Don't Talk Climate Like This: Exploring the Moderating Effects of Comment Stance on Aggressive Climate Change Videos

It is common to see videos that discuss climate change issues online, sometimes with aggressive tones. Comments under the videos also supply information for other audiences. When the comment agrees or disagrees with the style of the message, it is unclear how audiences perceive and respond to the message. An online experiment (N = 763) was conducted in which participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions (an aggressive or non-aggressive video with a supporting comment, an opposing comment, or no comment). Results revealed that an opposing comment significantly enhanced how much participants found the aggressive video to have violated their expectations, which further reduced their willingness to perform pro-environmental behaviors. Overall, these findings suggest that message styles and their associated comments could jointly guide how the public reacts to information about climate change.