Perspectives

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The result of our study will primarily be beneficial for environmental organisations (e.g. NOAH) and educational institutions (e.g. primary schools) communicating pro-environmental behaviours.

The findings can be insightful when creating and framing messages for both educational and marketing material promoting decreased meat consumption for the specific age group. In addition, it can be argued that some findings from the study could be of value also for actors promoting increased consumption of vegetarian and vegan food alternatives as such initiatives aligns with the specific pro-environmental behaviour. Further, as the study has been conducted in relation to several fields of research, we argue that some of the insights gained from the study also can be valuable to other organisations or actors on a more general level. For instance, an actor that wants to communicate towards children, independent of topic, might find the insight about the effectiveness of storytelling relevant. In addition, even if our study has been conducted on children at the age of 10-12, it is likely that the results in regard to storytelling can be applicable for even younger

children as well. Thus, even if the results overall can not be generalised to other age groups, some findings in regard to storytelling as a method for communication could be seen as influential in specific managerial situations.

As our study apply decreased meat consumption as indicator of pro-environmental behaviour, the specific findings can not be generalised to other pro-environmental behaviours. We assume that all pro-environmental behaviours are different and has their own complex foundation based on both external factors, as well as internal needs, wants and value priorities. Hence, we argue that it is important for concerned actors to consider the specific foundation of the pro-environmental behaviour in question. For instance, in regard to decreased meat consumption we assume that the behaviour might not be as established in the Danish culture as other types of pro-environmental behaviours. We argue that such behaviour specific aspects are important to consider also in the communication. However, the overall recommendation of emphasising personal relevance, self-efficacy and understanding will probably be of value when communicating any pro-environmental practice.

In addition to the managerial implications of our results, we hope our study will influence and encourage to future research within the area. As previously discussed, the Danish people seem to care for the environment to a high extent and are willing to make an effort for its welfare. However, in order to gain deeper insights in how to increase people’s intentions to engage in

pro-environmental behaviours further research is required. As the behaviour include motivational trade-offs, strong connections to core values as well as issues of convenience, it is essential to gain knowledge in how communication should be formed in order to achieve its purpose. With our study as point of departure, we present three recommendations of areas where future research could be advantageous. Firstly, we advocate future research within the area of children’s development as children are not yet as “formed” by traditions and habits. Even if there are difficulties and

challenges involved in research conducted on children, the area should not be overlooked. While our research focused on children at the age of 10-12, future research within the topic could also focus on age groups in other stages of the socialisation process. Further, it is of value to get insight in how and why children in the different stages might respond to communication messages. Both the concept of psychological distance and the communication form of storytelling would be of interest to research further in relation to different socialisation stages. We advocate research both within a specific age group, as well as between age groups to gain insight of how different groups respond

towards a specific message. For instance, comparison studies could make it possible to distinguish which specific type of framing or element of a story would be the most effective or persuasive towards a particular age group.

Secondly, we advocate future research within the area of social norms. Our findings indicate that the respondents have high motivation to comply, especially with their parents but also with other social groups, which indicates that children value other social groups’ opinions. However, our result also indicates that the participants did not perceive any expectations or social norm in regard to the specific topic of our study. In other words, they did not perceive any social pressure to eat less meat, which can be considered a potential drawback in regard to intention towards the behaviour.

Based on this insight, we would recommend research that could contribute with insight on how decreased meat consumption could become more attractive and generally accepted in the Danish society. Through a broader perspective, we hope communication about climate change and pro-environmental behaviours will influence societies to build up a positive social norm around topics such as decreased meat consumption. Hence, future research within the area of social norms and its constituents would be advantageous also through a communications perspective.

Lastly, derived from our previous recommendations, we want to highlight the importance of future research within the field of storytelling. It is of value to gain further insight about the benefits and effectiveness of the elements that makes storytelling different from other communication methods.

Based on our positive result, we assume storytelling will be widely used for different purposes and target groups in the future, which requires additional research to be able to take advantage of its full potential. Within the area of storytelling there is also a possibility to conduct future research

applying different kinds of message framing. Giving an example in regard to the behaviour of decreased meat consumption, it could be of value to research whether a message should frame the behaviour as eating less meat or rather stop eating meat by for example emphasising a vegetarian diet. Based on these reflections, we advocate further research combining storytelling and framing to gain insight in what type of message could be the most effective in persuading people’s intentions.

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