ABSTRACT

Visitors' negative perceptions about the quality of life of animals exhibited in zoos has been of great importance to induce a positive transformation of these establishments in a number of countries. However, this is a slow process, commonly associated with an improvement in the general education of society. The present study aimed to investigate whether the anchoring model can play a role in rapidly changing people’s perceptions about the poor conditions of certain zoos. The anchoring model is a mentally created reference system that is based on experience and that can be used to judge or qualify objects, situations or conditions encountered in life. For the purpose of anchoring, a video footage of a zoo with good quality standards was used. The visitors of two bad zoos were divided into two groups: an experimental group that received the video stimulus, and a control group that did not receive it. A structured form was used for data collection. Watching the video of a higher quality zoo (the anchoring model) triggered negative responses in visitors with regard to the perception of both quality of life and stress behavior in animals. The negative perception, in turn, reduced the visitors’ willingness to contribute to conservation projects run by the two zoos. Contemporary zoos are expected to organize their spaces in order to provide positive welfare states for their animals, to contribute to research and conservation programs, as well as to help their visitors develop a positive perception on conservation. This study suggests that the phenomenon of anchoring, aided by modern mass media, provides a favorable environment for accelerating the needed quality improvements in zoos with poor standards of animal welfare.

摘要

参观者对动物园中所展示动物的生活质量的负面看法对于在许多国家促使这些场所实现积极转变非常重要。但是，这是一个缓慢的过程，通常与社会通识教育的改善有关。本研究旨在调查锚定模型是否可以在迅速改变人们对某些动物园恶劣条件的看法中发挥作用。锚定模型是一个基于经验的心智创建的参考系统，可用于判断或限定生活中遇到的对象，情况或状况。为了进行锚定，使用了具有良好质量标准的动物园的录像。两家不良动物园的游客分为两组：接受视频刺激的实验组和未接受视频刺激的对照组。使用结构化形式进行数据收集。观看更高质量的动物园（锚定模型）的视频在访客对动物的生活质量和压力行为的感知方面引发了负面反应。负面的看法反过来降低了游客为两个动物园开展的保护项目做出贡献的意愿。人们期望当代动物园能够组织其空间，以便为动物提供积极的福利状态，为研究和保护计划做出贡献，并帮助游客建立对保护的积极认识。这项研究表明，在现代大众传播媒介的帮助下，锚定现象