She began by showing two poster campaign about reducing waste/disposing of litter. One had a bunch of trash all over the place and the other had an Olympic athlete who "loved" the city disposing of waste; two different strategies to try to encourage a specific behavior to make a change.
Myth #1: Education Will Change Behavior
Just giving people information does not necessarily change behavior. She gave an example about some research on home efficiency and home "cracks" around doors, windows, etc. The study showed that just telling people how many cracks they have and such only affects about 20%.
1--How you present the information can make a different--it must be TANGIBLE.
2--Making information PERSONALIZED helps affect change. If you take all the cracks and the "total gap" is as big as a basketball, now it seems like a real issue to people. They don't want a basketball sized hole in their homes! Frame the loss in a way they understand. Different audiences respond to information presented differently.
3--SOCIAL INTERACTION is one of the most important tools for making change. Hanging up posters isn't nearly as effective as speaking to someone.
With all three of these elements added, 60% of people were incited to act (according to the study).
Myth #2: You Need to Change Attitudes to Change Behavior
You don't have to change attitudes to change behavior; attitudes follow behavior, but they do not predict it. Just set some behavioral expectations (such as a sign above a light switch). Knowing others care about something encourages action. Understanding values has more impact--deal with behavior by understanding what people's underlying values are. One might value the environment and another might value frugality, but both of these might unite to both support green initiatives.
Myth #3: People Know What Motivates Them to Take Action
Social norms heavily influence behavior; for example, street performers put money in the hat so that others might follow. But, the greatest predictor of giving is walking behind someone else who gives. So, if you ask people (design a campaign around their priorities) that doesn't really mean it will initiate change.
She came back to the beginning and said that the second poster, the positive modeling, was actually a more effective poster. Creating a campaign that uses social norms in an ineffective way can actually cause the wrong behavior.
She finished by encouraging us to think about making meaningful change.
PERSONAL NOTE: I think this was an interesting talk centered around research, which can often be boring, that was really engaging. As a teacher, I think some of these same "myths" are worth exploring. We often believe telling students something will cause a behavior change, but making it tangible, personal, and communicating to them is much more effective. Trying to get students to embrace positive behaviors instead of focusing on negatives is another great note. And, certainly, we know that social norms drive behavior. As a teacher, it's important to put those to work FOR us and not against us in the classroom.
Just giving people information does not necessarily change behavior. She gave an example about some research on home efficiency and home "cracks" around doors, windows, etc. The study showed that just telling people how many cracks they have and such only affects about 20%.
1--How you present the information can make a different--it must be TANGIBLE.
2--Making information PERSONALIZED helps affect change. If you take all the cracks and the "total gap" is as big as a basketball, now it seems like a real issue to people. They don't want a basketball sized hole in their homes! Frame the loss in a way they understand. Different audiences respond to information presented differently.
3--SOCIAL INTERACTION is one of the most important tools for making change. Hanging up posters isn't nearly as effective as speaking to someone.
With all three of these elements added, 60% of people were incited to act (according to the study).
Myth #2: You Need to Change Attitudes to Change Behavior
You don't have to change attitudes to change behavior; attitudes follow behavior, but they do not predict it. Just set some behavioral expectations (such as a sign above a light switch). Knowing others care about something encourages action. Understanding values has more impact--deal with behavior by understanding what people's underlying values are. One might value the environment and another might value frugality, but both of these might unite to both support green initiatives.
Myth #3: People Know What Motivates Them to Take Action
Social norms heavily influence behavior; for example, street performers put money in the hat so that others might follow. But, the greatest predictor of giving is walking behind someone else who gives. So, if you ask people (design a campaign around their priorities) that doesn't really mean it will initiate change.
She came back to the beginning and said that the second poster, the positive modeling, was actually a more effective poster. Creating a campaign that uses social norms in an ineffective way can actually cause the wrong behavior.
She finished by encouraging us to think about making meaningful change.
PERSONAL NOTE: I think this was an interesting talk centered around research, which can often be boring, that was really engaging. As a teacher, I think some of these same "myths" are worth exploring. We often believe telling students something will cause a behavior change, but making it tangible, personal, and communicating to them is much more effective. Trying to get students to embrace positive behaviors instead of focusing on negatives is another great note. And, certainly, we know that social norms drive behavior. As a teacher, it's important to put those to work FOR us and not against us in the classroom.
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