Global Warming’s Six Americas: a review and recommendations for climate change communication

Strategic communication requires the identification and understanding of target audiences for tailored communication. The Global Warming’s Six Americas analysis segments the U.S. public into six distinct, but internally consistent audiences, who each respond differently to the issue of climate change. The segments include the Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive. The framework was first developed in 2008 and has been tracked twice a year using nationally representative surveys for over a decade. This research has helped advance communication theory and practice and the Six Americas framework has informed the decision making of stakeholders ranging from scientists to government officials, journalists, educators, and advocates. The framework has also been extended to assess specialized audiences (e.g. broadcast meteorologists) and other countries (e.g. India, Australia, and Germany). Future research should further develop and investigate the Six Americas within the United States, while also developing tailored segmentations and related tools for other countries.