
That is behavioral spillover.
Communications is uniquely positioned to kickstart behavioral spillover.
Because stories and narratives can change the way you think, it can also shape your identity. And once identities are re-shaped, a spillover of associated actions are almost inevitable.
In Conclusion
Humans are wired for stories.
Data alone struggles to ignite action. But when combined with compelling stories, vivid imagery, and emotional connection, conservation messages become sticky and can spark a movement.
By harnessing the power of storytelling, we can leverage behavior change initiatives to build a more sustainable future for all.
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