Post on 27-Mar-2015
Behaviour change by communication and pedagogical strategies –
What we can learn from other fields
ECOMM 2009 in San Sebastian14th of May 2009
Gudrun UranitschAustrian Mobility Research
Background
The Province of Vorarlberg, elaborating the Cycling Strategy, asked one simple but important question:Are soft policies (communication via campaigning, promotion, information, training etc.) changing people‘s mobility behaviour?
?
Overview about different scientific fields
Environmental Psychology
Gender-orientated environmental research
Social Psychological Findings & Advertising Psychology
Communication Strategies in Traffic Safety & Health promotion
Recommendations for Mobility Management
Problem: Gap between environmental attitudes and behaviours!
I. Environmental Psychology:Theories of behaviour change
Conditions for behaviour change:
social context
cognitive factors such as perceived behavioural control
efficacy
incentives
habits
actual situation
cost – benefit
personal factors
socio-cultural environment based on the key constructs
of motivation, values and identity
Relevant factors for behaviour change (attitude-orientated model)
Source: Frewein, Seebauer: Modelle zur Beschreibung der Verkehrsmittelwahl. 2003.
Factor Potency of factor (0 – 1)
Ecological Awareness .19 - .29
Ecological Knowledge .15 - .40
Perceived behavioural control
.21 - .26
Range of behaviours .25
Social norms .24 - .47
Habit .34 - .51
Explantion: 1. Women are underprivileged (e.g. fewer financial
resources) and consequently need to behave and act more resource-conserving
2. Women continue to have a central role within the household and are often responsible for issues relating to health and environment. However, they lack the possibility to actively change existing systems because they are not in the position to influence policy
II. Gender-orientated Environmental Research: environmental problems are not gender-free
Women show higer ecological awareness & behave more ecology-minded than men
I like to drive fast 44 % 52 %I will never keep a voluntary speed limit 34% 47%
I prefer driving slowly 41% 31 %
I have a fast reaction 34% 69%
♀ ♂
Differences in driving behaviour
Women know less scientific facts (most important critique on the part of feminist environmental research) but have a much broader daily relevant knowledge and their behaviour is much more eco-friendly!
Women behave much more eco-friendly
♀ ♂
Do not read weekly journals 37% 31%
I read a daily journal very frequently
15% 22%
Do not read professional journals
57% 46%
Internet access in the houshold 22% 31%
I never use the internet despite accessibility
43% 27%
Different information behaviour between men and women
Source: Empacher / Heyn/ Schubert / Schulz: Analyse der Folgen des Geschlechterrollenwandels für Umweltbewußtsein und Umweltverhalten. Frankfurt / Main, 2001.
Gap between the information rich & information poor
Source: Empacher / Heyn/ Schubert / Schulz: Analyse der Folgen des Geschlechterrollenwandels für Umweltbewußtsein und Umweltverhalten. Frankfurt / Main, 2001.
The knowledge-gap hypothesis theory
Media research shows that increase of
information doesn‘t reach everybody
alike, due to:
- differences in access to the medium
- control over its use increases
therefore the gap between the
information rich and information poor
Attention: If influence is too obvious - defence mechanisms are activated!
III. Field of Social Psychology used in Advertising Psychology
Know how about illusion of invulnerability
We believe that the probability that we are
influenced by advertising and consequently spend
money is much lower for ourselves than for the
others!
Third person-Effect
Prevention and Promotion strategies work with
messages aiming to change people‘s attitudes
and behaviours.
This is a way of influencing people.
Shock advertising to raise awarenessfor environmental issues
Olivero Toscani for Benneton
Shock advertising to raise awareness for traffic safety issues
Shame campaign in Styria’s TV: Could you life with it?
Peer group education: Promising in traffic safety communication
Direct communication & emotional approach, involving car drivers who caused heavy accidents and future car drivers
56% can imagine to work as a peer mentor telling the story about responsibility in traffic
70% say the performance has impact on their driving behaviour
Evaluation of acceptance
Communication theory: Which message is the right one?
Negative Messages - Positive Messages +
For the broad public negative messages are more effective, because they attract more attention. A message is rememberd better the higher the level of excitement. Negative messages place more emphasis on extrinsic motivation.
The more specific your tagret group the more positive the message should be. They lead to an intrinsic motivation and the probability that the behaviour change lasts is higher).
Call upon fear Empiric studies show a higher effect of fear appeals than of positive & encouraging messages Successful, but only if they present a fear reducing tangible behavioural instruction immediately afterwards
Mainly prevention campaigns Mainly health promoting campaigns
Recommendations should be formulated with positive messages
IV. Communication strategies in health promotion
1980ies: Negative Campaigning (Warning & Fear Appeals, Risk factor models: If you are not living healthy you will become ill!)Pathogenetic concept (origin & treatment of illness)
1990ies: Health genetic concept: Why do human beings stay healthy? (A. Antonovsky)
Transtheoretical Model (Di Clemente / Prohaska): Successful in the areas of nutrition and exercise→ change happens in multiple consecutive steps (time and process character is important) Expectancy of self-efficacy is important
Self-efficiacy keeps healthy
Grant Study in 1930ies: 200 healthy & highly skilled male students, 25 years old, were interviewed over 50 years about their status of health & health attitudes. Research about life attitude and life confidence showed that men with an optimistic attitude were healthier!
High significance of self-efficacy became obvious in this study. It is a central element!
Anti smoking campaign
Style High quality and stylish pages in magazines and posters in London’s Underground
Target group Young female smokers 16 to 24 years
Method planning Target’s preferences were monitored for several month by Teenwatching (read their magazines, frequent spots where they hang out, shop where they shop etc.)
Interviews with editors of leading young women’s magazines to get know their fashion, their body image, emotional problems…
Anti smoking campaign
Cooperation HEA, read medical journals and consulted UK’s leading dermatologists
Campaign messageEvery cigarette you smoke is having a detrimental effect on your looks now. By using the language of cosmetics, and also the glamour and simple gloss of the best cosmetics advertisements, the message was found to be believable and extremely relevant.
Results of an Anti smoking campaign
20% increase in the number of 16 - 24 year olds who claimed to have seen advertising with an antismoking message (excluding nicotine replacement treatments).
84% of the smokers that had seen the ads felt that they were aimed specifically at them
Almost 2/3 said that the ads had encouraged them to think about giving up smoking
Toyota Campaign
Social psychologists accompanied a group of young people for 3 years to get ideas for the design of a new car that would attract young people Source: Robert Levine “ The power of persuasion” – Psychology of manipulation
Counteracting Ads
The Baby boomer generation and Generation X are people
who believe that they are not attractable and are immune
towards advertising – they are cool, hip, ironic, a pose of
opposition against advertising.
Advertisers (Nike, Reebok, MTV) counteract with Ads:
You are too cool to be taken in by ads! Source: Robert Levine “ The power of persuasion” – Psychology of manipulation
Cycling from early childhood on as part of a continous mobility socialisation!
V. Recommendations for Mobility Management: Cycling from early childhood on!
Is Cycling a matter of habitual behaviour?Environmental Psychology agrees: Most relevant factors for behaviour change are social norms and habit
V. Recommendations for Mobility Management: Learning by doing - Training
Cycle with different target groups in real traffic
V. Recommendations for Mobility Management: Learning by doing - Training
V. Recommendations for Mobility Management: Learning by doing - Training
If you want to reach women involve them in participation processes!
V. Recommendations for Mobility Management: Develop gender related information & methods
V. Recommendations for Mobility Management for communication: Be concrete & tangible!
To promote cycling – call it cycling!
Consider psychological know how (do not manipulate but be aware about the power and hidden persuasion of words)
Use positive, concrete, tangible, gender sensitive and action-orientated messages (reason why people cycle is fun factor!)
Be precise defining your target group (health promoting campaigns!)
Invest enough money because soft measures cost money!
Gudrun UranitschAustrian Mobility Research
uranitsch@fgm.atwww.fgm.at
www.radfahrtraining.atwww.bypad.org
Thank you very much for your attention!