Introduction: Threats to marine ecosystems and marine mammals are largely anthropogenic. Nova Scotia, Canada, is a major contributor to such pollutants with its vast and long-standing ocean industry. Due to the inherent value of marine mammals and to the number of Nova Scotian residents who rely directly or indirectly on the ocean for their livelihood, it is important to identify effective strategies for generating support and interest in protecting marine mammals. This paper explores whether it is possible to manipulate Nova Scotian residents’ attitudes toward the protection of marine mammals.
Methodology: Nova Scotian residents were recruited to participate in an online survey. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups or a control group. Prior to completing a survey, the experimental groups watched an educational voice-over video on marine mammals. Individuals in the first experimental group (n=125) listened to an anthropomorphic message, and those in the second group (n=127) listened to an anthropocentric message. The control group participants (n=136) did not view a voice-over video prior to taking the survey. All participants completed the Marine Mammal Attitude Scale, which was modified from the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (Milfront and Duckitt 2010).
Results: Compared to the control group and the anthropocentric group, the anthropomorphic group was less likely to report that their conservation interests were rooted in anthropocentric concerns, F(2, 385) = 6.734, p = .001. In addition, they were less likely to view humans as dominant over nature, F(2,385) = 6.007, p = .003. The anthropomorphic group also scored significantly higher with regard to environmental activism compared to the control group, F(2, 318) = 3.061, p = .048.
Conclusion and Implications for the Field: The results suggest that people’s attitudes regarding marine mammal conservation can be manipulated by the ways that conservation messages are presented. Follow-up research is needed to determine whether these effects are lasting and result in prosocial behavioural changes.