Evaluating the impact of the documentary series Blue Planet II on viewers' plastic consumption behaviors

Abstract

Abstract The global scale of the ocean plastics crisis demands a collective change in plastic consumption behaviors. The documentary series Blue Planet II has been praised for driving changes in consumer behaviors by raising awareness about this issue, yet there is little evidence that directly links the documentary to viewers' plastic consumption. We investigated the effectiveness of Blue Planet II as a behavior change intervention by conducting randomized control trials and used revealed preferences to measure plastic consumption behaviors. Although environmental knowledge was found to be positively influenced by Blue Planet II, this did not translate into a behavioral change among participants. Our results support the hypothesis that, due to the complexities of human behavior, exposure to a single documentary is unlikely to lead to a distinct increase in individual pro‐environmental actions. However, the potential for Blue Planet II to have an impact at a wider societal level, namely through influencing policy, remains unexplored.

Keywords

• behavior change
• Blue Planet II
• conservation messaging
• marine pollution
• nature documentary
• ocean plastics