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It is essential for us to understand what drives human behaviour if we want to tackle anthropogenic damage to the environment. Popular media can play an important role in shaping public attitudes, behaviours and norms towards wildlife, and documentaries in particular have become an increasingly prominent tool for social change. There is, however, a need for robust impact evaluation both in documentary‐making and in conservation, to refine future interventions. The 2013 documentary Blackfish portrayed human–orca interactions at the US‐based marine park, SeaWorld. Following its release, SeaWorld suffered financial difficulties and the company underwent structural changes, including a cessation of its orca breeding programme. These impacts have often been attributed to the Blackfish documentary, but little evidence has been provided to justify these claims. We combined an analysis of stock market data and semi‐structured interviews with 26 key informants to build an in‐depth contribution analysis. We used General Elimination Methodology, a qualitative impact evaluation methodology to build an understanding of the impact of Blackfish. We found a consensus among stakeholder groups that Blackfish induced negative publicity for SeaWorld and a change in people's perceptions of captivity. As a result, attendance at the park decreased and the market value of the company dropped. Blackfish catalysed a whole movement against marine mammal captivity. There were three key factors that led to its impact: the support from major distribution channels which allowed it to reach major audiences, emotional impact of the content and timing of its release. Blackfish benefitted from a perfect storm, building upon decades of activism to create an appropriate cultural climate for its release in 2013. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

The illegal wildlife trade threatens the future of many species, and undermines economies and livelihoods. Conservationists have largely responded with supply‐side interventions, such as antipoaching patrols, but these often fail to stem the tide of wildlife trafficking. There is now increasing interest in demand‐side interventions, which seek to lower poaching pressure on sought‐after species by reducing consumer's desire for, and purchase of, specific wildlife products. Individual behavior change approaches, from environmental education to social marketing, have been widely advocated by academics, practitioners, and policy makers. However, this is an emerging field and we lack the breadth of evidence needed to understand and predict the potential outcomes of demand reduction interventions. To help us gain broader insights, we examine the literature from public health and international development on the effectiveness of behavior change interventions, and critique the current conceptualization of strategies for reducing consumer demand in the illegal wildlife trade. We show that behavior change is difficult to achieve and interventions may have unintended and undesirable consequences because of unaddressed systemic, cultural and environmental drivers, and limited resourcing. We conclude that some sections of the conservation community are advocating a shift from one reductionist approach based on limiting supply, to another based on limiting demand, and argue that conservationists should learn from the public health and international development projects that have integrated systems thinking. By accounting for the multiple interactions and synergies between different factors in the wildlife trade, we can develop more strategic approaches to protecting endangered species. A comparison of the determinants and solutions for (a) obesity and (b) the rhino horn trade.

Psychological insights into human behavior can have enormous applied value for promoting charitable giving. Nevertheless, the application of these insights to conservation appeals featuring nonhuman animals has scarcely been explored. Although people often donate more when presented with single “identifiable” victims, whether this effect also extends to nonhumans is not known. Similarly, although many conservation appeals feature flagship species, it is unclear whether flagship species generate increased donations. We experimentally investigated how (1) identifiable versus statistical beneficiaries and (2) flagship versus nonflagship species affected donations to a conservation charity. Unexpectedly, subjects did not donate more when presented with single identifiable beneficiaries rather than groups of beneficiaries. Flagship species, on the other hand, increased donation amounts relative to appeals featuring nonflagship species. We discuss how these findings can inform and improve the effectiveness of conservation fundraising appeals.

Games have a wide range of potential uses, from mediating conservation conflicts to changing behaviors. However, there have been few impact evaluations of serious games published in the environmental field. We conducted the first cross‐cultural evaluation of an environmental mobile game, Save The Purple Frog. In a randomized control trial with both UK and Indian participants, we found very strong evidence that Save The Purple Frog had a positive impact on learning (effect size 0.62, p = 0.0001), but no evidence that it affected behaviors or attitudes. Our study contributes to the evidence base for environmental serious games, demonstrating their potential as an engaging tool for environmental education. We suggest examining the impact of longer gameplay as a future research direction, as well as exploring different gameplay styles. This is the first cross‐cultural evaluation of an environmental serious game, through a preregistered randomized control trial. There was a significant improvement in learning about the purple frog from playing the serious game.

Netflix recently launched its high‐profile nature documentary Our Planet. Voiced by Sir David Attenborough in English (with Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz and other Hollywood actors voicing versions simultaneously released in 10 other languages), Netflix are making a clear play for core BBC territory. However, they claim that this is a nature documentary with a difference as it puts the threats facing nature front and center to the narrative. We coded the scripts of Our Planet, and those of three recent Attenborough‐voiced BBC documentaries, to explore the extent to which threats (and conservation action and success) are discussed. The only other series which comes close to the frequency with which these issues are discussed is Blue Planet II, but Our Planet is unique in weaving discussion of these issues throughout all episodes rather than keeping them to a dedicated final episode. However, although Our Planet sounds different to other documentaries, the visuals are very similar. Nature is still mostly shown as pristine, and the presence or impacts of people on the natural world very seldom appear. We discuss the potential consequences of nature documentaries erasing humans from the land/seascape. We also discuss the mechanisms by which nature documentaries may have a positive impact on conservation. Despite links between information provision and behaviour change being complex and uncertain, nature documentaries may, at least in theory, elicit change in a number of ways. They may increase willingness amongst viewers to make personal lifestyle changes, increase support for conservation organizations, and generate positive public attitudes and subsequently social norms towards an issue, making policy change more likely. Netflix is certainly bringing biodiversity and the threats it faces into the mainstream, but the mechanisms by which viewing these representations translates to concrete behaviour change are poorly understood. Increasing interest in robust impact evaluation, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods, means the time is right to explore how both showing nature on screens and talking about the threats it faces, affects people in ways which might, ultimately, contribute to saving it. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Changing human behaviours is a key facet of addressing global environmental issues. There are many factors (i.e. determinants) that could influence whether an individual engages in pro-environmental behaviour, and understanding these determinants can improve efforts to protect and restore the natural environment. However, despite published criticism of poor survey design, there is little practical guidance on how to capture these determinants accurately in closed-answer surveys (those with predefined answer options). A recent literature review summarized behavioural determinants of pro-environmental behaviour. We build on this by providing practical insights into how 17 key pro-environmental behavioural determinants can be measured through closed-answer surveys. We reviewed 177 papers published during 2013–2023 that met the criteria for inclusion. These papers captured 624 measurements of the 17 determinants. We found seven types of question formats used, including scales (Likert scales, semantic scales and a pictorial scale), multiple-choice questions (where respondents could select either one or more answer options), binary questions and ranking questions. We then synthesized design considerations both specifically for each format and more broadly across surveys. These considerations included using validated measures, reducing cognitive burden and biases (e.g. social desirability bias, order effects, recall bias), selecting the question format (e.g. different formats of multiple-choice or binary questions) and using best practices for scale questions. The insights collected through this review provide practical advice for developing closed-answer surveys that robustly and usefully measure key determinants of pro-environmental behaviour.

The use of celebrities in marketing campaigns is widespread globally, including in environmental conservation. Celebrity endorsements are pervasive, but there is limited evidence of their effectiveness. We conducted a review of celebrity‐endorsed environmental campaigns. We report on the extent to which celebrities have been used in these campaigns, whether evaluation of the endorsement has been conducted, and assess whether there is evidence that the celebrities achieved the objectives they set out to accomplish through their engagement. We searched the peer‐reviewed and grey literature in six languages from July 2018 to January 2019 and found 79 campaigns implemented in nine countries from 1976 to 2018. Two thirds of campaigns were implemented in China and reported in Chinese. Only four campaigns were evaluated, but none of the evaluations provided evidence of the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement. Evaluation focused instead on overall campaign outputs and outcomes. Claims of effectiveness were made, but the lack of measurable objectives, theory of change, outcome indicators, and critical evaluation renders it impossible to determine whether the outcomes achieved by the campaigns can be attributed to celebrity endorsement. It thus remains unclear whether celebrity endorsement can contribute to conservation efforts. It is essential for environmental practitioners and researchers to report the outcomes and lessons learned from celebrity endorsements to ensure that their future use in conservation marketing campaigns is evidence‐based, thereby improving conservation practice.

The illegal wildlife trade is a global conservation priority, prompting a rise in interventions aimed at reducing the demand for wildlife products. Research shows that designing campaigns to target the values held by a specific audience is an effective way to alter their behaviour. However, many demand reduction campaigns are grounded in the perspective of Western morality. This is problematic when the recipients of these campaigns frequently reside in East Asia, where they are exposed to the historical and cultural praxis of Confucianism and Daoism. This paper examines some of the central concepts of classical Chinese philosophy to see how they could be used by practitioners to design effective behaviour change campaigns in the future. Acknowledging that the East Asian cultural sphere has a long history of consumptive wildlife use, reflecting an instrumentalist and anthropocentric approach to wildlife, we still find potential for appealing to a relational ethic. There is a fundamental metaphysics that all of nature is unified, interconnected and interpenetrating. Qi is the vital force of the universe that links inorganic, organic and human life‐forms, creating the basis for a profound reciprocity between humans and the natural world. We also consider some of the key virtues in Chinese philosophy, and how they could be interpreted through the lens of demand reduction for illegal wildlife products. This includes li, ritual propriety, and ren, the inner moral force which keeps us in balance. Finally, we cover influential scriptures, identifying many historical verses that are relevant to modern conservationists. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. 摘要 非法野生动植物贸易是全球保护工作的重点，促使了针对减少野生动物产品需求的干预活动的增加。研究表明，设计以特定受众持有的价值观为目标的活动是改变受众行为的有效方法。然而，许多减少需求的活动都基于西方的道德观。矛盾在于这些活动的受众经常为东亚居民，接受儒家和道教的历史和文化实践。 本文考察了中国古典哲学的一些核心概念来看从业者如何利用这些概念设计未来有效的行为改变运动。即使认识到东亚文化领域具有悠久的使用野生动物制品的历史，反映出对野生动物有着工具主义和以人为中心的视角，我们仍然发现有潜力的关系伦理学理论。其中一个基本的形而上学理论即万物是统一的，交互的，相互渗透的。气是宇宙的生命力，将一切无机的、有机的与人类联系起来，这为人类与自然世界之间的互惠关系奠定了基础。 我们还考虑了中国哲学中的一些重要美德，以及如何从减少非法野生动物产品需求的角度来解释它们，包括礼（仪式礼节）和仁（保持我们平衡的内在道德力量）。最后，我们引用了几篇中国传统经文，找出许多与现代环保主义者相关的古代哲学观点。 A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Political will is a critical determinant of the success or failure of environmental policies and interventions. Harnessing the political will necessary to implement environmental solutions can be challenging because environmental priorities may compete with other societal interests in policymaking. Environmental solutions are more politically feasible if fundamentally aligned with the core interests of key policymakers. Understanding the political agendas of decision‐makers enables conservationists to identify where political will already exists, and allows environmental objectives to piggyback on the motivation to deliver results. In this paper, we explore the core interests of the Chinese leadership to uncover opportunities to leverage Beijing's political will for sustainability and conservation gains. China's growing influence on ecosystems and natural resource use both within and beyond its borders makes an analysis of its leadership's political will valuable and timely. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. 簡介 政治意願是影響和執行環境政策時成與敗的關鍵因素。取得執行環保政策所需的政治意願是困難的，因為環境利益在決策過程中與其他社會利益相競爭。 倘若環保方案能配合關鍵政策制定者的核心利益，成功執行的可能性會更高。了解決策者的政治意向讓環保政策可協調依附而推動產生結果。 在本文中，我們探究了中國領導層的核心政治利益，借助北京已有的政治意願促進「保護環境」和可持續發展成果的機會。中國對境內外生態系統和天然資源使用的影響逐漸擴大，因此對其領導層的政治意願進行分析變得有價值和迫切。 简介 政治意愿是影响和执行环境政策时成与败的关键因素。取得执行环保政策所需的政治意愿是困难的，因为环境利益在决策过程中与其他社会利益相竞争。 倘若环保方案能配合关键政策制定者的核心利益，成功执行的可能性会更高。了解决策者的政治意向让环保政策可协调依附而推动产生结果。 在本文中，我们探究了中国领导层的核心政治利益，借助北京已有的政治意愿促进「保护环境」和可持续发展成果的机会。中国对境内外生态系统和天然资源使用的影响逐渐扩大，因此对其领导层的政治意愿进行分析变得有价值和迫切。 Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Robust impact evaluations are needed for conservation to learn and grow as a field. Currently we lack a large body of evidence on the effects of behaviour change interventions in social‐ecological systems. By uncovering mechanistic relationships and establishing causality we can refine future programmes to enhance likelihood of effectiveness. Although a range of sophisticated methodological approaches to evaluation have been developed, conceptually linking project outcomes with conservation impacts remains difficult in complex systems. For example, sea turtles are one taxon in which unsustainable harvesting has been a particular problem. There have been a number of campaigns to reduce demand for sea turtle products, but we still have little evidence documenting their outcomes. We conducted the first formal impact evaluation of a conservation marketing campaign aimed at reducing the consumption of sea turtle meat and eggs. The campaign took place on the island of São Tomé, Central Africa, and included traditional mass media advertisements as well as community events. This is one of few demand reduction evaluations that has assessed both human behaviour and biological conservation outcomes. It benefited from an advantageous setting for evaluation, as nesting sea turtles are relatively easy to monitor and the island's small size and geographic isolation increased the detectability of potentially confounding factors. We found a decrease in self‐reported sea turtle egg consumption and a decrease in poaching of adult sea turtles. However, multiple unforeseen difficulties arose which complicated attempts at causal attribution. We were hampered by spatial spillovers, design effects from the sensitive questioning technique, concurring law enforcement and changes in biological monitoring effort. These challenges highlight the difficulties faced by practitioners seeking to apply impact evaluations in the field. We reflect on what this means for future impact evaluations of behaviour change interventions in conservation. Our recommendations include combining multiple outcome measures to triangulate hard‐to‐measure behaviours and theory‐based evaluation methods to explore causal impacts. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.