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1 ~
Changing Behavior in Households and
Communities:
What Have We Learned?
Paul C. Stern
hapters 3 to 11 examine the use of what have been called communication
and diffusion instruments (Kaufmann-Hayoz et al., 2001) to change envi-
ronmentally significant behavior in households and communities. These
instruments include information, education, the use of models, other informal
social influences, and other interventions that rely primarily on language and
visual symbols. Communication and diffusion instruments are used to supple-
ment the traditional policy instruments of regulation (command and control),
economic influence, and the provision of infrastructure and services to make
desired behaviors more feasible. They are the centerpiece of social marketing
efforts in environmental policy (McKenzie-Mohr and Smith, 1999.
The key policy questions about these instruments are how much they can
contribute to environmental protection objectives and how best to use them to
achieve this potential. As chapters 3 to 11 indicate, much has been learned about
how to design these instruments for greatest effectiveness and about what they
can be expected to accomplish, both on their own and combined with other
policy instruments.
THE POTENTIAL OF COMMUNICATION AND
DIFFUSION INSTRUMENTS
The potential of any policy instrument depends on its fit with the policy
objective. An instrument has the greatest potential when it can provide just what
is needed to overcome the barriers to attaining the objective. For example,
regulations distinctively provide assurance of fairly equal compliance across tar-
get firms. Thus, they have great potential value when the firms would comply
201
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CHANGING BEHAVIOR IN HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES
voluntarily, except for the concern that they might be put at a competitive disad-
vantage. When there are major barriers to the desired behavior that a policy
instrument cannot remove, that instrument has very limited potential. Thus,
regulations have limited effect when they call for changes that are technological-
ly or economically infeasible.
Figure 12-1 identifies causal links between the types of policy instruments
identified by Kaufmann-Hayoz et al. (2001) and a range of factors that in turn
influence environmentally significant behavior. Although informed observers
will disagree on which of these links are most important, available knowledge
strongly supports the key point: Each type of policy instrument has particular
capabilities and thus can influence only a subset of the many factors that drive
behavior. Depending on what is standing in the way of a target behavior, a
particular instrument may be highly successful or nearly useless. Communica-
tion and diffusion instruments, as shown in Figure 12-1, can influence some
aspects of the target individuals and their immediate social contexts, but cannot
directly affect the broader social, economic, or technological contexts.2 They
cannot make inconvenient behaviors convenient, make expensive behaviors in-
expensive, or remove institutional or legal barriers to behavioral change. They
often cannot even get people to put environmental actions high enough on their
personal to-do lists to get them done, even if they are convinced to act. Environ-
ment-related actions must compete with other demands on a person's time and
energy. It follows that when such contextual factors stand in the way of a target
behavior, communication and diffusion measures by themselves will have little
effect. Similarly, when the target behavior is seriously impeded by lack of
information, social support, behavioral models, and the like, regulatory and eco-
nomic instruments by themselves may have little effect.
These points may seem self-evident, but they have not always been reflected
in the design of environmental policies and programs. Many documented fail-
ures of environmental and energy information programs in the household sector
can be attributed in part to a failure to address significant noninformational
barriers to behavioral change (see, e.g., National Research Council, 1984; Gard-
ner and Stern, 1996; Lutzenhiser, this volume, Chapter 3; Schultz, this volume,
Chapter 4~. Similarly, the disappointing performance of many financial incen-
tive programs targeting these behaviors can be attributed in part to a failure to
diffuse the programs adequately (e.g., Stern et al., 1986~. The most effective
interventions tend to combine various types of communication and diffusion
instruments with each other and with other policy instruments (Gardner and
Stern, 1996; McKenzie-Mohr and Smith, 1999~.
The implication for communication and diffusion instruments is that they
have their greatest potential under two sets of conditions. In the first, the factors
that communication and diffusion can influence (see Figure 12-1) are the only
important barriers to the desired behavioral change. Under these conditions,
well-designed communication and diffusion programs can bring about important
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PAUL C. STERN
Policy
instruments
Communication
and diffusion
instruments
Collaborative
agreements
-
-
_
| Command |
I And control L ------ _ _
><
Economic
I instruments I__
| Service and
| infrastructure
203
Drivers
of behavior
Personal capabilities
and constraints
—Literacy, social
status, behavior-
specific knowledge
and skills
~_=
Values, attitudes,
beliefs, personal
norms
Social context
-Social norms, persuasion,
advertising, personal
commitments, informal
institutions
Institutional, economic,
and technological context
_
. ( Laws. regulations
~ and rewards ~
Privets contracts
-
-
Available
technology
Convenience
FIGURE 12-1 Paths of influence of five types of environmental policy instruments on
five factors that affect environmentally significant behavior.
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CHANGING BEHAVIOR IN HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES
behavioral change without the aid of other policy instruments. In the second set
of conditions, the barriers include both factors that communication and diffusion
can influence and factors they cannot but other policy instruments are avail-
able to remove the other barriers. Under these conditions, combining communi-
cation and diffusion instruments with the other policy instruments can bring
about important behavioral changes that neither policy type alone could achieve.
Communication and diffusion instruments are thus important as adjuncts to or
partners with other policy tools.
The next section summarizes knowledge about how to design communica-
tion and diffusion instruments. Applying this knowledge is essential for the
instruments to work well under either of the sets of conditions already described,
although under the second set of conditions, communication and diffusion tools
are not enough, no matter how well designed. The subsequent section discusses
the application of communication and diffusion tools in situations where they are
not sufficient for attaining policy objectives.
DESIGNING COMMUNICATION AND DIFFUSION
FOR GREATEST EFFECT
Chapters 3 to 7 summarize current knowledge about how to design commu-
nication and diffusion instruments to be as effective as possible. Chapters 3 to 5
cover the most carefully studied applications in environmental policy. Chapters
6 and 7 summarize knowledge from well-studied domains outside environmental
policy where there is a long history of research on communication and diffusion
instruments. They arrive at conclusions quite consistent with those mentioned in
Chapters 3 to 5. The generalizations that receive the most consistent support
across domains are described in the following subsections.
Design the Intervention from the Behaver's Perspective
Environmentally significant behavior is a product of the individual and the
situation; more specifically, it is a product of the individual's values and atti-
tudes, personal capabilities and constraints, and habits and routines, as well as of
contextual factors that provide incentives, possibilities, and constraints (Stern,
2000~. Because these things vary with the individual, successful efforts to change
behavior are those that are matched to the individual's needs. This does not
mean that effective communications must be individualized. Programs can
succeed by targeting types of people whose situations are similar with regard to a
target behavior or by being so multifaceted that they can be effective across a
variety of people and behavioral contexts. To pursue either approach effective-
ly, however, program designers must make explicit efforts to understand the
behaver's perspective. This can be done by employing social research tech-
niques (e.g., surveys, focus group techniques, ethnographic methods) and by
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PAUL C. STERN
205
involving members of the target group or other people who have detailed expe-
rience-based understanding of the target audiences in the design of the pro-
gram (e.g., Gardner and Stern, 1996; Werner and Adams, 2001~.
Build on Interpersonal Communication
Impersonal communication efforts, such as mass mailings and mass media
advertising, are easy for policy makers to organize at large scales, but have much
less influence on any individual than personal communication that comes from
people the target individual cares about or trusts. Personal communication is
especially important when elements of the message are controversial or when the
original source of the message (e.g., a government agency) has limited credibili-
ty with portions of the audience (National Research Council, 1984~.
Devising ways to gain the benefits that can come from interpersonal com-
munication can take ingenuity, especially with large-scale policy objectives. One
useful strategy is to induce respected leaders or people central to communication
networks to adopt a desired behavior and thus act as models whose behavior may
be readily adopted by others (Rogers, 1995; Valente and Schuster, this volume,
Chapter 6~. Another strategy is to partner with community groups and voluntary
associations that can act as intermediaries who convey messages between policy
makers and target individuals. Such groups often can make personal contact and
can command a level of attention and trust from their constituencies that mass
appeals rarely achieve. These groups are not simply channels for transmitting
messages. They are most effective when they adopt the intervention as their
own, perhaps adapting the message in the process to make it meaningful to their
constituencies. A third strategy is to make existing social norms more visible, as
Schultz (this volume, Chapter 4) did in an experimental manipulation with curb-
side recycling. This approach is most promising in situations in which, as with
curbside recycling, the expectations and opinions of others matter and those
others can monitor the relevant behavior.
Use Multiple Channels to Communicate the Message
As a rule, messages are most influential when they reach audiences in many
forms and from many sources (Mileti and Peek, this volume, Chapter 7; Valente
and Schuster, this volume, Chapter 6~. This is probably the case because differ-
ent people attend to and trust different sources, because different channels may
have advantages for conveying different parts of the message, and because mul-
tiple channels provide an effective way to repeat and reinforce messages.
Apply Psychological Principles for Message Design
Messages are most effective when presented in terms, metaphors, and imag-
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CHANGING BEHAVIOR IN HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES
es the audience understands and finds attractive. When they involve calls for
action, they can be made more effective by emphasizing the costs or dangers of
inaction but only when they also provide clear advice on what to do to avoid
those hazards, thus giving audience members a sense that they can control their
fates rather than creating fear and anxiety (Rogers, 1983; Weinstein and Sand-
man, 1992; Gardner and Stern, 1996~. Useful summaries of the research on
message design can be found in Chapters 6 and 7 of this volume and elsewhere
(e.g., McKenzie-Mohr and Smith, 1999; Morgan et al., 2002~. 3 As already
noted, effective message design depends on understanding the target audiences
and how they perceive the target behavior.
Maintain a Program's Momentum
Experience with communication and diffusion efforts indicates that pro-
grams maintained over long periods can be much more effective than one-shot or
short-term programs (disaster preparedness and public health provide good ex-
amples, as noted in Chapters 6 and 7~. Repetition helps messages sink in and
increases the likelihood that a message will be received when the recipient is
receptive, such as during a crisis or near the time of a noncrisis decision.
Set Realistic Expectations
Communication and diffusion instruments take time to be effective. A mes-
sage must get into awareness and penetrate into a decision process in order to
bring about behavioral change (Th0gerson, this volume, Chapter 5; the Knowledge-
Attitude-Practice curves described by Valente and Schuster, this volume, Chap-
ter 6~. In addition, action may be delayed even when someone is psychologically
prepared to change. For example, a household will acquire a more energy-
efficient motor vehicle only when the time comes to change vehicles. Someone
may not change an old habit until the right occasion arises (e.g., reconsidering
the use of mass transit when one's work location changes). Because of such
predictable delays, communication and diffusion instruments should be evaluated
against a behaviorally defensible timetable for progress. Expectations should
also consider contextual factors that may limit the effect of understanding on
behavior change. This point is discussed further in the next section.
Continually Evaluate and Modify Programs
Policy interventions should not be expected to be at their best the first time
they are tried, nor to maintain a constant level of performance in a changing
environment. They need to be evaluated and adjusted if they are to achieve their
full potential.
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PAUL C. STERN
207
USING COMMUNICATION AND DIFFUSION WITH OTHER TOOLS
As already noted, communication and diffusion instruments can have little
direct effect on changing the institutional, economic, or technological contexts
of environmentally significant behavior. Where these contexts are unfavorable,
the best use of communication and diffusion is in conjunction with other policy
tools that address the relevant contextual issues. Therefore, it is important to
understand the context in order to find the best use of communication and diffu-
sion tools.
One important kind of contextual influence is discussed by Press and Balch
(this volume, Chapter 11~. They argue that the effectiveness of all locally imple-
mented environmental policy instruments, including communication and diffu-
sion instruments, is contingent on the policy capacity of local institutions. Put
more provocatively, their argument implies that no matter how well designed a
community-based communication program may be, it will only be effective in
certain kinds of communities. If a community is lacking in local finances, ad-
ministrative expertise, civic involvement, and some other qualities, Press and
Balch argue, implementation likely will fail. Communication and diffusion in-
struments need to be supplemented with, or to follow after, efforts at community
capacity building.
In some contexts, communication and diffusion can be combined with other
policy instruments for synergistic effect. A good historical example was the
financial incentives used to promote energy efficiency in homes in the aftermath
of the 1970s energy crises. Several U.S. electric utility companies offered such
incentives, but the rate of acceptance was fairly low apparently due in part to
inadequate communication and diffusion efforts. Some programs, however, were
10 or more times as effective as others that offered identical incentives, but
marketed them in different ways (Stern et al., 1986~. Apparently, communica-
tion and incentives had complementary functions: communication drew atten-
tion to the programs (as indicated by requests for energy audits), and once con-
sumers noticed, larger incentives increased acceptance of the financial incentives
(see Figure 12-2~. When incentives were large enough, communication and
diffusion had a very large practical effect by getting consumers to consider the
incentives (Stern, 1999~.
Communication and diffusion may have similar synergistic effects with ser-
vice and infrastructure instruments such as the provision of new public transit
lines or curbside recycling services: These new services may not be well used
unless they are well marketed. Available evidence suggests that the standard
marketing strategy simple information dissemination is usually not enough.
What is needed is to combine new services and infrastructure with communica-
tion programs designed according to the principles described in the previous
section.
OCR for page 208
208
100 -
80 -
~n
s
In
O 60-
a
~ 40-
c'
20 -
CHANGING BEHAVIOR IN HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES
Energy audits per
eligible household per year 88.5
(bar represents range
across programs)
Loans or grants
accepted per audit
(bar represents range
across programs)
28.1
2.6
1.0
23.2
4.0
23.2
1 ~
90.9
o 1 1 1_1 1 .. _ 1
Reduced-rate
loan program
(9 utilities)
Zero-interest
loan program
(11 utilities)
93% average
rebate program
(7 utilities)
FIGURE 12-2 Households requesting energy audits (white bars) and accepting incen-
tives once they have received audits (shaded bars) in three home energy conservation
incentive programs.
Source: Stern et al. (1986~. Reprinted with permission of Allyn and Bacon.
THE ROLE OF EDUCATION
Although education relies primarily on communication, it is different in its
objectives from the kinds of social marketing efforts already described. When
communication is used to achieve an environmental policy goal (i.e., for social
marketing), its objective is to change the prevalence or frequency of a target
behavior that directly affects environmental quality. In environmental education
as defined by Ramsey and Hungerford (this volume, Chapter 9), communication
is used to improve understanding of environmental and related phenomena and
to enable and encourage environmental citizenship, but not normally to change
specific behaviors that directly alter environmental conditions.4 If students from
a single environmental education class all became active in environmental lob-
bying, but took opposite sides on an issue, the class might be properly counted
an educational success.
The effects of environmental education, defined in this way, on environ-
mental quality are hard to assess. For one thing, they are mainly indirect, operat-
ing through public policy. For another, the effects on policy may not all be in
the same direction. What good environmental education does for environmental
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PAUL C. STERN
209
policy is to raise public discussion to a higher level. Disagreements based on
misinformation give way to those based on alternative interpretations of correct
but ambiguous information or different judgments about what to do under envi-
ronmental uncertainty. The policies that result from better informed debates are
not predictable, but if democracy works well, they tend toward results that citi-
zens want including environmental results.
When environmental education is the self-education of adults, it can target a
wider range of behaviors, as Andrews and colleagues point out (Chapter 10~. A
community that devises its own adult environmental educational program may
begin with consensus on environmental objectives. For example, it may decide
that water conservation is imperative and devise a program aimed at explaining
local water supply conditions, showing why water conservation is necessary, and
teaching people how to conserve water. Such a program may include elements
of both education and social marketing and, if well designed, may greatly influ-
ence environmental outcomes. However, combining education and social mar-
keting in this way can be highly controversial when it is proposed as a public
policy strategy because of objections to government attempting proactively to
influence the publics it is supposed to represent. This objection can be overcome
if a legitimate public decision is made to adopt a social influence policy, as has
been done in the United States for combating the use of illegal drugs and for
driving under the influence of alcohol. A useful guideline for when it is appro-
priate to use education for social influence has been stated in another context by
the National Research Council (1989:90~: It is justifiable "only to the extent that
some legitimate public process has culminated in a decision that using [educa-
tion] to influence behavior serves an important public purpose." Community-
based social marketing has the potential to meet this test and thus achieve wide
acceptance.
CONCLUSION
Research has shown that communication and diffusion instruments can, un-
der certain conditions, make significant contributions to meeting environmental
policy objectives. It has identified a number of robust principles for designing
these instruments to reach their potential. It has shown that these principles must
be implemented in ways that are sensitive to the situation and that systematic
evaluation is needed to achieve and maintain the fit of programs to settings.
Research also has helped distinguish three kinds of situations: those in which
communication and diffusion instruments can yield significant environmental
effects on their own, those in which they have potential only when supplemented
by other instruments, and those in which they are unlikely to be successful even
when combined with other policies. Thus, it has helped to clarify the functions
of communication and diffusion in the environmental policy toolbox and to show
how they can be used to greatest effect.
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CHANGING BEHAVIOR IN HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES
The potential of communication and diffusion can be quantified only in
relation to particular situations. In favorable situations for communication and
diffusion alone, such as the 1970s energy crises, well-conducted communication
programs have reduced household resource consumption by 10 to 20 percent for
short periods, beyond what could be achieved by conventional information dis-
semination (Stern, 1992~. In situations appropriate for combining communica-
tion and diffusion with other policies, the instruments have even greater poten-
tial. For example, an integrated residential energy-efficiency program in Hood
River, Oregon, in the 1980s achieved nearly complete adoption of recommended
energy-efficiency improvements throughout the community, a result never ap-
proached by other programs, even when very strong financial incentives were
offered (Hirst, 1987~.
NOTES
1 Communication and diffusion are also at the heart of commercial advertising, much but not
all of which runs counter to the goals of proenvironmental social marketing. This tension between
environmental policy goals and those expressed in commercial "countermarketing" is discussed by
Lutzenhiser (this volume, Chapter 3). Countermarketing may focus on specific behaviors (usually
purchases); it also may promote general values and attitudes that support a range of environmentally
consumptive behaviors.
2 Communication can change institutional and other contexts indirectly by influencing societal
ways of thinking. The classic example is the effect of books like Silent Spring (Carson, 1962) on the
U.S. environmental movement and public support for environmental regulation in the 1960s and
early 1970s.
3 Chapters 6 and 7 report on research and practice in the public health and disaster prepared-
ness communities, which operate from a philosophy very friendly to social marketing. They deal
with hazards that are widely accepted as important and for which there is broad public support for
using government to influence people to act in ways that promote both personal and social interests.
Social consensus is harder to find in environmental policy. Consequently, practitioners of environ-
mental "risk communication" often operate on a philosophy that favors providing balanced informa-
tion that people can use to make informed decisions (National Research Council, 1989). Energy
conservation, recycling, and "green" purchasing are among environmental policy goals for which
various communication philosophies may operate in different communities or countries and for
which the community philosophy may change with the times.
4 A great many environmentally significant behaviors can be classified as environmental activ-
ism, nonactivist behaviors in the public sphere (e.g., contributing to organizations that work on environ-
mental issues, attending public meetings, expressing opinions about environmental policies), or private-
sphere environmentalism (e.g., purchasing "green" products, composting household waste, maintaining
automobile engines to reduce pollution) (Stern, 2000). Environmental citizenship consists mainly of
the second class of behaviors; only the last class of behaviors directly affects environmental quality.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
policy instruments
