Harnessing The Power Of Social Norms
In: Promoting Sustainable Behaviour: A Practical Guide to What Works 2012 Jan 01 1(1):26-32
Buch
Zugriff:
Promoting Sustainable Behaviour' is a short and practically focused book that shows how to make the most of campaigns to promote sustainable behaviour – in households, when commuting, in the workplace and beyond. There are more and less effective ways of encouraging people to act in a more sustainable way, and some important pitfalls to avoid. In summarising ‘what works’ and pulling out the most important take-home messages, this book contains the tools for maximising the success of any sustainable behaviour initiative.
It is very rare that people act purely as individuals. We are social creatures, and we take a lot of our cues about how to behave from those around us, whether this is family, friends, colleagues or even strangers on the commute to work. Many strategies for promoting sustainable behaviour seem to forget this and focus exclusively on people as individuals.This means that they are working against the grain of human nature and making the challenge of sustainability feel more overwhelming than it actually is. But by paying attention to social norms (the standards that we use to judge the appropriateness of our own behaviour), a much stronger sense of collective momentum can be generated, making any programme to promote sustainable behaviour much more likely to succeed.The basic idea is that people tend to act in a way that is socially acceptable, and so if a particular behaviour (littering, for example, or driving a car with a large engine) can be cast in a socially unacceptable light, then people should be less likely to engage in it.Pictures and videos of ordinary people (‘like me’) engaging in sustainable behaviours are a simple and effective way of generating a sense of social normality around saving energy. Encouraging people to make public commitments (for example, signing up to make a specific change to their behaviour on a shared notice board) is another simple way of making ‘private’ behaviours ‘public’. And studies have shown that when hotel guests are provided with information that other guests are re-using their towels, they are more likely to do this as well, over and above the impact of telling them about the environmental benefits.
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Harnessing The Power Of Social Norms
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Corner, Adam [Ed.] ; Adam [Ed.] |
Quelle: | Promoting Sustainable Behaviour: A Practical Guide to What Works 2012 Jan 01 1(1):26-32 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2012 |
Medientyp: | Buch |
ISBN: | 978-1-909293-14-4 (print) |
DOI: | 10.5848/DOS.978-1-909293-14-4_4 |
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