Conservation behavior and effects of economic and environmental message frames

Emphasizing the economic and environmental benefits of conservation is business-as-usual for environmental organizations seeking to influence conservation behavior, but these message frames are rarely tested. We embedded a large message framing experiment into the recruitment for a conservation agriculture program targeting farmland owners in the Mississippi River Basin. We found that framed messages do not increase enrollment in the agricultural program-the desired conservation behavior-compared to an informational message (control) and may decrease enrollment among farmland owners not already using conservation practices (i.e., cover crops).