Preferred Name
William or Will
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Date of Graduation
8-12-2022
Semester of Graduation
Summer
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
School of Communication Studies
Second Advisor
Matthew Brigham
Third Advisor
Pete Bsumek
Abstract
In the past decade and a half, emergent blockchain technology has gained widespread attention, especially in the past few years. For the most part, attention has been focused on cryptocurrencies, but non-fungible tokens (NFTs), that use similar technology, have been given attention as well. Many concerns about these technologies have arisen, particularly that of the environmental impacts associated with them. Utilizing the theory of reasoned action, diffusion of technology theory, and surveys conducted through Amazon Mechanical Turk, this research attempts to uncover if there is a link between the level of cryptocurrency knowledge that an individual possesses and the level of environmental concern that they have. Regression analysis allows me to ask if the level of technology knowledge regarding cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, and blockchain technologies that an individual possesses positively or negatively impacts the level of environmental concern that they have. Simple linear regression was used to analyze this data and found significant correlations between cryptocurrency knowledge and environmental concern with little to weak evidence for the variance that occurs. Research found that motivations surrounding decisions to invest in cryptocurrency was heavily based on the belief that it could be lucrative for the individual and also due to television commercials giving legitimacy to the technologies.
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Other Communication Commons
