Behavior Change for Sustainable Consumption - London Sustainability Communications Forum Presentation
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The document discusses shaping consumer habits through behavior change initiatives informed by social science. It outlines that everyday practices in mobility, eating/drinking, and housing account for 75% of resource consumption. Successful initiatives target the individual, social, and material contexts that influence habits. An example from Durham, Ontario saw a 54% reduction in water use through a combination of informational materials, community engagement, and infrastructure changes like water gauges. The consensus project aims to prototype integrated interventions targeting practices through individual drivers like health, social influences like norms, and infrastructure like product design.
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Behavior Change for Sustainable Consumption - London Sustainability Communications Forum Presentation
- 1. SHAPING CONSUMER HABITS Insights from social science Dr. Ruth Doyle Sustainability Communications Forum 22 May 2014, London Trinity College Dublin Geography Department rdoyle4@tcd.ie
- 2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE 1. Behaviour change agenda – Targeting the engrained habits / practices 1. Latest social science thinking – focus on everyday PRACTICES – 3 key areas to target: Individual, Social, & Material. 2. Examples – Successful initiatives targeting those 3 key areas. 3. CONSENSUS – HomeLabs – collaborative, action-based research to explore practice change. 1. Conclusion – Key lessons
- 3. WHY BEHAVIOUR CHANGE? • Behaviour change – part of agenda to achieve sustainable lifestyles – public & private sector attention. • 75% of our direct resource consumption linked with everyday practices in 3 key areas: 1. Mobility | 2. Eating & Drinking | 3. Housing (water & energy) • Businesses are increasingly focusing on “Use Phase” – how people choose, use & dispose of their products & services • Everyday practices = habitual => hard to change!
- 4. INDIVIDUAL Values Knowledge Costs & benefits Emotions Skills INFRASTRUCTURE Products technologies Systems of provision SOCIAL Norms Meanings Social learning Peers & leaders EVERYDAY PRACTICES ARE INFLUENCED BY 3 KEY DRIVERS: + + Behaviour change initiatives are more successful if they target all 3 contexts: Individual, Social & Infrastructural
- 5. E.G. DURHAM WATER, ONTARIO • Experimented with different combinations of interventions in 4 different groups: RESULTS: • Information campaign on own = limited impact • Those targeted with all interventions = 54% reduction in water use (17% over time) • $80,000 to implement & financial savings of $945,000. Programme was 1/5th the cost of the alternative which was to expand the water infrastructure (Source: www.toolsofchange.com) INDIVIDUAL 1. Information leaflets INFRASTRUCTURE 1. Lawn watering gauge 2. Sign hung on water tap – water every other day SOCIAL 1. Community champions: door-to-door visits 2. Pledges to water lawn every other day
- 6. INDIVIDUAL From environmental messaging to health & convenience • Health, wellbeing & convenience drivers • Open to habit change during life-changes (moving home, baby, retirement…) Balance emotional messaging with rational information • Emotions, humor & indulgence – targeted marketing Skills • Building practical capabilities • E.G. Love Food Hate Waste; Ariel Turn to 30. • Menu planners • Let’s Get Cooking clubs • LFHW App • Labeling • Ariel ‘Cool Clean’ • Usage instructions • IIPs, “if-this-then-that plans”
- 7. SOCIAL NORMS Sao Paolo ‘pee in the shower’ Mayor of Bogota– videoed himself showering to encourage citizens to wash with less water – shown on TV advertsCool-Biz campaign Japan. Stimulating playful debate and disruption of social norms.
- 8. SOCIAL COMPARISONS PEER BENCHMARKING • Social comparisons have more impact on conservation behaviour than appeals to save the environment / money (Nolan et al., 2008) – e.g. Opower • “You are part of the 90% who decided to reduce your consumption” ENHANCING VISIBILITY OF CONSUMPTION • Nova Scotia, backyard composting – social motivation
- 9. INFRASTRUCTURE CHOICE EDITING • Changes to products for greater efficiency (e.g. Comfort One Rinse) • Default settings – e.g. washing machines default to 30°c CHOICE ARCHITECTURE • Providing people with necessary tools – e.g. cues, thermostats, timers • Positioning of products within aisles etc…making it easy!! Comfort One Rinse Thermostat.
- 10. CONSENSUS PHASE ONE 2009-2013 • Collaborative visioning process to explore integrated Individual, Social & Infrastructural interventions for sustainable washing & eating practices. PHASE TWO 2014 • Working with industry, public and NGO partners to prototype new ICT, shower devices, communications & educational strategies • HomeLab: Implement and evaluate in homes. • Cross-sectoral recommendations & spin-off
- 11. CONCLUSIONS • Behaviour change = holy grail of environmental action, yet success has been limited. • Latest research shows changing behaviour = about changing PRACTICES, engrained everyday habits • Our everyday habits are influenced by 3 key forces: 1. Individual –increase drive, awareness, & provide skills 2. Social – social motivation & learning, norms, peer benchmarking 3. Infrastructure – making it easy, choice architecture, triggers & nudges • Integrated approach essential – opportunity for collaborative action • CONSENSUS is piloting this new approach.
- 12. THANK YOU Dr. Ruth Doyle E: rdoyle4@tcd.ie | L: www.linkedin.com/in/ruthdoyler/ www.consensus.ie Trinity College Dublin, Geography Department www.consensus.ie
Editor's Notes
- RD, I’m delighted to be here today to talk. I’ve worked in a consultancy in this area of sust comms, and most recently, within academic research – focusing mainly on sustainable household consumption, collaborative innovation processes and behaviour change – theory and practical initiatives. Right now I’m a postdoctoral researcher on the CONSENSUS project – which is an Irish, Environmental Protection Agency funded project, examining aspects of Consumption, Envy Sust on the island of Ireland. And I’m a Visiting Scholar at Uni Cal Berkeley.
- *Much talk about new communications techniques, tools and framings, my presentation is based on the theme of behaviour change – drawing on latest thinking within the social sciences on the tools and techniques that we can use to change consumption behaviour *Argue that we need to go beyond targeting individual attitudes and values alone and to achieve deep behaviour change, need to think about transforming our everyday habitual behaviours, otherwise known as practices. *Some of the latest SC research and initiatives in the corporate sector are looking at social practices as unit of analysis and intervention - Three key areas that should be targeted in any successful initiative aimed at encouraging change in everyday practices. And those 3 are the individual context, the social and infrastructural. *Will give some examples of successful initiatives targeting those 3 areas. *After I’ll speak briefly about CONSENSUS research project that I’m part of and how we’re adopting this approach in a collaborative research project with cross sectoral partners.
- *Behaviour change long been subject of public policy initiatives & also more recently, businesses thinking about how their product or service offerings are implicated in unsustainable consumer behaviours – targeting consumer behaviour change – as part of action to meet their corporate goals where it’s less about selling more goods or services and more about building advocacy, reputation, bulding trust and engagement. When think about behaviour change, important to consider where most of consumer impacts lie. We know that nearly 75% of our direct resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions linked with everyday practices grouped into three key areas: Mobility - so everyday practices in this case include travel and car activities etc. Eating and drinking - food purchasing, storing, cooking and wasting practices Housing, water and energy use – relates to routine, habitual everyday practices – like our home heating, personal washing, clothes washing, home cleaning that use these energy and water resources. This is why we see attention to improving efficiency not only in production processes, but also in consumer habits / practices relating to the Use Phase, especially in FMCG industry… So for example, Unilever, estimates that “the hot water that people consume while using their personal care products comprises nearly 70% of the overall greenhouse gas footprint associated with their entire business => Action research – trying to understand the everyday practices within which their products are situated. A key issue is that our most damaging everyday practices, are habitual, and notoriously resistant to change – as they’re affected by multiple contexts. (EX if time Sarah Darby, 2 households, same energy efficiency rating, but different levels of consumption).
- Three key areas – important to target when trying to change habitual behaviours. Will go into in detail in presentation but briefly these are: INDIVIDUAL DRIVERS Long been targeted by classic environmental awareness campaigns – based on strategies of information provision, trying to stimulate changes in attitude and values, knowledge. However it’s well known now that behavior, particularly, everyday habits, isn’t just a case of individual attitudes as many studies show a value-action gap. Which means you may value the environment & think yourself env friendly, but little opp to act on this due to weak social motivators, or inadequate ability / infrastructure. Likewise, unless economic incentive is very strong, cannot rely on this alone for sustained transformation in everyday behaviours. Emotional cues are another important lever, Andy did v good job of that, interesting that they were looking at activating intrinsic values, which is necessary for sustained BC rather than extrinsic motivators which can be weaker when it comes to habit change. Skills – otherwise known as Ability to act. Practical means to change their behaviour. So important to consider Individual drivers, but must be accompanied by attention to social and infrastructural context too. SOCIAL– relates to the influence of social norms and meanings, peers, and institutional settings on our behaviour. INFRASTRUCURAL – relates to practical ability to reduce / adjust our behaviour through the technologies, infrastructure & available to them. E.G. recycling in the UK & Ireland increased significantly once the appropriate waste infrastructure was in place through the provision of recycling bins/boxes and curb-side collection facilities. Such interventions in material infrastructures not only create the conditions for new habits to emerge but have the potential to lock people into sustained environmentally friendly behaviours. Likewise when it comes to product design to guide new behaviours. Capacity for new everyday practices = greatly enhanced if operate across all 3 areas. Now going to draw on some examples – focusing on FOOD and WATER.
- One example of the benefits of combining interventions to simultaneously target individual, social & material contexts – Case is Durham Water – where they aimed to curb high levels of consumption, especially focusing on practices of lawn watering. In Durham, they set up 4 different control groups. Experimented with diff combos of interventions. Information – stating rational case to value water & reduce consumption. Community champions – go door to door - to explain rationale for reducing water. Pledges to reduce – social pressure – to water lawns on odd days Physical tool – guage – asssit them in measuring & monitoring their usage. Practical tools Sign – prompter at point of use – water every other day or not at all. Visible reminder. Key lesson was that an informational campaign on its own had very limited impact. But control group that was targeted with all interventions - individual, social and material contexts was most succesful Done with very little financial input – but high savings for utility company through avoided usage. Next, drawing on examples, am going to detail some lessons on targeting each of these contexts separately (focus food and water), but bearing in mind that the effectiveness is greatly increased by targeting all simultaneously.
- Secondly, studies show a higher likelihood of take up of pro-environmental behaviours if don’t emphasise environmental / sustainability logic alone. Misconception that sustainable living involves giving something up / sacrifice valued weekly bath. Emphasizing the water cycle and personal health and wellbeing benefits, and linking these to environmental health. Also wanted to mention the role of life-changes, as providing windows of opportunity to intervene. As it’s in these moments, Moving house, starting a family, re-furbishing the kitchen, changing jobs, retirement – that people are open to new information & re-evaluating habits. Take advantage of these channels of communication. Lastly, another lever is the use of messaging to activate emotions rather than simply providing rational cost benefit arguments. Anglian Water – love every drop. Skills: Telling people to cycle, if don’t know how. 2 examples where drew on these approaches. LWHW Menu Planners…. 28 Let’s Get Cooking Clubs were set up across West London, engaging 800 people. The purpose of the Clubs is to provide practical cookery skills and information to enable people to make the most of the food that they buy. Menu planners App – need more info on this here!!!! The Love Food Hate Waste app will allow you to easily keep track of food planning, shopping, cooking meals and making the most of leftovers. It also has great recipe ideas and tips for using forgotten foods and leftovers to make great tasting meals. UK homes throw away 7.2m tonnes of food & drink each year, most of which could have been eaten. Households can save up to £50 a month by throwing away less food WRAP has successfully aligned the campaign major supermarkets, for example Sainsbury’s ‘Love Your Leftovers’ and Morrison’s ‘Great Taste Less Waste’ campaigns - introduction of improved labelling (removing ‘display until’ dates from their products), and adapting pack sizes so that they wer e better suited for moder n, smaller UK households. The retailer involvement was also in part encouraged by a voluntary commitment of retailers (brokered by government) to reduce waste. Turn to 30 – Energy Saving and Brilliant Cleaning. P&G “Turn To 30” message in TV and print advertising, direct marketing, Internet campaigns, in-store events, PR and promotional activities. personal blogs and encourages consumers to save energy. credible experts and public figures were speaking on the Ariel initiative Partnered with WWF and Energy Saving Trust. According to the 2007 IPC Green Research study, approximately 85% of UK consumers claimed that Ariel’s Turn To 30 campaign was the main reason that convinced them to turn down their washing temperatures. The company's 'Turn to 30' consumer education campaign in the US did help lift the number of people using cold washes from 2% to 40% but that this remains stubbornly below the company's target of 70% worldwide. But even convincing people to turn the temperature down is proving difficult. Co-designed IIPs = new approach. DEFRA & P&G Planning assistance – phone call Co-design of habit plans. Washing at 30, Hanging out to dry. Example habit plan: “If I am next washing my bed linen and towels, then I will run a trial at 30, and assess the quality of result”. Ask the Expert It integrates the key messages: Turn to 30° for a brilliant
- SOCIAL NORMS Moving then to interventions targeting the social context. While social norms theory looks at why we don’t like to deviate from what’s considered normal in society. Some recent awareness campaigns are recognising that if we’re to make large changes in our habits, we may need to challenge norms – for ex norms of cleanliness and bringing these up for debate – in a playful & slapstick way. e.g. 1 Cool-Biz campaign in Japan, due to rising air con use, could keep improving efficiency, but decided to challenge typical tie and suit work code – partnered with well known individuals and brands to design suitable cool clothing. Vouchers and office based initiatives – group learning – large scale reductions, sales in neckties down 36%. e.g. 2 Mayor of Bogota, When there was a water shortage, appeared on TV taking a shower and turning off the water as he soaped, asking his fellow citizens to do the same. In just two months people were using 14 percent less water, then when drought hit, coupled with sliding scale metering and savings increased such that it’s 40 percent less than before the shortage. Strongly influenced by messenger. e.3. 3 - a series of tongue-in-cheek videos, explaining the positive effect of twosome showers. AXE is also distributing 7,000 water-efficient Delta showerheads to help people save more water during their showers as well as donating $100,000 to the Alliance for Water Efficiency to “fund conservation research projects and provide technical support to water-stressed cities
- Keeping with the idea of social influences. Peer benchmarking Studies, espc energy – show that social comparisons have more impact on behaviour than appeals to save environment or money. Branding people – you are part of the 90% who decided to reduce their consumption – positive reinforcement, and carrots, but also the light stick of being way out of line with your peers. The self-concept. Opower = business model designed to simiulate behaviour change. Nova Scotia province in Canada introduced an initiative to encourage composting by persuading households who already engaged in this activity to put a sign on their bin to make it more visible to their neighbours. They were also asked to speak to their neighbours and friends about composting and dispel common fears that it was unpleasant. Seven months after the trial began 80% of those surveyed who had not previously composted had taken up the activity.
- - Infrastructure - Relates to rules & regulations around water use, and water using appliances and products. - Rather than leave it up to individual choice – remove the choice/option to consume excessively, known as choice editing. Product – design directives - Buildings – min liter consumption targets; efficiency energy and water standards in appliances. Default settings – Target 30 campaign – P&G campaign with Aerial – effective levels of reduction in temperature but stuck at certain level, lock-in to existing machines (also of course social and individual factors). Choice architecture – deisgn of information (eg defaulting to desired option / opt out v in)…but also product design, product settings, user-interfaces Part of Nudge Idea – gaining momentum in UK Behavioural Insights Team. Prompts and physical cues shape, enable and encourage efficient usage in everyday practices (personal washing, clothes washing etc.) Timers and Cues - "When it comes to time perception, most people are not very good at estimating at how long it took them to do a particular activity.” Comfort One Rinse. Based on insight that consumers in some Asian countries such as Vietnam and India, who handwash their clothes, used three buckets of water at the rinse stage. New foam-dispersing technology to reduce the amount of foam and thereby the requirement for rinsing decreases to one bucket. But have to be designed with people in mind, their values, levels of knowledge and motivation. Otherwise, rebound effect – where efficiency improvements cancelled out by improper usage (e.g. dual flush) leading to no change in overall consumption. Highlights how important it is to UNDERSTAND & TARGET Individual, Social and Infrastructural context. So, 2nd last slide, wanted to talk about Consensus v briefly. Nudging, or “Choice Architecture” interventions are those that involve altering the properties or placement of objects or stimuli within microenvironments, with the intention of eliciting health-enhancing behaviour. Typically, they require minimal conscious engagement, can, in principle, influence the behaviour of many people
- Adopted this integrated approach. Focused on the most intensive practice – problem area – which is personal washing, examined the individual, social & infrastructural forces that shape present washing practices. Got people together to imagine innovations – new products, new technologies, communications & regulations for sustainable washing. Designed a long term plan to transform mapping out these combinations of interventions over time. Now – Home Lab – working with industry Experimenting with new washing practices – targeting individual, social & infrastructural contexts. With cross-sectoral partners (e.g. Sprav water meter, RedRing shower company, An Taisce, Irish Water) Energy Service Companies – demand management obligations. Reconciling supply with demand, tariffs that reflect scarcity, In-depth understanding, as self reported behavhiour is flawed Real behaviour change is about transforming everyday practices (showering, clothes washing, cleaning) considering each of these contexts. Reiterate – importance of considering individual and social motivators, and infrastructural context in any behaviour change programme Because how we use water is influenced by all these reiterate, its not juts about the INDIVIDUAL, it’s about routine behaviours – or practices Influenced by a complexity of individual, Food – WRAP – Danielle McCormack.
- For deeper changes in water using behaviour need to move beyond Individualistic approaches alone to target social & infrastructural contexts. Most of our water is used in everyday practices / habits – influenced by these forces: Individual – boost motivation, increase understanding & provide skills Social – social conversations, social norms, benchmarking Infrastructure – choice editing and making it easy Requires working across disciplines, involving many stakeholders, and creating long-term, integrated interventions. In addition, it also aligns with the broad movement amongst water managers towards soft path planning approaches – where rather than solely focus on supply-side and efficiency focuses are including long term socio-cultural change and WDM as part of their policy. [For conclusion?] ***One thing to leave you with today is how products or services fit in with peoples everyday routines and the effective levers to draw on to change those practices.