A nationally-representative census by researchers from the Nanyang Technological University has identified the different ways in which Singaporean citizens regard climate change, grouping them into three distinct segments: the concerned, the disengaged, and the passive. Expanding from pre-existing models of data-collection and analysis from the West, the paper not only offers insight into the impact of Asian cultures on climate change attitudes, but also makes targeted recommendations for national policy makers in affecting change within the Singaporean community, where the success rate of public campaigns is often quite low.
The study reports a consensus between Singaporeans on the science of climate change, with the majority of Singaporeans accepting the seriousness of the issue, its anthropocentric causes, and the need for mitigation measures. This consistency in belief is attributed to the fact that most, if not all, of Singapore’s mass media outlets are state-owned and thus align with government policy, unlike in the United States, where citizens receive a lot of conflicting information about the issue. And because the national newspaper of Singapore, the Straits Times, is a founding partner of the global Climate Publishers Network, it aims to promote awareness of climate change. Where, then, do the distinctions in belief between the different segments in Singapore lie?
It is in answering who is responsible for affecting climate change mitigation, the study argues, that individuals begin to disagree. Singapore’s strong and effective system of central government and public administration is cited as a key reason for citizen apathy, with many Singaporeans placing a high level of trust in the ruling government to manage resources and infrastructure effectively and efficiently, solving problems such that citizens themselves do not need to. Although Singapore is a small, tropical island vulnerable to increases in flooding, heat stress, and other climate change-related impacts, not all of its citizens believe they will personally be affected by climate change.
The study found that those in the disengaged segment, consisting of 35% of the population, have below average education and income levels, do not believe that climate change will harm them personally, and are the least likely to believe that citizen action is crucial to addressing climate change, or that climate change should be of high importance to public policy. They also hold neutral beliefs about whether or not citizens and governments are able to address climate change effectively.
On the other hand, the concerned segment, 50% of the population, is younger, more educated, and better paid than the national average. This segment believes that citizens, and not governments, play the primary role in addressing climate change, although global warming must remain a priority of public policy. This is reflected in their consumption habits, too: they are the most likely of the three segments to seek out information about the products they purchase. The concerned also were the most likely to say that the majority of scientific researchers agreed that climate change was a real issue.
The last 15% of the population, the passive, are the oldest, least educated, and least wealthy segment. While this segment holds a similar level of belief as the concerned segment regarding scientific consensus, it strongly emphasized the role of governance in mitigating climate change. However, since the passive segment is on average the oldest, the paper argues, these individuals are in the unique position to influence family members. This is because Asian values assign a high level of respect to the elderly, thus giving them a lot of power in the family unit.
Interestingly, the study claims that it is the passive segment, and not the concerned, that pays the most attention to global warming in traditional news media, and which has engaged the most with pro-environmental communication. The study suggests that this figure reflects the way in which media users engage with content; those who rely on the media for active surveillance of issues and for social utility may not necessarily engage with the media as much as those who passively absorb the information, but they may be more likely to apply the information they absorb to their own lives. The concerned segment may have learned about climate change from non-media sources, such as from their friends and families, but recognize the value of the media as a source of information in the future should they need it.
In light of these findings, the paper recommends that efforts affecting climate change action should highlight government initiatives that make it easier for citizens to take action, such as the provision of easy access to recycling bins and energy-efficient products, and teach them how to best use these initiatives (eg. how to sort out household products for recycling), since the majority of the population is in the concerned segment. Efforts targeted at the passive segment should be norm-based, to try to shift their perceptions, so that they believe the majority of Singaporeans engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Finally, the disengaged segment must be targeted as nonmedia users, but the study states that the challenges about accessibility and a lack of clear collective values necessitates further communication research.
SOURCE STUDY: Detenber, B.H., Rosenthal, S., Liao, Y.Q., Ho, S.S. 2016. “Audience Segmentation for Campaign Design”. International Journal of Communication, 10, 4736-4758.