IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i11p6869-d831460.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Concerned or Apathetic? Using Social Media Platform (Twitter) to Gauge the Public Awareness about Wildlife Conservation: A Case Study of the Illegal Rhino Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Siqing Shan

    (School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Emergency Support Simulation Technologies for City Operation, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Xijie Ju

    (School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Emergency Support Simulation Technologies for City Operation, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Yigang Wei

    (School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Emergency Support Simulation Technologies for City Operation, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Xin Wen

    (School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Emergency Support Simulation Technologies for City Operation, Beijing 100191, China)

Abstract

The illegal wildlife trade is resulting in worldwide biodiversity loss and species’ extinction. It should be exposed so that the problems of conservation caused by it can be highlighted and resolutions can be found. Social media is an effective method of information dissemination, providing a real-time, low-cost, and convenient platform for the public to release opinions on wildlife protection. This paper aims to explore the usage of social media in understanding public opinions toward conservation events, and illegal rhino trade is an example. This paper provides a framework for analyzing rhino protection issues by using Twitter. A total of 83,479 useful tweets and 33,336 pieces of users’ information were finally restored in our database after filtering out irrelevant tweets. With 2422 records of trade cases, this study builds up a rhino trade network based on social media data. The research shows important findings: (1) Tweeting behaviors are somewhat affected by the information of traditional mass media. (2) In general, countries and regions with strong negative sentiment tend to have high volume of rhino trade cases, but not all. (3) Social celebrities’ participation in activities arouses wide public concern, but the influence does not last for more than a month. NGOs, GOs, media, and individual enterprises are dominant in the dissemination of information about rhino trade. This study contributes in the following ways: First, this paper conducts research on public opinions toward wildlife conservation using natural language processing technique. Second, this paper offers advice to governments and conservationist organizations, helping them utilize social media for protecting wildlife.

Suggested Citation

  • Siqing Shan & Xijie Ju & Yigang Wei & Xin Wen, 2022. "Concerned or Apathetic? Using Social Media Platform (Twitter) to Gauge the Public Awareness about Wildlife Conservation: A Case Study of the Illegal Rhino Trade," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6869-:d:831460
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6869/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6869/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Brulle & Jason Carmichael & J. Jenkins, 2012. "Shifting public opinion on climate change: an empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the U.S., 2002–2010," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 169-188, September.
    2. Noha Alnazzawi, 2022. "Using Twitter to Detect Hate Crimes and Their Motivations: The HateMotiv Corpus," Data, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-10, May.
    3. Timothy C Haas & Sam M Ferreira, 2016. "Combating Rhino Horn Trafficking: The Need to Disrupt Criminal Networks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-26, November.
    4. Siqing Shan & Xijie Ju & Yigang Wei & Zijin Wang, 2021. "Effects of PM 2.5 on People’s Emotion: A Case Study of Weibo (Chinese Twitter) in Beijing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-21, May.
    5. John Chung-En Liu & Bo Zhao, 2017. "Who speaks for climate change in China? Evidence from Weibo," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 413-422, February.
    6. Douglas J. Crookes & James N. Blignaut, 2015. "Debunking the myth that a legal trade will solve the rhino horn crisis: A system dynamics model for market demand," Working Papers 520, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    7. Dang Vu, Hoai Nam & Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt & Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl, 2022. "Conserving rhinos by legal trade: Insights from a choice experiment with rhino horn consumers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    8. Ragini, J. Rexiline & Anand, P.M. Rubesh & Bhaskar, Vidhyacharan, 2018. "Big data analytics for disaster response and recovery through sentiment analysis," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 13-24.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Muhammad Ashraf Fauzi, 2023. "Social media in disaster management: review of the literature and future trends through bibliometric analysis," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 118(2), pages 953-975, September.
    2. Rubino, Elena C. & Pienaar, Elizabeth F. & Soto, José R., 2018. "Structuring Legal Trade in Rhino Horn to Incentivize the Participation of South African Private Landowners," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 306-316.
    3. Gupta, Kuhika & Nowlin, Matthew C. & Ripberger, Joseph T. & Jenkins-Smith, Hank C. & Silva, Carol L., 2019. "Tracking the nuclear ‘mood’ in the United States: Introducing a long term measure of public opinion about nuclear energy using aggregate survey data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Poortinga, Wouter & Aoyagi, Midori & Pidgeon, Nick F., 2013. "Public perceptions of climate change and energy futures before and after the Fukushima accident: A comparison between Britain and Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1204-1211.
    5. Shelley Boulianne & Mireille Lalancette & David Ilkiw, 2020. "“School Strike 4 Climate”: Social Media and the International Youth Protest on Climate Change," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 208-218.
    6. Michael J. Motta, 2021. "Diffusion and Typology: The Invention and Early Adoption of Medicinal Marijuana and Offshore Wind Policies," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(1), pages 567-584, January.
    7. de Camargo Fiorini, Paula & Roman Pais Seles, Bruno Michel & Chiappetta Jabbour, Charbel Jose & Barberio Mariano, Enzo & de Sousa Jabbour, Ana Beatriz Lopes, 2018. "Management theory and big data literature: From a review to a research agenda," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 112-129.
    8. Becken, Susanne & Stantic, Bela & Chen, Jinyan & Connolly, Rod M., 2022. "Twitter conversations reveal issue salience of aviation in the broader context of climate change," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Dang Vu, Hoai Nam & Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt, 2022. "Understanding determinants of the intention to buy rhino horn in Vietnam through the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    10. Henrik Serup Christensen & Lauri Rapeli, 2021. "Immediate rewards or delayed gratification? A conjoint survey experiment of the public’s policy preferences," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(1), pages 63-94, March.
    11. Carlos Carrasco-Farré, 2022. "The fingerprints of misinformation: how deceptive content differs from reliable sources in terms of cognitive effort and appeal to emotions," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.
    12. Jeremiah Bohr, 2017. "Is it hot in here or is it just me? Temperature anomalies and political polarization over global warming in the American public," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 271-285, May.
    13. Alan Collins & Caroline Cox & Juniours Marire, 0. "On the judicial annulment of the ‘domestic’ trade moratorium in South African rhinoceros horn: a law and economics perspective," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-12.
    14. Prieur, Fabien & Zou, Benteng, 2018. "Climate politics: How public persuasion affects the trade-off between environmental and economic performance," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 63-72.
    15. Acharya, Abhilash & Singh, Sanjay Kumar & Pereira, Vijay & Singh, Poonam, 2018. "Big data, knowledge co-creation and decision making in fashion industry," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 90-101.
    16. Alexandre Morin-Chassé & Erick Lachapelle, 2020. "Partisan strength and the politicization of global climate change: a re-examination of Schuldt, Roh, and Schwarz 2015," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 10(1), pages 31-40, March.
    17. Latré, Edwin & Perko, Tanja & Thijssen, Peter, 2017. "Public opinion change after the Fukushima nuclear accident: The role of national context revisited," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 124-133.
    18. Bramoullé, Yann & Orset, Caroline, 2018. "Manufacturing doubt," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 119-133.
    19. Mangani, Andrea, 2021. "When does print media address deforestation? A quantitative analysis of major newspapers from US, UK, and Australia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    20. Umar Ali Bukar & Fatimah Sidi & Marzanah A. Jabar & Rozi Nor Haizan Nor & Salfarina Abdullah & Iskandar Ishak & Mustafa Alabadla & Ali Alkhalifah, 2022. "How Advanced Technological Approaches Are Reshaping Sustainable Social Media Crisis Management and Communication: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-26, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6869-:d:831460. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.