title: Effects of attitudes and demography on public support for endangered species conservation.
abstract: It is critical for managers to understand how attitudes and demography affect public's preferences for species protection for designing successful conservation projects. 1080 adults in Greece were asked to rate pictures of 12 endangered species on aesthetic and negativistic attitudes, and intention to support their conservation. Factor analysis identified a group of animals for which respondents indicated high levels of support for their conservation (red deer, loggerhead sea turtle, brown bear, common pheasant, European ground squirrel, glossy ibis) and a group of animals for which respondents indicated low levels of support (black vulture, great white shark, fire-bellied toad, western barbastelle, Cretan tube web spider, Milos viper). The species that received the highest support were also rated as the most attractive and safest, excluding the fearsome brown bear. Structural models revealed that aesthetic, moralistic and negativistic attitudes were the stronger predictors of support. Aesthetic and moralistic attitudes were positively, and negativistic attitudes negatively, correlated with support for conservation in both groups. Consumptive users scored lower in aesthetics and were less supportive of protection in the high support group, while nonconsumptive users showed the opposite trend. Respondents residing in urban areas deemed animals of high support more attractive and less fearsome and were more supportive of conservation than rural residents in both groups. Females of higher education viewed animals of low support as fearsome, however they supported their conservation. Our study identified popular species that can be used as flagship species to facilitate the implementation of conservation projects. The results of this study could also be used to design a communication and outreach campaign to raise awareness about the ecosystem value of less attractive species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 172, 66100 Drama, Greece. Electronic address: liordos@teiemt.gr.
authors.forename: Vasilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Liordos
authors.affiliation: Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 172, 66100 Drama, Greece.
authors.forename: Vasileios J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Kontsiotis
authors.affiliation: Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 172, 66100 Drama, Greece.
authors.forename: Magdalini
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anastasiadou
authors.affiliation: Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 172, 66100 Drama, Greece.
authors.forename: Efstathios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karavasias
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001290:Attitude; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D056727:Endangered Species; D004954:Esthetics; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D011639:Public Opinion; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aesthetics; Fear; Public preferences; Questionnaire survey; Structural model; Wildlife protection