ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Culture and Communication
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2025.1670329
Investigating the Effect of Media Messages on Sustainable Development Agenda Acceptance among Public in the United Arab Emirates
Provisionally accepted
- Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates
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Abstract-This research seeks to examine how media messages influence the public's acceptance of sustainable development goals in the United Arab Emirates. Drawing on the Diffusion of Innovation theory, 532 structured surveys are used to collect data, which is further scrutinized using structural equation modeling. Results showed an overall effective role of media messages in shaping public opinion regarding sustainable development. Respondents agreed that media messages regularly provide information about sustainable development that is accurate and based on diverse topics, affecting their perceptions and views regarding sustainable development goals. Results showed a wider agreement that these media messages affect public behavior on both individual and collective levels to accept sustainable development. The effectiveness of these media messages is further shown as the audience considers these messages as well-organized, well-represented, having symbolic meaning, and having stronger relevance. These messages are compatible as they are comprehensive and understandable, providing reliable information that is relevant to the audience's needs both on collective and individual levels. Finally, the credibility of these messages is also indicated by the respondents agreeing that the sources can be trusted as it is unbiased and aimed at overall national development. Thus, this study underlines the significant role of media messages in fostering sustainable development agendas in the UAE. It highlights how the media actively encourages and contributes to attaining sustainable development goals. As the UAE aims for a sustainable future, the positive influence of media has the potential to encourage informed public opinion and contribute to collective efforts for a more sustainable and resilient society.
Keywords: media messages, sustainable development, United Arab Emirates, Diffusion of innovation, quantitative analysis
Received: 21 Jul 2025; Accepted: 21 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Youssef, Abdellatif, Badr and Mohamed Nasef. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Dr.Enaam Youssef, e.youssef@ajman.ac.ae
Soumaya Abdellatif, s.abdellatif@ajman.ac.ae
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