Assessing Risk Communication in the Pet and Aquarium Trade
An Analysis of Outreach and Engagement Efforts
The international pet and aquarium trade, and intentional or unintentional release of those organisms by individuals, has contributed to the establishment of species in areas where they are not native (Duggan, 2010; Patoka et al., 2018). These releases may have unintended but detrimental consequences to local ecosystems and economies. Little research has been conducted on trade as a non-native species vector, which makes communicating the risk of non-native pet release difficult. However, a wide range of outreach campaigns attempt to address both repercussions of and alternative actions to pet release.
Project Objectives
Insights from the Literature
Focal Campaigns
Campaign Analysis Methods
Outreach Materials
Sixty-one unique outreach materials were collected and analyzed from the eight focal campaigns and from 11 other pet release campaigns which met our inclusion criteria (i.e., within the United States, available outreach materials).
Each material was assessed using a matrix of questions to determine the following messaging elements: species and audience focus, whether the audience was instructed to do something or not do something (i.e., action orientation), message framing, order of listed alternatives to dumping/release, imagery style, and whether the material implied social pressure to act or a risk to inaction.
Examples of campaign outreach materials. Obtained on campaign websites or directly from campaign affiliates. Click the right arrow to view images.
Matrix of Questions Used to Assess Outreach Materials
Focus of material?
Target Species, Intended Audience
What action is being asked?
"Do This" or "Don't Do This"
How was the message framed? Is some entity losing or gaining?
Loss Content, To Whom?, Gain Content, To Whom?
Was a recommendation to release suggested? What order were they listed in?
Order in which recommendation/s were listed on the material.
Imagery style?
Theme Design, Illustration, Photography
What other messaging details were used?
Species Education, Story Telling, Norms/Social Pressure, Agency/Empowerment, Threat/Risk
Future Campaign Considerations
Thank you to all the campaign affiliates, partners, and colleagues who participated in this study.
This project was a co-effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (funding provided by USFWS).
All photographs by U.S. Geological Survey unless otherwise noted
Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
