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!