Engaging Global Warming's Six Americas

The document identifies six distinct audience segments in the U.S. population—Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive—based on their level of concern and engagement with climate change. It argues that effective communication requires tailoring messages to these groups' specific psychological and cultural profiles. For highly involved groups (Alarmed, Concerned), the paper suggests focusing on efficacy and opinion leadership. For low-involvement groups (Cautious, Disengaged), it recommends non-effortful strategies like narratives and social norms. For skeptical groups (Doubtful, Dismissive), it advises non-confrontational framing aligned with conservative values, such as patriotism and free-market solutions, to avoid the 'boomerang effect' of motivated reasoning.

• The U.S. population is divided into six audience segments based on a spectrum of concern and engagement: the Alarmed (most concerned/motivated), Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive (least concerned/motivated).
• The Alarmed segment is characterized by high issue involvement, strong belief in human-caused climate change, and a tendency toward egalitarian values; they are most likely to be liberal Democrats and are highly attentive to environmental news.
• The Dismissive segment represents the opposite of the Alarmed, characterized by high issue involvement but a strong rejection of climate science, high individualism, and a lack of trust in scientists.
• Low-involvement segments, specifically the Cautious and Disengaged, are less likely to exert cognitive effort to process complex information and are best reached through non-effortful strategies such as visual imagery, humor, narratives, and the promotion of positive social norms.
• For the Alarmed and Concerned, communication should focus on building efficacy—the belief that action is effective and possible—to translate high risk perceptions into actual behavior, and leveraging them as opinion leaders within their social networks.
• Skeptical audiences (Doubtful and Dismissive) often engage in motivated reasoning and counter-arguing when challenged; therefore, effective engagement requires non-confrontational framing that aligns with conservative values, such as patriotism, respect for authority, and free-market solutions.

APA

Roser-Renouf, C., Rolfe-Redding, J., Stenhouse, N., Leiserowitz, A., & Maibach, E. (2020). Engaging Global Warming's Six Americas. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/03/Messaging-for-Six-Americas-2021.pdf

Chicago

Roser-Renouf, Connie, Justin Rolfe-Redding, Neil Stenhouse, Anthony Leiserowitz, and Edward Maibach. Engaging Global Warming's Six Americas. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2020. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/03/Messaging-for-Six-Americas-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Roser-Renouf |first1=Connie |last2=Rolfe-Redding |first2=Justin |last3=Stenhouse |first3=Neil |last4=Leiserowitz |first4=Anthony |last5=Maibach |first5=Edward |title=Engaging Global Warming's Six Americas |publisher=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |date=December 2020 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/03/Messaging-for-Six-Americas-2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{roserrenouf2020engaging, author = {Roser-Renouf, Connie and Rolfe-Redding, Justin and Stenhouse, Neil and Leiserowitz, Anthony and Maibach, Edward}, title = {{Engaging Global Warming's Six Americas}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2014/03/Messaging-for-Six-Americas-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }