I’m continuing our discussion from my last blog post on the mental affect of climate change. If you did not have a chance to read my last blog post, click here.
In Eastern Australian communities, where the toll of a six-year-long drought has been devastating, interviews with farmers provided additional momentum for the solastalgia concept.
In one such interview, a female farmer poignantly described the loss of her garden oasis. “Our gardens have had to die,” she said, “because our house dam has been dry…. So it’s very depressing for a woman because a garden is an oasis out here with this dust…you know, to come home to a nice green lawn is just… that’s all gone, so you’ve got dust at your back door, ” according to this same article.
The media’s focus on weather-related and economic aspects of climate change, could have psychological impacts on our minds, this research suggests. Wired magazine covered this concept of solastalgia, and writer Clive Thompson, characterized it as “global mourning” the potential impact of overwhelming environmental transformation caused by climate change. Thompson presented what solastalgia might look like were it to become an epidemic of emotional and psychic instability that was linked to changing climates and ecosystems.
It is definitely something we need to all be aware of especially when we are marketing. We need to be aware of the psychological and emotional impact of our marketing messages even when we are offering a solution. We need to acknowledge this mindset and address it to help people see that you are on the same page and you understand what they may be going through mentally. It’s with this acknowledgement that you have the opportunity to truly connect with people where they are (mentally) and move them to where they want to be (mentally). Remember, people buy and support brands for emotional reasons.
Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends
Colette Chandler
