Narrative influence on support of a public policy: The case of nuclear power in the Netherlands

We propose a new methodology to systematically transform pre-surveyed argument preferences into fictional narratives, that can help people to imagine the consequences of future events, and measure how they impact willingness to pay for a public policy. We apply narrative theory to construct two short narratives that depict an imaginary future, bleak due to climate change or energy dependence, and show experimentally that exposure to these narratives increases contributions in a Public Goods game, framed as payments towards the construction of new nuclear plant in the Netherlands. Our results s... Mehr ...

Verfasser: de Lint, Lotte
Roßmann, Maximilian
Vostroknutov, Alexander
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
Reihe/Periodikum: de Lint , L , Roßmann , M & Vostroknutov , A 2024 , ' Narrative influence on support of a public policy: The case of nuclear power in the Netherlands ' , PNAS Nexus . https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae149/7642727
Schlagwörter: narratives / cooperation / future studies / public goods / economic policy / technology ethics
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27207109
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/fc5eeb9e-4a8f-4f67-81e6-4169c98da4fd

We propose a new methodology to systematically transform pre-surveyed argument preferences into fictional narratives, that can help people to imagine the consequences of future events, and measure how they impact willingness to pay for a public policy. We apply narrative theory to construct two short narratives that depict an imaginary future, bleak due to climate change or energy dependence, and show experimentally that exposure to these narratives increases contributions in a Public Goods game, framed as payments towards the construction of new nuclear plant in the Netherlands. Our results suggest that fictional narratives can be used (and misused) as a tool of economic policy that allows conveying relevant information to people about complex issues. We discuss the ethical use of narratives and the value of their transparent construction for democratic will-formation and policy implementation when abstract factual information can be difficult to process or comprehend.