Resource Type: Experiments

Get back to basics in climate communications with simple messages, plain (but vivid) language, and relatable benefits. These are among the key takeaways from the 600 million digital ads and two years of testing by Potential Energy, a nonprofit coalition of creative, analytic, and media agencies that brings a marketing philosophy of “People First” communication to climate. This webinar covered frameworks and language that most increase climate change understanding, messaging “ways in” that increase worry and demand for government action, terminology and concepts to avoid, and key audience segments most open to new messages.
The creative content from their Science Moms and The Great American Build campaigns is available for others to amplify online.             

SMS texting can boost voter turnout. The results of a field experiment in the 2021 Pennsylvania state primary found that text messages increased voter turnout by 0.8 percentage points. Three specific message wordings were tested: the strongest turnout effect (+1.0 percentage point) came from asking voters to ask their friends and family to vote. Two other messages were called “Fight for your rights” and “Assumed good behavior” increased voter turnout by 0.7 percentage points. All voters targeted were also identified as more likely than the average voter to care about the climate crisis.