The Impact of Non-Verbal (Bodily) Communication on Behaviours and Attitudes in Favour of the Planet

Resumo

Nowadays, the state of the planet poses an increasingly urgent environmental challenge, we need effective communication that can have an impact and influence on human behavior. Our article will address the topic of nonverbal/body communication. Indeed, the latter has often been neglected despite its crucial role in transmitting signs and considerable messages concerning the preservation and protection of our planet. However, it can play a very significant role in the action of awareness in favor of the latter. Indeed, body/non-verbal communication is very relevant, namely facial expressions, ecological gestures, the posture of individuals as well as their attitudes and behaviors towards their natural and environmental surroundings, thus being able to send and transmit clear and direct signs and messages on environmental and planetary issues. Through a literature review we will define the basic concepts of nonverbal communication as well as the main theories, such as persuasion and social influence. We will also analyze several practical applications of the latter, thus involving environmental art, visual symbols, and some daily behaviors such as sorting waste. We have opted for a qualitative approach for our study methodology in this article, we choose content analysis to examine the impact of ecological events, awareness images for the planet, artistic performances, and pro-environmental behavior and practices on public awareness and attitudes. The results of this analysis show that visual symbols, such as recycling logos, signs used during demonstrations, as well as the postures and attitudes of participants, awareness images, have a very significant impact and effect on the environmental behaviors and perceptions of individuals. Without neglecting the visual arts and performances which also play an essential role in reaching the public's emotional commitment to the planet and the importance of its protection and preservation. To conclude, our article highlights that nonverbal communication is a very effective and powerful way to raise awareness and promote actions and gestures in favor of the planet. The element of nonverbal communication should be further integrated into environmental awareness campaigns to maximize their impact. We recommend that future research explore new forms of nonverbal communication and measure their effectiveness in many social and cultural contexts.