Some frames speak louder than others when communicating for biodiversity conservation

How information is framed affects how people respond, yet evidence for the effectiveness of framing for generating support for biodiversity conservation is surprisingly sparse. We conduct the first empirical test of conservation message frames, using a hypothetical scenario of a proposed mining development. Embedding different expert statements within a mock newspaper article led to substantial differences in conservation support. The influence of frames varied with political persuasion; ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘awe and wonder of nature’ frames were most effective for conservative and liberal audiences, respectively. For conservatives, any conservation message was more effective than none, except conservation triage, which was counterproductive across all audiences. Social norms were powerful for generating resistance to the mine; respondents were otherwise seduced by the message that trade-offs between development and conservation are avoidable. We provide the first evidence for the critical influence of framing on support for biodiversity, which will improve conservation message effectiveness.