Solutions that Move Us? The Role of Responsibility Framing in Audience Reactions to Sustainability Stories

Research on the effectiveness of solutions journalism in influencing self-efficacy, responsibility perception, and behavioral intentions has produced mixed results. While emotional responses to solutions are generally strong, there is no clear evidence that solutions effectively motivate audiences. This study aims to explore whether solutions are effective in sustainability communication and whether the attribution of responsibility—whether to individuals or to political entities—helps explain the inconsistent findings in previous research. To investigate this, we conducted a pre-registered online experiment with 730 participants in Germany, manipulating both the type of solution presented (no solution, individually-framed solution, or politically-framed solution) and the sustainability topic of the article (deforestation or electronic waste). Our findings reveal that neither the presence of a solution nor its framing significantly impacts self-efficacy or behavioral intentions. However, exploratory analysis suggests that articles containing a solution decreases negative emotions. These results indicate that the effects of solutions on self-efficacy and behavior may not be as consistent as previously assumed, and they likely depend on the topic and specific characteristics of the solution presented.