Signs of compliance

Message framing influences outdoor recreationists' responses to conservation requests

Bibliographic Data

ID24218807
AuthorsAmber Cowans (0000-0001-9092-6584, Centre for Research into Environmental and Ecological Modelling School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews St Andrews UK), Darragh Hare (0000-0003-4418-9637, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Biology University of Oxford Oxford UK), Xavier Lambin (0000-0003-4643-2653, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK), Kenny Kortland (Scottish Forestry Edinburgh UK), Chris Sutherland (0000-0003-2073-1751, Centre for Research into Environmental and Ecological Modelling School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews St Andrews UK)
Year2026
Publication date2026-09-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePeople and Nature (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2575-8314 • E-ISSN: 2575-8314
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/pan3.70445
OpenAlexW7214796291
LanguageEN
References cited69

Natural landscapes shared by people and wildlife often rely on signage to guide people towards behaviours that protect nature, where the justification and framing of these requests may influence how people interpret and respond to them. We conducted a factorial vignette experiment with 600 frequent outdoor recreationists living in Scotland, stratified by age, gender and dog ownership, to test the influence of specific sign features on recreationists' intentions to follow three behavioural requests: keeping dogs on leads, staying on designated trails and avoiding sensitive areas, whilst measuring their perceptions of whether they found requests reasonable. We systematically varied requests by highlighting what the majority of other recreationists do (descriptive norms; ‘nine out of ten people do...’) or requesting the appropriate behaviour outright (injunctive norms; ‘please do...’), and by justifying requests for either single‐species conservation, general biodiversity conservation or for self and pet safety. Overall, we found high intentions of recreationists to follow the three behavioural requests, which varied significantly across our experimental conditions and with participant age. The effectiveness of injunctive versus descriptive norms depended on request type: injunctive framing nearly doubled the odds of higher perceived reasonableness and compliance intentions for a proscriptive request to avoid an area, but had no significant effect on prescriptively worded requests to keep dogs on leads or stay on marked paths. Species‐specific requests outperformed biodiversity and self‐interest requests, but their influence varied by age group. Request justification did not significantly affect perceptions or behavioural intentions among adults aged 18–34. However, requests justified for the conservation of a declining locally iconic umbrella species (Western Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus ) increased perceived reasonableness and intentions of compliance among older adults, suggesting that conservation messages may be most effective when they connect with existing human–nature relationships. Our findings show that the way behavioural requests are framed and justified on signs influences the way people relate to conservation guidance in shared landscapes. Overall, messages that emphasise locally meaningful species and communicate clear behavioural expectations are more likely to improve overall voluntary cooperation to support sustainable interactions between outdoor recreationists and wildlife. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

age differences · Biodiversity conservation · compliance intention · descriptive norms · human-wildlife interactions · injunctive norms · message framing · Outdoor recreation · shared landscapes · Tetrao urogallus · trail use · Umbrella species · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Psychology of Social Influence · Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management

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