Effectiveness of biodiversity-conservation marketing

Area of Science:

• Conservation Science
• Marketing and Communication
• Environmental Psychology

Background:

• Conservation marketing is a growing field aimed at engaging the public with biodiversity conservation efforts.
• Addressing the human dimensions of biodiversity loss requires effective communication and engagement strategies.
• Empirical evaluations of conservation marketing interventions are increasing, necessitating a review of existing literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and evaluate the empirical literature on conservation marketing interventions.
• To assess the psychosocial outcomes (cognitive, affective, behavioral) influenced by conservation marketing.
• To identify methodological strengths and limitations in current research to inform future studies.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted across six academic databases, three gray-literature databases, and two organizational websites.
• Studies evaluating conservation marketing techniques and campaigns on psychosocial outcomes were included.
• Included articles underwent critical appraisal for methodological quality, with data analyzed via narrative synthesis.

Main Results:

• Twenty-eight studies from 26 articles were included, with most research conducted between 2014 and 2016.
• The methodological quality of the majority of studies was rated as weak (57%), with moderate (29%) and high (14%) quality studies being less common.
• While many studies reported statistically significant positive results, methodological limitations (e.g., lack of comparator groups, self-reported data) restricted the utility of findings.

Conclusions:

• Conservation marketing is an emerging scientific field with significant potential for biodiversity conservation.
• Current research is hampered by methodological weaknesses, impacting the reliability and generalizability of findings.
• Further high-quality research is crucial to advance the scientific understanding and practical application of conservation marketing.