Using value-belief-norm theory to explore visitor responses to education programs at animal-themed facilities

Abstract

Abstract I use value-belief-norm theory to frame how environmental education program participants interpret important messages and set behavioral intentions in response to environmental education program content. I compare participants at three animal-themed environmental organizations with different missions, postulating that institutional mission frames values-based messaging and drives outcomes in these contexts. This paper is the third part of a mixed-methods comparative case study in which I analyzed program content across sites, compared visitors’ pre-program characteristics and beliefs, and now explore visitor interpretations and intentions post-program. I find that visitors accurately detect key values-based messages at each facility, but that each organization activates different preexisting knowledge and values, which affects both the relative salience of different elements of the value-belief-norm framework and whether visitors commit to pro-environmental behavior.