Ann-Kathrin Blankenberg, Professor of Economics, co-publishes article on the relationship between media consumption and environmental attitudes in Europe

Professor of Economics Ann-Kathrin Blankenberg, Prof. Zakaria Babutsidze (SKEMA Business School, France) and Prof. Andreas Chai (Griffith Business School, Australia) have published the paper “The effect of traditional media consumption and internet use on environmental attitudes in Europe” in the Journal of Evolutionary Economics. The paper analyzes the relationship between media consumption— both traditional and digital— and environmental attitudes in Europe.
 
The article’s abstract begins with the assertion that “the standard process of consuming news via traditional mass media (such as newspapers, radio and television) is now substituted, or complemented by news consumption via online sources,” and inquires “whether this change has contributed to increased polarisation in environmental attitudes.” Using data from a large-scale survey conducted from 2002 to 2010, the authors’ research finds “among progressive and green voters, greater internet use is positively correlated with environmental attitudes. Among conservative voters, internet use appears to be negatively related to environmental attitudes.” It concludes that “these results support the notion that internet use tends to strengthen people’s pre-existing beliefs (measured by voting behavior), much beyond the effect of TV viewership.”
 
Read the full article in the Journal of Evolutionary Economics.