Due to the burning of fossil fuels for the production of electric power and the associated emissions of greenhouse gases, climate change is accelerating. Thus, reducing emissions is compelling to limit climate change, and renewable energies are needed for a successful transformation. This paper focuses on the acceptability of onshore wind turbines as those are essential for sustainable electricity power production, but protests and legal actions often hinder their construction. The research answers the question of to what extent public acceptability of the projects’ final decision is associated with the publics’ influence on decision-making and environmental framing effects. Researchers have suggested that influence on decision-making is crucial and that a higher level of influence improves acceptability more than a lower level. However, the ideal level is not yet determined. Furthermore, the framing theory suggests that a positive environmental framing of the communication with the affected residents also increases the acceptability. The hypotheses were tested by conducting an experimental study using a 2x2 design. Data of N=100 participants indicated that shared influence on decision-making significantly increases the acceptability of the final decision compared to little influence. Moreover, in comparison to the neutral frame, participants reading an environmental frame favouring wind turbines caused a higher acceptability of the final decision. However, an interacting effect of the two factors was not found. Besides, explorative analyses were performed to further investigate the effects of decision-making and frames. Explanations, implications, and limitations are discussed. These results imply that public participation is a valuable tool that should be considered in the decision-making phase of a project. In agreement with that is the recommendation to use positive environmental framing.     «

Due to the burning of fossil fuels for the production of electric power and the associated emissions of greenhouse gases, climate change is accelerating. Thus, reducing emissions is compelling to limit climate change, and renewable energies are needed for a successful transformation. This paper focuses on the acceptability of onshore wind turbines as those are essential for sustainable electricity power production, but protests and legal actions often hinder their construction. The research...     »