Kelton's Martin Eichholz Published in Taylor & Francis Online

We’re proud to share Kelton’s Martin Eichholz, PhD, recently co-authored an article with Patrice A. Cole and Steve J. Collins, which was published in the Journal “Environmental Communication” by major academic publishing house, Taylor & Francis.

The article, Metaphor, Trust and Support for Non-native Species Control, uses data from surveys of US residents to explore whether the term “invasive” has an effect on support for non-native species control efforts. According to Martin, “the use of militaristic metaphors is pervasive throughout many aspects of life, but not much research has been done on how such nomenclature affects people’s attitudes. This study on environmental communication changes that and shows that using the term ‘invasive’ results in more support for species control than using the term ‘non-native’ – though trust in government or scientists has a more significant impact.”

Abstract

This experimental study used a representative sample of U.S. residents (N = 1,042) to test whether the use of the term “invasive” increases support for non-native species control efforts. The term invasive had a small influence on support for two out of three non-native species control methods. Trust in government predicted support for all three control methods, and trust in scientists predicted support for two of the methods. We also found stronger support for control methods using gene editing technologies than control methods using poison.

*Patrice A. Cole, Steve J. Collins & Martin Eichholz (2020) Metaphor, Trust and Support for Non-native Species Control, Journalism Studies, DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2019.1703779

To access the full article, CLICK HERE.