Transcript Fostering Behavior Change for Sustainability

“Insanity: doing the same
thing over and over
again and expecting
different results.”
Albert Einstein
public domain
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Fostering Behavior Change
for Sustainability
Tools to Influence Action and Identity
Developed for The Earth Ethics Institute
at Miami-Dade College
by Scott Perret
[email protected]
bikes: Diane Groves
hands: Richard Styles
bin: sxc.hu
© Scott Perret 2011
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Sustainability:
“Enough for all, forever.”
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With what programs are you involved?
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What results are you going for?
B
E/O
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What are your strategies?
I
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Why behavior change?
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One good reason: climate change
• We have a 3 to 15 year window to slow climate change. 1
• 80% of the CO2 released from human activity in the US is
the result of people’s behaviors. 2
• 15% of US CO2 emissions (1 bil metric tons) could be cut
through simple behavior changes like not idling our cars.3
• We can move behavior more quickly & cheaply than the
other wedges. It’s the “low-hanging fruit.”
1 & 2: (McKenzie-Mohr, 11/14/10)
3: Time, Bryan Walsh, 3/17/10
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Sustainability = changing behavior
and identity.
The creation of sustainable
societies will require shifts
in what we do and how we
do it (behavior)…
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…as well as
how we think
of ourselves
(identity).
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Information Campaigns:
the standard strategy
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Everyone does info campaigns
because…
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…they’re easier.
• It’s what everyone does. There is tremendous power
in the status quo.
• “Wouldn’t it be cool if we...?”
• We get to base programs on our assumptions, which
means less homework & less friction.
• Info campaigns are often easier & faster to roll out.
• They seem cheaper (until you measure cost per
result).
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We also do info campaigns because
we think they should work.
• Economic Self Interest
says humans are reasonable and will act
in their own self-interests.
• The Attitude-Behavior Approach
says educating people will foster
attitudes that are supportive of a desired
behavior, and these attitudes will in turn
foster the behavior itself.
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But they don’t work.
Economic Self-Interest doesn’t reliably
predict or determine behavior.
• Example:
Disaster Response
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Attitudes don’t reliably predict or
determine behavior, either.
• Example:
Litter Study
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That means education alone
doesn’t work.
Giving information
may change
attitudes, but it
rarely changes
behavior.
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Result of Information Campaigns:
wasted time, energy and resources
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Note:
Attitudes are a prerequisite for
behavior change, but they rarely
determine it.
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But, wait!
What about traditional advertising?
Nissan Leaf
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What are they asking us to do?

Chevrolet Volt
Nissan Leaf
vs

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Summary:
why info campaigns don’t work
Traditional information and advertising campaigns
don’t produce behavior change because they
underestimate the complexity of human behavior.
Many factors influence each of our behavior
choices. Our attitudes, knowledge and economic
self-interest are only a few, and often among the
weakest.
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There are several keys to
changing behavior
Careful Study and Planning
+
A “Key Ring” of Influence Tools
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Two birds with one stone:
Changing behavior can change identity.
Self-Perception Theory
Argues people’s self-perceptions are partly created by looking
at their actions and “working backwards” to see what those
actions say about them.
If we can provide opportunities for people to engage in
sustainable behaviors conveniently, the very act of engaging in
those behaviors can shape their attitudes.
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Approaches to Behavior Change
• Community-Based Social Marketing
• Influence Tools from the social sciences
• The Social Cure: peer pressure for positive
outcomes (clubs, movements, community)
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Why are these approaches
more effective?
They take into
account the
complexity and
social nature of
human behavior.
Agnes Eperjesy
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Psychology meets Social Marketing
We are most likely to respond to
direct communications from people
we know, or at least people we
perceive to be like ourselves, from
our own community.
It’s about peer groups and social
norms.
The #1 predictor of changed behavior
is having a friend who already “did
that.”
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Community-Based Social
Marketing
developed by Doug McKenzie-Mohr
Environmental Psychologist
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The 5 Steps of Community-Based
Social Marketing
1. Select behavior(s) to target
2. Identify barriers and benefits
3. Develop your strategy
4. Pilot your strategy
5. Implement broadly & evaluate results
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Never Assume; Do The Homework
“Don’t let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually
immeasurably more complex than our subsequent explanations of them.”
--Dostoevsky
We must resist the temptation to
believe we already know the
answers. We mustn’t blow our
precious resources just because it
seemed like a cool idea, or we
assumed we knew what would work.
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Pre-Step 1: Select your issue(s)
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Water
Air
Food
Energy
Waste Streams
Climate Change
Use of Plastics
Community Building
Etc…
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Select the right behavior to target
• Which sector can give us the impactful
results we want?
• What are the biggest chunks within
that sector?
• What behaviors would have the
greatest impact on those chunks?
– Analyze these to identify the best
ones to target
• What is the probability we can get
these behaviors adopted?
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Who are you trying to reach?
Know your target market
• Who needs to engage in the behavior
you want to encourage in order for
you to get your desired results and
level of impact?
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• Who is engaging in the behavior you
want to discourage?
• Different communities/groups often
perceive different barriers & benefits
for the same behavior.
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Barriers & Benefits: a golden key
• Identify barriers & benefits for
both the behavior you want to
encourage, and for the behavior
you want to discourage, or
replace.
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• Most barriers hide at the level of
the activities that make up a
behavior.
• Do the homework; don’t guess.
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Develop your strategy
(Perceived)
Barriers
Behavior to
Encourage
Behavior to
Discourage
(Perceived)
Benefits
 
 
How:
Select influence
tools for your
strategy based
on your target
audience’s
perceived
barriers and
benefits.
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Pilot your strategy
• See if it works! Sample group
can be small (at least 12-15
people).
• If you’re not getting the
results you want, ask why,
tweak the strategy, then pilot
again.
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Implement, then evaluate results
See McKenzie-Mohr for:
• What you might measure
• When you might measure
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A Key Ring of Influence Tools
compiled from the work of
Robert Cialdini
& Doug McKenzie-Mohr
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A key for every lock
Robert Cialdini’s
Weapons of Influence
Doug McKenzie-Mohr’s
CBSM Behavior Change Tools
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1.
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Social Proof
Commitment
Consistency
Authority
Reciprocity
Liking
Scarcity & Fear of Loss
Social Norms
Commitment
Social Diffusion
Prompts
Effective Communication
Incentives
Convenience
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Case Study:
Car Idling in Canada
From the work of Doug McKenzie-Mohr
Andy Greenhouse
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© Natural Resources Canada
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Combining influence tools for
powerful results
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Personal contact by community member
Authority
Knowing the target audience
Social proof
Prompts
Commitment
– Made public & enduring, where possible
• Information/education + Reciprocity
• Created toolkit for use by others
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The Social Cure
Peer Pressure for Positive Outcomes
compiled from the work of
Tina Rosenberg
and David Gershon
Sava Marinkovic
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Quotes from Join the Club
• “These campaigns…accomplish what countless efforts
throughout the centuries have failed to do: persuade people
to take action that is crucial to their long-term well-being but
appears unpleasant, dangerous or psychologically difficult
today.”
• “What all these marketing strategies …have in common is
that they sell the idea that buying the product will make the
customer more respected and embraced by his or her peer
group. If you want people to rally to the cause, it has to be
about them, not the cause.”
What’s in it for them?
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David Gershon’s Eco-Teams
“These programs change personal behavior through social pressure. They offer people a
new and desirable club to join—a peer group so strong and persuasive that the individual
adopts a new identity.”
-Tina Rosenberg
• Eco-Team leaders identified by community organizers
• Team leaders recruit their neighbors for block group
1. Help conserve resources for the sake of our children
2. Get to know each other better as neighbors
3. Make our neighborhood a healthier, safer place to live
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Gershon’s numbers
• “These households on average reduced their annual solid
waste by 40 percent, water use by 32 percent, energy use by
17 percent, vehicle miles traveled by 8 percent, CO2 emissions
by 15 percent, and achieved financial savings of $255.”
• Model applied to water conservation : Participating
households averaged 10 water stewardship actions each and
achieved water usage savings of 44 percent, or 20,000 gallons
per year per participant.
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Narrative describing David Gershon’s ecoteams/sustainable lifestyles program, can be
found here (4-part blog):
http://www.sustainablecitynetwork.com/
blogs/david_gershon/
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Parting Shots
Christopher Mazzoli
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• Behavior change is doable & important,
though its complexity requires more process
than we might be used to.
• It wouldn’t seem overwhelming, or like “more
work” if we’d been doing it this way all along.
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Bibliography
• Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An
Introduction to Community-Based Social
Marketing, by Doug McKenzie-Mohr
(www.cbsm.com)
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by
Robert Cialdini
• Join The Club: How Peer Pressure Can
Transform the World, by Tina Rosenberg
Amazon.com
Scott Perret
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www.NotUtopia.com
Look in the Book Bucket
under Behavior Change
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