Time sure flies, we are already nearing the end of my blog. Today, I will be analyzing the effectiveness of videos versus texts in raising environmental awareness and conveying messages.
I’ve been seeing the campaign advertisement by Clean Green Singapore below on TV and felt that it is effective in conveying its message to reduce waste.
I decided to conduct a survey to find out what other people thought. I received 20 responses, most were non-BES students. All the main questions were open-ended.
When asked how they felt after watching the video and why, many felt guilty, horrified and shocked. Some reasons given were “it made me realize how much waste we actually produce” and “the statistics in the video were very alarming“. The video effectively conveyed the severity of the issue as respondents felt that the amount of waste produced is “a prominent problem” and even “an urgent crisis“. Interestingly, a respondent said, “It made me reflect on my daily habits” and a few admitted that they often use disposables. There was even a respondent who has “been recycling for a few years” but realized after the video that “the most effective way is to reduce“. From this, we can see the power of a short video, inciting strong emotions and even self-reflection.
I also asked which part of the video was most memorable for them. The most common answer was the ball of waste growing bigger. Others and myself felt that the shadow of the ball of waste casting on the child’s face and the caption “Don’t let our next generation pay for our choices” had a lasting impact on them. This echoes the sentiments of the Environmental Stewardship worldview from Dr. Coleman’s week 10 lecture. I believe talking about the impacts on future generations can be an effective and useful way to convince the older generation/people with children to take action.
Next, I wanted to find out if text would achieve similar effects as the video. I tried to choose an article that had similar content as the video to ensure fair comparison. Below is an extract that contains statistics on Singapore’s waste production, with a focus on plastics.
Extract of article from Reuters
This time, most respondents felt much milder emotions as compared to after watching the video. Reasons given were all similar to this response, “there’s no visual depiction so it’s harder to visualise the severity of the situation compared to the video“. Only 2 respondents felt that the extract was as impactful as the video.
“I’m more inclined to act now after watching the video as it seems to provide a greater call for action from the graphics and word choices.”
This response clearly shows that the video is more effective in raising awareness of the waste problem in Singapore and even encouraging action.
Again, I asked which part was most memorable. Most mentioned the part “Semakau could be full a decade earlier“. However, 3 respondents said that nothing in the article stood out to them.
Humans are truly “visual creatures” after all. Therefore, images, videos and other graphics are vital and effective tools in environmental education.
chanyeeqi November 5, 2020
Hello Si Ying!
Wow this video certainly shocked me and the way it was filmed and delivered dealt a huge impact on me! Although I already knew that the next generation would bear the brunt of our wasteful, harmful actions and its effects on the environment, I felt the same horror and sadness when the ball of trash leaned over the small child.
Would you think it’s effective to guilt-trip people into taking up environmental action? For me, I wouldn’t want to watch the video again because it’s so heavy, would you think others would have similar sentiments as well? Also, do you think that the transition to the cheerful end was too abrupt?
In this “Say Yes to Waste Less” campaign, a song was written and a music video was created!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjlT5GsxNno
Do you think it’s necessary for songs to be written about environmental issues and what do you think about its effectiveness in encouraging people to waste less?
Thank you for the great post and I look forward to your reply!
Si Ying November 8, 2020 — Post Author
Hi Yee Qi!
I think when done in moderation, guilt-tripping could be effective as it leaves a lasting impact on people and pushes them to reflect on their actions and make changes. However, constantly guilt-tripping people could increase stress and make them less willing to take action. I agree that this video could be too heavy for some and make them feel overly negative and helpless. Too much guilt-tripping could worsen the issue of “eco-anxiety” which I mentioned in my post from yesterday. This interesting article which I also mentioned in yesterday’s post reveals that it is effective to communicate environmental issues in a more light-hearted way. I think the cheerful ending was their attempt to instill hope in viewers that they can still do something to help the situation by using less disposables. It also emphasizes the message/call to action of the campaign which is to reduce waste. So, I personally don’t think it was too abrupt.
I think songs could be an effective way to convey environmental messages and inspire positive action. In my opinion, that song for the campaign is pretty nice and empowering, it made me feel like my individual actions are useful and hopeful that if we work together we can reduce SG’s waste production. Songs are able to evoke various emotions and convey messages. Moreover, songs can be retained easily and for a longer time in our brains. Hence, songs have great potential to raise environmental awareness.
– Si Ying
Joanna Coleman November 5, 2020
totally love your mind.
Si Ying November 8, 2020 — Post Author
Thank you Dr Coleman :’)
Amanda November 7, 2020
Hi Si Ying!
Thanks for the interesting read! You discussed the effectiveness of visuals in relaying environmental messages in this post. I was wondering, do you think or know of when this method of employing visuals may have the opposite effect where it didn’t help?
Si Ying November 10, 2020 — Post Author
Hi Amanda!
I think if visuals are not used effectively they won’t aid in conveying the message. For example, if the visuals used are not very relevant to the text or when we don’t make reference to/explain why an image is shown. This could confuse the audience and make it difficult for them to see the connection, negating the effectiveness of visuals.
If visuals are manipulated or taken out of context, it could spread misinformation/disinformation. One such incident was when people started spreading photos of places filled with litter on social media, claiming that Extinction Rebellion protestors in London’s Hyde Park were responsible for the mess, criticising them for being hypocrites. However, those photos were not even taken in London/were from other events. The advancement of technology has led to concern over deepfake videos. There have been many instances of deep-fake videos being circulated and used to deceive people/for political agendas.
– Si Ying