Positive Affective Framing of Information Reduces Risk Perceptions and Increases Acceptance of Recycled Water

Despite the growing need to address water security through sourcing alternative supplies, public resistance remains a key barrier to the implementation of recycled water schemes in some parts of the world. We describe an experiment that varied the affective framing of recycled water information and assessed the effects on an Australian community sample (N = 208). Results showed that participants in the positive affective framing condition reported more positive and less negative affect toward recycled water compared to a control condition and less negative affect than participants in the negative affective framing condition. Importantly, results demonstrated that risk perceptions were lower and acceptance was higher in the positive affective framing condition than the negative affective framing condition or the control condition. Moreover, the effect of negative affect on acceptance was mediated through risk perceptions. Implications of the results for communication about recycled water are discussed.