Relative effects of two communication methods and prediction of environmental knowledge sharing behaviors: Okavango Delta, Botswana

The study investigated the relative effectiveness of two public instructional communication methods on the subjects' knowledge, belief, attitudes, and intention; attitudes towards the communication methods; and factors that influence knowledge sharing behaviors among community leaders in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Thirteen community-based natural resources management Boards of Trustees, comprising a total of 120 subjects, participated in a quasi-experimental study. Each subject took part in the two experimental treatments, in the form of presentations, one using visualized PowerPoint presentation, with the other entirely verbal. After each presentation, subjects completed a retrospective pretest instrument. Data was analyzed using doubly repeated measures ANCOVA and multiple regressions.;Results show no significant differences between the two public instructional communication methods, suggesting that neither method was more effective than the other in impacting selected predictors of behavior. However, significant differential effects of method by between-subjects factors, gender and position, were found among belief and intention measures. Results further show that subjects had more favorable attitudes towards the visualized communication method than the traditional verbal approach. The study also found that knowledge, attitudes, and locus of control significantly predicted knowledge sharing behavioral intentions, with both knowledge and attitudes as the most important predictors. This suggest that individuals more knowledgeable on an environmental issue, as well as having positive attitudes towards knowledge sharing, are more likely to say that they will share acquired knowledge than those who do not. Results also show that the four knowledge subscales examined as direct predictors of intention, skill was the most important predictor, followed by issue knowledge, suggesting that knowledge sharing will be promoted when people are aware of basic facts surrounding the subject matter, together with the requisite skills to act. Traditional ecological knowledge was a significant predictor of the knowledge and belief.;The findings have important implications for practitioners in environmental communications and education, such as the need for source agencies to understand the target information diffusion agents' knowledge sharing behaviors, so as to guide and inform the design of communication interventions. Further research is recommended on other factors that may help improve the predictive power of the conceptualized model.