by Andy Morris and Dave Zornow
Dr. Edward Maibach says when it comes to global warming there are six America’s. And not all of them are hot on the idea of global warming.
Presenting findings from the segmentation study, “Global Warming’s Six Americas” at the Changing Climate, Changing People summit in Los Angeles on November 8, Dr. Maibach says Americans fall into six distinct segments regarding their attitudes toward global warming. A little more than six in ten are concerned about the issue.
Among the 63 percent that are “interested,” respondents cluster into Alarmed (19%), Cautious (20%) and Concerned (22%). But for every six Prius driving, Latte-sipping tree-huggers there are more than a few “Greenhouse Gas Enthusiasts.” The Doubtful (16% ), Unconcerned (12%) and Dismissive (11%) comprise 37% of all survey respondents.
How has this effected media? Since “concerned” responses outweigh “nonconcerned” by almost a 2-to-1 margin, it’s no surprise that TV tinged with a touch of green keep sprouting up. Here’s how these groups break out in regards to news programming:
- The Alarmed: This segment is most likely to “enjoy keeping up with the news” (63%). These are heavy news consumers; about double the rate for average Americans from such sources as: NYTimes.com, WallStreetJournal.com, USAToday.com. Interesting to note that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report also come up high on their list. Best way to reach this group: wide range of news media.
- The Concerned: Members of this group are also active users of the news media, but to a lesser extent vs. The Alarmed…heavy viewers of the comedy news programs as above, somewhat above average CNN.com, FoxNews.com, and MSNBC.com visitors. Best way to reach this group: various news channels -print, TV, and websites
- The Cautious: More likely to “trust the media to deliver the news accurately”. These are heavy TV viewers and get their news predominantly from TV. They have high viewership rates for the morning news shows (GMA, Today Show, etc.) and latenight shows such as Letterman and Leno. Best way to reach this group: TV is default media here.
- The Unconcerned: This segment is most likely to be regular newspaper readers, not national papers like New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, etc. They are also above average ABC News and CNN viewers, below average news magazine, morning news, comedy news, and late night shows. Best way to reach this group: local newspapers/mainstream TV.
- The Doubtful: Higher than average mistrust of news media but appear to have a diverse diet of news media (radio, TV, online), higher than average use for FOX News and magazine websites such as Newsweek.com. Best way to reach this group: conservative leaning media commentators.
- The Dismissive: highest distrust of news media, most likely to watch Fox News Cable and listen to AM talk radio, less likely to us search engines such as Yahoo and Google. Best way to reach this group: FOX News and talk radio.
Using a national telephone survey of 1,980 respondents, The “Global Warming’s Six Americas” study was a conducted by researchers at Yale University, Gallup, and the ClearVision Institute in the summer of 2007.
Sources: Center For Climate Change, Changing Climate, Changing People