Communicating the Role of Hunting for Wildlife Management

Abstract

Wildlife management agencies are increasingly faced with decisions where different groups hold conflicting attitudes and values with respect to the action taken. Identifying and understanding divergent views is essential in guiding the decisions of wildlife management. Occasionally, public opinion may be based on erroneous information and as such wildlife management agencies must effectively communicate with the public. In this article we examine public response to various communications developed as part of a multi-phase study that used the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980 Ajzen, I. and Fishbein, M. 1980. Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc. [Google Scholar]) as its theoretical framework. Findings indicated that the uncommitted middle felt it was the responsibility of wildlife managers to provide sound, balanced, science-based information allowing the public to form their own conclusions regarding wildlife management actions. Focus groups felt persuasive communications that appeared self-serving were likely to backfire and should be avoided or left to the interest groups concerned.