Can Interpretive Messages Change Park Visitors’ Views on Wildland Fire?

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of differently formulated interpretive messages embedded in a 90-minute guided tour on Mesa Verde National Park visitors’ knowledge and attitudes about wildland fire. Using a Solomon four-group experimental design, 31 different groups of visitors (N=496) received affective arguments, cognitive arguments, a combination of arguments, or no persuasive argument. All persuasive programs led to significant increases (one to two points) on a five-question knowledge scale and two attitude scales, although the three treatments did not differ in their effects. Attitudes became slightly more positive about the ecological role of fire and less negative about the destructive nature of fire. A slight priming effect of the pre-test was found for one measure but there were no effects on other measures, supporting the external validity of study findings. Attitude and knowledge changes related to fire were greater for those who had weaker prior attitudes or lower prior levels of knowledge. Counter to hypotheses, the personal relevance of fire and need for cognition did not exhibit a significant relationship to knowledge gain or attitude change.