Knowing hydrogen and loving it too? Information provision, cultural predispositions, and support for hydrogen technology among the Dutch

Abstract

This research note studies experimentally how the public translates information about hydrogen technology into evaluations of the latter. It does so by means of a nationally representative factorial survey in the Netherlands ( n = 1,012), in which respondents have been given seven randomly selected pieces of (negative, positive and/or neutral) information about this technology. Findings are consistent with framing theory. For those with high trust in science and technology, positive information increases support, while negative information detracts from it. For those with low trust in science and technology, however, information provision has no effect at all on the evaluation of hydrogen technology. Precisely among the most likely targets of science communication, i.e., those without much trust in science and technology, providing positive information fails to evoke a more favorable evaluation from the latter.