We are pleased to share our new article, Fossil Fuel Industry Communication Strategies and Public Responses: A Scoping Review, published in Environmental Research: Energy.
The study systematically reviewed all peer-reviewed studies published between 1988 and 2025 that examined how fossil fuel companies communicate about climate change or how the public responds to those messages. In total, we identified only 64 studies, which itself is an important finding from this study given the fossil fuel industry’s influence on public discourse and climate policy.
Key takeaways
- Fossil fuel companies commonly frame themselves as essential to economic growth, technological innovation, and/or environmental responsibility, while also using strategies that shift responsibility for climate action to consumers or cast doubt on climate science and the need for climate action.
- Surprisingly little research has examined how these communication strategies influence the public. Of the 64 studies identified, only eight directly evaluated public responses.
- Those eight studies that tested public responses focused primarily on consumer attitudes and brand perceptions, with very limited attention to broader impacts and outcomes such as views about the fossil fuel industry’s social license to operate or public support for climate and energy policies.
- Given the well-documented risks that continued use of fossil fuels poses to human and planetary health, there is an urgent need for more research on how current fossil fuel industry communication strategies shape public understanding, trust, and policymaking.
We know a great deal about what fossil fuel companies say about climate change, but remarkably little about how fossil fuel industry messages affect public trust, social license, and support for climate policy.
Read the full, open-access article, available in Environmental Research: Energy.