From the 2010 Alliance to Save Energy Green Campus Energy Efficiency Summit – Greening the Campus, Building the Workforce

1. How to Turn Attitudes Into Action!
Community Based Social Marketing
Jenn Alvarez, Green Campus Lead

2. Traditional Marketing
• Information campaigns = education/advertising
• Education/advertising = change attitudes
• Information alone has little effect on changing
behaviors
Traditional Marketing

3. Why do some adopt behaviors and
others do not?
• People do not know about the activity or its benefits
• People who know about the activity may see barriers to
change
• People who may feel there are no significant behaviors to an
activity, may think current activity is more beneficial

4. Understand the barriers and benefits of an ACTION!
• High benefits, few barriers
• Perceived barriers and benefits vary dramatically among
individuals
To influence what people do…
• Behavior competes with behavior

5. What is CBSM?
Based on the book:
Fostering Sustainable Behavior change is most
Behavior
effectively achieved
• Delivered at the community
level
• Focuses on removing barriers
• Enhances the activities benefits

6. 4 Major Steps
1. Identify the barriers and benefits to an
activity
2. Use behavior change “tools” to design more
effective programs
3. Pilot test program
4. Evaluate the impact of broadly implemented
program

7. Step 1: Identifying barriers and
benefits
• Literature review
– Articles/reports
• Obtain qualitative info
– Focus groups
– Observation
– Survey

8. Do your homework…
RESEARCH
• Articles
• Reports
• Studies on similar
programs
Helps identify issues and
barriers

9. Obtain Qualitative Info
Focus groups
• Small group
• Random
• Focused questions
Observational studies
• Investigate actual
behavior

10. Qualitative Data
Survey
1. Clarify the objective
2. List items to be
measured
3. Write the survey
4. Pilot survey
5. Select the sample
6. Conduct the survey
7. Analyze the data

11. Identify External Barriers
• Identify External Barriers
• How to Address Barriers?
• How have other programs
been successful?
• Realistic to overcome?
• If not, change your focus

12. Step 2: Use effective psychological
“tools”
Psychological “tools” of
behavior change
• Commitment – Agreement to a small
request
• Prompts – Consistent reminders
• Norms – Socially acceptable
behavior
• Communication – Publicity/Marketing
• Incentives - Any factor that enables
or motivates a particular course of
action

13. “Tools” of Behavior Change
Commitment
• Emphasize Written over Verbal
• Ask for Public Commitments
• Seek Group Commitments
• Actively Involve the Person
• Consider Cost-Effective Ways
• Use Existing points Change
Tools of Behavior of Contact
• Help People to View
Themselves as
Environmentally Concerned
• Don’t use coercion (commitments
must be freely volunteered)

14. Examples: Commitment
Energy Conservation
• Invite community to participate – audit/replacing
incandescent with CFL
• Set deadline
• Follow-up, provide solutions

15. “Tools” of Behavior Change
Prompts
• Noticeable
• Self-explanatory
• Close proximity
• Encourage positive behaviors

16. Examples: Prompts
Energy Conservation
• Light switch stickers
• On washing machines/dishwashers
use cold water setting and wash full
loads
• Post information about the amount
of energy an appliance uses

17. “Tools” of Behavior Change
Norms
• Make the Norm Visible
– Provide ongoing
feedback
• Use Personal Contact
“Tools” of Behavior Change

18. Example: Norms
Energy Conservation
• Post-up energy savings results throughout a competition, and
provide tips for doing better

19. “Tools” of Behavior Change
Communication
• Use captivating information
• Know your audience
• Use a credible source
• Frame your message
• Carefully consider threatening messages
• Make your message easy to remember
• Provide personal or community goals
• Emphasize Personal Contact
• Provide feedback

20. Examples: Communication
Energy Conservation
• Households were mailed monthly letters that indicated the
extent to which they had been able to reduce energy use over
the same month during the previous year. 5% reduced
increased their energy use
• Households who received daily feedback on the amount of
electricity they consumed, lowered energy use by 11%
relative to physically identical households who did not receive
feedback.

21. “Tools” of Behavior Change
Incentives
• Pair the incentive with the
behavior
• Reward positive behavior
• Make it visible
• Be cautious about removing
incentives
• Prepare for people’s attempts to
avoid the incentive
• Non-monetary

22. Examples: Incentives
Energy Conservation
• Introduce electricity rates that increase with use.
• Charge variable rates based upon time of use.
• Provide loans, grants or rebates for home energy retrofits.

23. Step 3 & 4: Design and Evaluate
Design & Evaluation
• Identify and Prioritize Barriers
• Select Tools that Match Identified Barriers
• Scrutinize your Design with Focus Groups
– Control/Test group
– Random Assignment
• Make further refinements
• Pilot the strategy
– Measure behavior change
• Introduce to larger community
• Evaluate the Community Implementation
– Measure your impact

24. Conclusion
1. Literature Review: Build your program on the
work of others
2. Focus groups/Survey: Determine barriers you
need to overcome
3. Pilot the Strategy: Test impact and further
refine effectiveness
4. Evaluation: Talk about impact and share
results

25. CBSM Techniques
Case study: HSU Green Campus Projects
Adrienne Spitzer
HSU Green Campus Program Coordinator

26. Tabling/Marketing Campaign
• Give away free CFLs and
power strips
• Focus on educating people
about the devices first
 Simple and
straightforward
 Offer facts about them
 Teach them how to use
power strips properly

27. Tabling/Marketing Campaign
• Incentives for using them:
 Simplicity
 Monetary savings
 Helping to conserve energy/protect
environment

28. Tabling/Marketing Campaign
• Students need to be reminded about energy efficiency
• Email contact list of people who receive CFLs used for:
 Volunteer opportunities
 Remind them about GC
 Keep energy efficiency on their mind

29. Library Display
• Passive advertising to active marketing
• Every semester GC creates a display in the library for a week
• The fall display showed that HSU gets
its electricity from both renewable and
nonrenewable sources
 Pie chart showed percentage of a
certain type of energy production
HSU uses

31. Library Display
• Showed why nonrenewable energy is bad
and how it affects the earth
 Power plants pollute air/water
 Emphasize why using renewable energy
is better
 Highlighted direct correlation between
energy production and its effect on our
world

32. Library Display
• While the display was up:
 Informal surveys
 People were asked for their thoughts
 Comments showed a positive response
• The display was effective because:
 Educated about something not previously considered
 Promoted an attitude change that could sponsor positive
behavioral changes
 Made passive publicity active

33. Future Applications
• A more formalized evaluation
 More personal interactions
 Interns ask and record questions
 Leave a comment sheet
 Compile and analyze data to improve future campaigns

34. Adrienne Spitzer
HSU Green Campus Program Coordinator
ars72@humboldt.edu

35. Poly Canyon Energy Competition
Community Based Social Marketing
Ravi Sahai, Project Intern, Cal Poly SLO

36. Poly Canyon Village
• Apartment style
housing for 2nd, 3rd
and 4th year students
• 9 apartment buildings
• 2700 students
• Canyon
PolyEach building has 4-8
Community Advisors
(equivalent to RA’s in
residence halls)
• Greater potential for
savings

37. Energy Competition
Emphasize personal contact and accountability
• Competition between buildings
• Encourages people to change behavior, not
just attitude
• Offers incentives and rewards: Stainless Steel
EnergyWater Bottles for residents and sweatshirts for
Competition
CA’s
• Students able to see quantitative results of
behavior change

38. Prizes
Lessons learned?
Embroidered Stainless steel water
sweatshirts for CA’s bottles for residents

39. Advertising
• Community Advisor meeting
• Tabling Events- handing out CFL’s
• Sandwich board
• Weekly update emails
• Mid
Advertising competition activity (Dance in Dark)
• Fliers in target areas (laundry rooms)
• Website- tips for green living

40. Fliers
Fliers and magnets handed out during tabling

41. Sandwich Board

42. Post Competition
• Survey:
Did you alter your behavior during the competition in order
to be more sustainable?
 81% Yes
 19% No
Will you continue your sustainable behavior patterns now
that the competition is over?
After  78% Yes
the Competition
 22% No
 Send right after competition instead
• Meter readings- continue to track usage
• Interviewed residents, a CA, and learning community
coordinator for feedback

43. Lessons Learned
Strategies for a successful competition:
• Begin advertising early
• Get RA’s/CA’s involved
• Make standings/data visible
• Offer incentives and rewards
• Keep students updated
• Tabling- face to face advertising
• Follow up after competition

44. Thank You!
Contact Information
Ravi Sahai, Green Campus Intern
rsahai@calpoly.edu
Thank you