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Abstract
Considering the potential of virtual reality (VR) in addressing social change issues, a growing body of studies highlights the need for VR content production to address abstract and complex issues of climate change. In particular, people who feel undecided or uncertain about climate change because they cannot see the environment changing first-hand may become more engaged by a VR first-person perspective. Guided by the experiential media (EM) theory, particularly the first-person perspective quality of the EM, this dissertation explored the role of VR first-person perspective in climate change communication using a between-subjects experiment with a post-test only survey followed by an open-ended qualitative interview. It examined the effects of VR first-person perspective in climate change communication (Condition 1) on climate change knowledge, hope, fear, self-efficacy, believability of the VR experience, embodiment of the virtual avatar, and intended pro-climate actions compared to VR non-first-person perspective climate change communication (Condition 2) and VR first-person non-climate control condition (Condition 3).
This dissertation particularly explored RQ1) What is the effect of VR first-person perspective in climate change communication (compared to non-first-person climate change VR and VR first-person unrelated stimulus) on the dependent variables of climate change knowledge, embodiment, believability, hope, fear, self-efficacy, intended pro-climate social media actions and intended pro-climate offline actions? RQ2) From a qualitative standpoint, how do participants from first-person perspective in climate change communication (compared to non-first-person climate change VR and VR first-person unrelated stimulus) explain their VR experience in terms of the a.) what aspects of the content that stood out the most to them and what aspects they paid attention to, b.) embodiment of the virtual avatar, c.) believability of the experience, d.) hope and fear pertaining to climate change, and e.) intentions for engaging in pro-climate actions? Finally, this dissertation also involved a longitudinal survey component conducted after one month of VR exposure in order to see if the participants retained knowledge about climate change and whether participants in each VR condition actually did something pertaining to pro-climate actions one month after experiencing VR content production. The findings per the quantitative, qualitative along with the longitudinal data suggest mixed support for RQ1 and RQ2 in terms of the effects of VR first-person perspective experience of climate change communication on climate change knowledge and pro-climate social media and offline action compared to the VR climate non-first-person condition and the non-climate control condition. Particularly per the RQ1, the findings suggest that both climate change VR conditions (Condition 1 and Condition 2), regardless of first-person perspective, increased climate change knowledge and believability relative to the non-climate-related control condition (Condition3), thereby showing that the presence of first-person perspective did not improve knowledge acquisition or improve the believability of the VR experience. However, in terms of the embodiment of the virtual avatar, the climate change VR first-person condition (Condition 1) along with the VR first-person non-climate-related control condition (Condition 3) increased participants’ perceived embodiment of the virtual avatar relative to the VR non-first-person condition (Condition 2). Hence, the presence of first-person perspective did improve the embodiment of the virtual avatar. Further, the findings highlight that there was no statistically significant effect of the experimental treatment on hope, fear, self-efficacy, participants’ intentions for pro-climate social media actions, and intentions for pro-climate offline actions – as the mean levels were relatively similar across the three conditions. Further, the results of the longitudinal survey found that there were no significant differences between conditions on any of the variables tested i.e., climate change knowledge, hope, fear, and self-efficacy. Further, the average climate change knowledge levels did not vary significantly between conditions as they did on the immediate post-test; and the levels of hope, fear, and self-efficacy were comparable both on the immediate post-test and one month later, again with no differences between conditions. In terms of the RQ2, the findings per the qualitative open-ended questions suggest that the VR climate conditions, regardless of the first-person perspective, potentially helped in learning about climate change as participants in both conditions (Condition 1 and Condition 2) highlighted paying attention to various aspects of the climate change VR content and found various climate change scenarios stood out the most to them. The findings further suggest that regardless of first-person perspective, participants expressed feeling of hope pertaining to climate change relative to the non-climate-related control condition, with the difference being participants in Condition 1 felt seeing first-hand the comparison between a heavily polluted and barren landscape to a world with a clean and healthy environment with a lush green ecosystem achievable through climate-friendly actions hopeful alongside seeing 3-dimensional visualization of small climate-friendly actions and lifestyle scenarios as realistic and achievable to address the climate crisis, on the contrary, participants in the Condition 2 felt learning through the narrated and visual components about how daily lifestyle choices positively impact the environment and address climate change as feeling hopeful. It is also worth highlighting that participants in Condition 1 also expressed seeking hope in times of doomism. Next, the qualitative findings suggest that Condition 1 had an effect on participants' feeling of fear pertaining to climate change relatively higher than those in Condition 2 and Condition 3, and the climate first-person condition had a relatively higher effect on participants' believability in the VR experience than those in Condition 2 and Condition 3. Next, similar to the quantitative standpoints, the qualitative interview highlights that the climate first-person condition increased participants' perceived embodiment of the virtual avatar relative to the VR non-first-person condition, thereby confirming that the presence of the first-person perspective did improve the embodiment of the virtual avatar. On the contrary, regardless of the first-person perspective, participants expressed increased self-efficacy to fight climate change, suggesting that the presence of the first-person perspective did not improve self-efficacy. Likewise, regardless of the first-person perspective, participants expressed increased intentions for engaging in pro-climate offline and social media actions, suggesting that the first-person perspective did not increase intentions for pro-climate actions. In terms of the longitudinal survey results pertaining to what pro-climate offline and social media actions participants actually took after one month of the VR experience, the findings showed that participants in Condition 1 took most of the pro-climate social media and offline actions they had indicated in the post-test survey, except signing petitions to spread awareness about climate change, compared to the Participants in Condition 2 and Condition 3 who took relatively limited pro-climate social media and offline actions compared to what they had indicated in the post-test survey. Next, in terms of the plan to bring climate change to the attention of government and local political leaders, participants in Condition 1 offered a similar plan of action compared to their indication in the post-test survey with some additions such as participating in local community events that support climate change events, such as picking up trash. Further, one participant also expressed that they already have contacted the New Jersey State Senator to share the political leaders' views about climate change. Likewise, participants in Condition 2 also offered a similar plan of action compared to their indication in the post-test survey. However, the participants in Condition 3 offered plans that excluded specific actions, such as producing a video on climate change issues like trash in the river emission from factories, and sending the video to the government to bring climate change to their attention, and contacting the local political leader or government through traditional means of communication such as a phone call which the participants had indicated in the post-test survey, but excluded one month later in the longitudinal survey.
Finally, this dissertation offers suggestions for future research and practical implications, along with recommendations for developers of EM content and science communicators in the implementation of VR first-person perspective climate change projects at public schools, public libraries, or community centers to allow people of any age, race, gender, ability or social class, to transcend these categories and experience climate change realities in ways that might engender empathy and solidarity.
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