People as Climate Action Motivators. A Survey‐Based Study of Wording and Arguments Suggested as Motivating for Individual Climate Action

ABSTRACT Many studies emphasize the importance of interpersonal communication in shaping individuals' climate beliefs and actions, but none seem to focus on individuals in the general public as “climate action motivators,” i.e., persons providing reasons to engage in climate action. Our goal is to move linguistic research on climate communication forward through an innovative study focusing on identifying words and arguments that people assume will motivate their fellows to climate action. We analyze responses to an open‐ended survey question asking Norwegian survey participants how they would motivate others to adopt a climate‐friendly lifestyle. The survey data provided 4,070 freely formulated answers. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis, we found two main themes that characterize individuals as climate action motivators: (1) urging people to think about the future and future generations and (2) discouraging everyday acts of consumption. However, we also observed that the language and themes suggested by people as climate motivators are multifaceted, which highlights the inherent dilemmas in climate communication.