https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-shift-consumers-towards-sustainable-behaviour-120883
[links in online article]
Most people want to be sustainable, but have a hard time taking the
necessary actions.
According to Nielsen, a data analytics company, sustainability is the
latest consumer trend. Their research shows chocolate, coffee and bath
products with sustainability claims grew much faster than their
traditional counterparts. Yet only 0.2 per cent of chocolates and 0.4
per cent of coffees have environmental claims.
How can we translate this consumer sustainability buzz into actual
action? To find out, our group reviewed 320 academic articles in the top
consumer behaviour journals and identified five routes to shift
consumers towards sustainable choices: social influence, habits,
individual self, feelings and cognitions, and tangibility. Together,
these make a handy acronym, SHIFT.
Social influence
Humans are social animals and will follow the actions of others,
especially on ethical issues. When people learn they are using more
energy than their neighbours, they decrease their energy usage.
But what if the sustainable behaviour has yet to be established? For
example, how does one convince people to install solar panels if no one
in their neighbourhood is doing it? A “brand ambassador” can be
invaluable. Solar advocates who had installed solar panels in their own
homes were able to recruit 63 per cent more residents to purchase and
install solar panels.
For ethical behaviours, learning about the behaviours of others can be
motivating. In one example, when business students on a college campus
heard that computer science students were better at composting and
recycling, they more than doubled their efforts.
Habits
To build a new sustainable habit, one must first break bad habits. This
is easiest when someone is experiencing big life changes, such as
moving, getting married or starting a new job. In one study, people who
had recently moved cut their car usage almost in half.
Another strategy is to apply penalties for bad behaviour, rather than
rewarding good behaviour. There is a possibility, however, that people
will return to their old ways if the penalty is removed and the new
habit isn’t formed.
To build new habits, it can be helpful to make the sustainable action
easy to do, provide timely prompts, offer incentives to help get the new
behaviour started and provide real-time feedback about actions over an
extended period of time. A review of feedback techniques finds when
real-time energy use is shared directly with homeowners, electricity
consumption dropped by five to 15 per cent.
Individual self
Sustainability can appear more attractive when the personal benefits
such as health or product quality are highlighted. Emphasizing
self-efficacy also works. When people know their actions matter, they
make greener choices.
Self-consistency is also important. People like their words and actions
to be consistent. Often one environmental commitment can snowball into
other actions and changes over time. For example, someone who insulates
their house to improve energy efficiency may be more likely to unplug
electric devices when they leave for a vacation.
Likewise, consumers expect companies to be consistent. In one study,
when a hotel made visible environmental efforts (such as offering
compostable toiletries) and asked guests to save energy, guests reduced
their energy usage by 12 per cent. In the absence of visible efforts,
the appeal appeared hypocritical and energy use increased.
Read more: How the coffee industry is about to get roasted by climate change
There’s also self-concept to consider. People make choices that match
their perception of who they are or who they want to be. One study found
that environmentalism is sometimes perceived as being feminine, which
can turn away some men who subscribe to traditional gender roles.
Presenting environmentalism as a way to protect and preserve wilderness
environments was attractive to both men and women, and closed the gender
gap that is often seen in sustainability.
Feelings and cognitions
Sometimes we make decisions at the spur of the moment, based on how we
feel at the time. And sometimes we make decisions after thoughtful
deliberation. When communicating about sustainability, it is important
to consider both the heart and the head.
Consumers seek out positive emotions such as happiness, pride and the
warm glow that comes from doing good. If the sustainable option is fun,
people will naturally want to do it. Conversely, negative emotions such
as fear and guilt can be effective when used subtly. But an overly
emotional, guilt-tripping message is a turn-off and will either be
actively ignored or even induce the opposite behaviour (psychological
reactance).
Providing consumers with the correct information and education is
important, but it must be framed so that consumers care. Energy labels
highlighting the watts used by different light bulbs have little effect
on consumer purchases, but energy labels showing the 10-year cost
quadrupled energy-efficient purchases to 48 per cent from 12 per cent.
Thoughtfully designed eco-labels are a great way to communicate
sustainability to consumers.
Tangibility
In general, people don’t care much about abstract, future consequences.
Therefore, it’s critical to make sustainability tangible.
One way is to communicate the local and proximate impacts of
pro-environmental actions. For example, how are local animals, plants
and people already being affected by climate change?
Concrete examples also help. People are more moved by a photograph
showing how far a single glacier has retreated in one year than by a
graph of glacier retreat around the world.
To match consumer timescales with environmental timescales, project
consumers into the future. One study found that people who were asked to
consider their legacy (“How will I be remembered?”), donated 45 per cent
more to a climate change charity.
To make the SHIFT, use several strategies at once. For example, make the
behaviour social and tangible. Test the approach in a small group and
measure the results. If it doesn’t work, try something else until you
find a winner and then scale up.
Working together, we can close the “green gap” and turn intentions into
actions.
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