Experiencing Flooding Through My Own Eyes: The Use of Face-Swapping Technology in Shaping Causal Attributions and Climate Change Beliefs

Novel communication technologies provide opportunities for more effective persuasion. Drawing on theories of attribution and perspective taking, this study examines how different perspectives (first-person vs. third-person) and modalities (text vs. video) influence individuals’ causal attributions for flood disasters and their subsequent beliefs about climate change. In particular, face-swapping technology was employed to facilitate first-person perspective taking. The results showed that modality had main effects on both behavioral attribution (attribution to individuals playing near a river) and climate change attribution (attribution to changes in global weather patterns). Moreover, behavioral attribution mediated the relationship between modality and climate change beliefs, and this indirect effect was significant only among participants in the first-person perspective condition. Lastly, an indirect effect of modality on protective behavioral intention through climate change attribution was observed. These findings suggest that the personalized first-person video condition implemented through face-swapping may be more effective at indirectly increasing participants’ climate change beliefs.