How do you create sustainable behaviour? Part III

How do you create sustainable behaviour?
Part III
February 2010
Oliver Payne,Founder, CEO, The Hunting Dynasty
Colwyn Elder, Partner, Director of Planning & Strategy
,

13. Let the feedback ask the question

14. Don’t ask. (Tell.)

15. Ask nothing, other than simply to measure

16. Don’t ask anything – then go public

17. Ask for a commitment – in the future

18. Ask kinetically

19. Make the question irrelevant

Part III

Easy rider
yourbikeishot.com have made a downloadable notice to put on other people’s bicycles, reinforcing bikes and bike riding as an activity that has a positive influence on one’s social standing

(Herd instinct)
Social norms
Easy rider
yourbikeishot.com have made a downloadable notice to put on other people’s bicycles, reinforcing bikes and bike riding as an activity that has a positive influence on one’s social standing

c. A ball of energy
Attempts by Southern California Edison to notify people of their energy use with e-mails and text messages did no good.

Chicago Tribune | A gentle prod to go green

c. A ball of energy
They tried an Ambient Orb – a
personal energy meter in the
shape of a little ball:
It glows red when people are using lots of energy
It glows green when their use is modest.

c. A ball of energy
Within weeks users of the orb
reduced their energy consumption
during peak times by 40%

Social norms
Loss aversion
c. A ball of energy
Within weeks users of the orb
reduced their energy consumption
during peak times by 40%

Part III

a. Towel reuse
In an upscale hotel in Phoenix, USA one of these cards was placed in guestrooms urging towel reuse:
1. Help Save The Environment – (respect for nature)
2. Help Save Resources For Future Generations – (saving energy)
3. Partner With Us To Help Save The Environment – (co-operate)
4. Join Your Fellow Citizens In Helping To Save The Environment – (what other guest do in that room)
US Government Subcommittee on Research & Science Education :: September 25, 2007
The Contribution of the Social Sciences to the Energy Challenge

a. Towel reuse
Only this message reinforces a social norm

a. Towel reuse
Guests exposed to this message were 34% more likely to recycle their towels

Social norms
a. Towel reuse
Guests exposed to this message were 34% more likely to recycle their towels

b. Tax doesn’t have to be taxing (no, really)
In Australia, tax-payers were informed that that normal practice was honesty in tax returns
HEADS, YOU DIE: Bad decisions, choice architecture, and how to mitigate predictable irrationality | Jack Fuller | Per Capita research

In Australia, tax-payers were informed that that normal practice was honesty in tax returns
Deductions plunged by 47%
(over $800 million Aus$ extra revenue)

Minnesota tried to increase honesty on tax returns with 4 types of intervention:
Taxes go to good works
Threats risk of punishment
How to get help if confused
Told that 90% of people complied in full

This was the only intervention to work

Social norms
This was the only intervention to work

Part III

Competitive Dad
When a Jeep driver got a Prius he became fixated with stretching his
mileage as far as possible
For Hybrid Drivers, Every Trip Is a Race for Fuel Efficiency | Washington Post | 2008

Competitive Dad
His record is 57.4 mpg
More than double the 27.5 mpg that non-hybrid cars are required to deliver under US law

Competitive Dad
His record is 57.4 mpg
More than double the 27.5 mpg that non-hybrid cars are required to deliver under US law
“It has totally changed my driving in that for the first time I’m completely cognizant of how the car works.”
(Washington Post)
Loss aversion

Switched on
In 1923 a study was carried out at Hawthorne Works, Illinois to see if
workers would become more productive in:
Higher levels of light
Lower levels of light
The Hawthorn Effect | Bad Science | Ben Goldachre | pp 139

Switched on
The workers' productivity improved when ANY changes were made

Switched on
The workers' productivity improved when ANY changes were made
Exposure effect

Part III

16. Don’t ask anything – other than they go public

a. A clean win
Los Angeles restaurants required to display hygiene grades
in their windows

a. A clean win
in their windows
Many made hygiene improvements
C-graded restaurants lost revenue
A-grade ratings up from 58% to 83%
(mostly from consumer choice)
Food-borne-illness hospitalisations decreased by up to 20%

a. A clean win
in their windows
Social norms
Many made hygiene improvements
C-graded restaurants lost revenue
A-grade ratings up from 58% to 83%
(mostly from consumer choice)
Food-borne-illness hospitalisations decreased by up to 20%

b. S’up?
Wattson is a personal energy meter from
design firm, DIY Kyoto
Derek Foster developed the WattsUp
application to record users’ live and historical
household energy consumption via the
Wattson monitor – and then transmits the data
to Facebook
Microsoft Windows Developer Center | Featured Application – WattsUp

b. S’up?
“By using Facebook as the delivery platform it [WattsUp] introduces social psychology elements such as peer-pressure and normative behaviour between friends which can introduce competitiveness to reduce energy usage.”
Derek Foster, post-graduate, University of York

Social norms
b. S’up?
“By using Facebook as the delivery platform it [WattsUp] introduces social psychology elements such as peer-pressure and normative behaviour between friends which can introduce competitiveness to reduce energy usage.”
Derek Foster, post-graduate, University of York

Part III

a. Water water everywhere
A shower timer asks for us to commit to a length of time using our clear-thinking rational brain, rather than leaving the decision to our pleasure-demanding ‘me, now’ brain


Temporal discounting
a. Water water everywhere
A shower timer asks for us to commit to a length of time using our clear-thinking rational brain, rather than leaving the decision to our pleasure-demanding ‘me, now’ brain

‘time-inconsistent preferencing’ is a recognition that we can prefer one outcome in a low-stimulus (i.e. reﬂective) context, and a different outcome in a high-stimulus (i.e. tempting) context.

b. Do a good turn
Will you wash your clothes in colder water?
80% of washing machine’s energy heats water
Switching from 40°to 30°saves 40% of washing machine’s energy
Ariel created powder to wash at 30°
Do a good turn

b. Do a good turn
80% of washing machine’s energy heats water
Switching from 40°to 30°saves 40% of washing machine’s energy
Ariel created powder to wash at 30°
“Did you know that if every household in London turned to 30°, there would be enough money saved to pay 24,769 families fuel & power bills for a full year”
Do a good turn

b. Do a good turn
The illustration of creating a commitment is key
The actual effect of turning to 30°is small
Do a good turn

b. Do a good turn
The maths:
There are 3,000,000 homes in London
(Office for National Statistics, 2001)
Saving 24,769 families fuel & power
= 0.83% of total fuel & power need
Do a good turn

Put a contract on yourself
STICKK.com enables users to form commitment contracts to help them achieve their personal goals. These goals may be to lose weight, run a marathon, etc
STICKK.com

The Commitment Contract concept is based on two well known principles of behavioural economics:
People don't always do what they claim they want to do, and
Incentives get people to do things
STICKK.com

Part III

18. Ask kinetically

18. Ask kinetically
a. Lights. Out.
Communicating ‘turn off the lights’ in a hotel is tricky – the guest derives no personal benefit (either delayed or short-term) by turning off lights, etc
So what do you say?
?
A gentle prod to go green: Turning wishes into actions a matter of showing people the way | Chicago Tribune | Thaler, Sunstein | 2008

18. Ask kinetically
a. Lights. Out.
Link to an action that is in the interests of the guest:
“In some hotel rooms, guests are required to insert their room key card into a slot by the door to turn on the lights and air conditioning. When they leave the room and take their key, the lights and AC are automatically turned off.”
Chicago Tribune
A gentle prod to go green: Turning wishes into actions a matter of showing people the way | Chicago Tribune | Thaler, Sunstein | 2008

18. Ask kinetically
c. Square peg
Architect Shigeru Ban is well-known for his innovative use of paper as a structural element.

Can he minimise the amount of wasted
lavatory paper?
Squared Toilet Paper = Less Waste | TreeHugger | Kimberley D. Mok | 2009

18. Ask kinetically
c. Square peg

Make the tube square instead of round
- Each tug is met with resistance
- Only take what you really need
Can he minimise the amount of wasted
lavatory paper?
Squared Toilet Paper = Less Waste | TreeHugger | Kimberley D. Mok | 2009

Part III

a. The answer on a plate
Smarter Lunchrooms’ mission is to design sustainable
research-based lunchrooms that subtly guide smarter choices.

How do they make their healthy menu more popular?
Smarter Lunchrooms


They make the plates smaller, making the food look a lot bigger,
and a lot better value
Smarter Lunchrooms

Selective perception

They make the plates smaller, making the food look a lot bigger,
and a lot better value
Smarter Lunchrooms

b. As clear as day
How do you create energy efficiency at home?
Solar
Wind
Insulation
Feedback metering
Pricing

b. As clear as day
During his time as Ambassador to France from 1776–1785, Benjamin Franklin suggested Parisians economise on candles by rising earlier to use morning sunlight…

Daylight savings time | Nudge pp 51

b. As clear as day
In 1916 Germany and its World War I allies were the first European nations to move the clocks forwards and backwards as a way to conserve coal during wartime…


b. As clear as day
Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed.


Social norms
b. As clear as day
British Summer Time (BST) starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October


Part III

Thank you
(look out for part I & II)

Part I & II – Ready to download now>

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org	97
http://sustainablebehaviourdesign.wordpress.com	88
http://www.thehuntingdynasty.com	86
http://obii.posterous.com	81
http://aniketkaushal.blogspot.com	29
http://www.slideshare.net	14
http://justicemitchell.squarespace.com	7
http://feeds.feedburner.com	2
http://aniketkaushal.blogspot.in	2
http://www.linkedin.com	1

How do you create sustainable behaviour? Part III

by The Hunting Dynasty

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

10 Embeds 407

Statistics