MASTER THESIS By Lena Johanning M.Sc. Nachhaltigkeitsgeographie University of Greifswald 6. Semester (WiSe 2015/16) Matrikelnr.: 128180 Contact:
[email protected] Promoter: Prof. Dr. Susanne Stoll- Kleemann P.D. Annick Hedlund-de Witt Due date: 06. Oct. 2015 EXPLORATION OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO EAT LESS MEAT IN ORDER TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE “As the world begins seriously to take stock of the true cost of our food consumption—especially meat—the need to find powerful forces within ourselves and our cultures to help us change becomes more urgent” (Palmer, 2010). I Preface This Master thesis project builds on and carries forward a case study that was embedded in an internship in the research group Biotechnology and the Society (BTS) at TU Delft in the Netherlands, between October 2014 and March 2015. The case study “Meat consumption and climate change-an inconvenient couple? - How to communicate the high efficacy to eat less meat to combat climate change to the public in order that it raises interest?” explores and gives a proposal of a communication strategy that closes the knowledge gap of the high efficacy to eat less meat as a climate change mitigation option, in a way that it raises interest and encourages positive change. Further, this strategy was tested by a qualitative evaluation of students, to investigate if it achieves its objectives (Johanning L., 2015). Abstract This Master thesis project explores effective communication strategies to encourage people to eat less meat, in order to address climate change. Thereby, the study carries out two methodologies of designing an exemplary campaign, based on a literature review and conducting qualitative expert interviews to explore effective communication strategies, by discussing the proposed exemplary campaign.