How to motivate „normal“ people to behave in a more proenvironmental way?

1. How to motivate „normal“ people to behave in a more proenvironmental way? Sebastian Bamberg University of Applied Science Bielefeld Sebastian.bamberg@fh-bielefeld.de

2. The Problem • CO2 emissions are the central cause of climate change. • Contribution of consumers’ behavior to CO2-emissions: • Transport – ca. 20% • Home energy use (heating/cooling) – ca. 35% • Nutrition (meat consumption) – ca. 20%

3. The Problem • With growing insight into the harmful impact on the earth‘s ecosystems of the lifestyles pursued in industrialized societies, behavioral change has become a central focus not only of climate protection policy but also of environmental psychology as an applied science.

4. The Problem • How can we persuade people… • to switch transport modes, • appliance choices, • and eating habits • … in a way that will reduce their damaging impact on the environment?

5. The Role of Psychology • It is trivial that problem awareness is a first precondition for behavioral change. • Does problem awareness (high environmental consciousness) directly motivates behavioral change?

6. The Role of Psychology • In Germany about 75% of the population view climate change as one of the most serious threats humanity is confronted with. • However, only 9% are willing to personally adopt behaviors which would effectively contribute to the reduction of this threat.

7. Central Questions • Obviously, even if people are aware of a problem it is a long way to actually change own behavior.

8. The Role of Psychology • What motivates a person to critically reevaluate her/his current behavior? • How does a behavioral change goal develop, how is it transformed into a concrete behavioral change strategy? • How do individuals overcome the problems they encounter when trying to implement this new behavioral strategy?

9. STAGE MODELS • In psychology stage models provide an interesting approach for answering these questions. • Stage models explicitly focus on the dynamic, temporal aspects of behavioral change.

10. STAGE MODELS • The central theoretical assumption underlying all stage models: • Behavioral change could be best modelled as a person‘s transition through a sequence of qualitatively different stages of behavioral change. • In health psychology the Transtheoretical Modell (Prochaska & Velicer, 1997) is a well known stage model.

11. Stage Model ofSelf-regulatedbehavioral Change (SSBC, Bamberg 2011) • Construes change as a process involving progress through a series of four stages: • Predecisional stage • Preactional stage • Actional stage • Postactional stage

12. Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change (SSBC) • These stages of behavioral change reflect … • four • timely ordered, • qualitatively different • TASKS • people have to solve for turning desired goals into behavioral practices.

13. Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change (SSBC, Bamberg 2011) • The formation of the three intention types • goal-intention • behavioral intention • implementation intention • indicates that a person has successfully solved the respective stage specific task and can move on to the next stage.

14. Stage Model ofSelf-regulatedBehavioral Change • Mind set of people in the predecisional stage: • Perform the problem behavior on a regular, habitual basis. • Are not fully aware of the negative consequences associated with this behavior, and thus see no reasons for behavioral change. • Confronting people in this stage with a direct request to change their behavior runs the risk of triggering reactance.

15. Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change (SSBC) -Task of the first PRE-DECISIONAL stage Predecisional Stage Preactional Stage Actional Stage Postactional Stage Transition point Transition point Transition point Goal Intention Behavioral Intention Implementation Intention Motivation task: Raising doubts Motivational task: Selecting a change strategy Motivational task: Implemention of the change strategy Motivational task: Habitualising the new behavior

16. Stage Model ofSelf-regulatedBehavioral Change • Mind set of people in the preactional stage: • People already have the general goal of changing their current behavior (high goal intention). • However, because several actions (e.g. cycling, walking, public transport) could normally be used as a means to achieve this goal (e.g. car reduction), the task confronting them is to select the personally most suitable behavioral strategy.

17. Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change (SSBC)- Task of the second PRE-ACTIONAL stage Predecisional Stage Preactional Stage Actional Stage Postactional Stage Transition point Transition point Transition point Goal Intention Behavioral Intention Implementation Intention Motivation task: Raising doubts Motivational task: Selecting a change strategy Motivational task: Implemention of the change strategy Motivational task: Habitualising the new behavior

18. Stage Model ofSelf-regulatedBehavioral Change • Mind set of people in the actional stage: • People not only possess a strong goal intention but also have formed a strong behavioral intention; that is, they have made a decision on which new behavioral strategy they want to test instead of the old one. • However, people often have difficulties to translate their “good” behavioral intentions into real action. That is, people often fail to do the things that they say they intent to do or fail to avoid doing things that they do not want to do (Orbell & Sheeran, 1998).

19. Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change (SSBC)- Task of the third ACTIONAL stage Predecisional Stage Preactional Stage Actional Stage Postactional Stage Transition point Transition point Transition point Goal Intention Behavioral Intention Implementation Intention Motivation task: Raising doubts Motivational task: Selecting a change strategy Motivational task: Implemention of the change strategy Motivational task: Habitualising the new behavior

20. Stage Model ofSelf-regulatedBehavioral Change • Mind set of people in the postactional stage: • Persons actually perform the selected new behavior for some time. • In this stage they reflect on the experiences they have made with the new behavior and compare it critically with the old behavior. • As a result, the main intervention task in this stage is twofold: to provide feedback on how successfully they have achieved their personal change goal and to help them to cope with the temptation to relapse to the old behavior.

21. Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change (SSBC)- Task of the forth POST-ACTIONAL stage • Evaluating what has achieved and to decide whether further action is necessary. • Struggling with temptation that is, preventing a relapse into the old behavior. Predecisional Stage Preactional Stage Actional Stage Postactional Stage Transition point Transition point Transition point Goal Intention Behavioral Intention Implementation Intention Motivation task: Raising doubts Motivational task: Selecting a change strategy Motivational task: Implemention of the change strategy Motivational task: Habitualising the new behavior

22. Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change (SSBC) • How to explain the formation of the three critical transition points • For intervention development precise information is needed concerning the determinants of the three critical intention types. • These intention determinants are the direct intervention targets.

23. SSBC - Processes contributing to the formation of a goal intention Pre-decisional Stage Pre-actional Stage Transition point

24. SSBC - Processes contributing to the formation of a behavioral intention Pre-actional stage Actional Stage Attitudes toward alternative behavioral strategies Goal intention Behavioral intention Perceived behaviroal control over alternative behavioral strategies Perceived goal feasibility

25. SSBC- Processes contributing to the formation of an implementation intention Actional Stage Postactional Stage Coping and action planning abilities Behavioral Intention Implementation Intention New habit Maintenance Self-efficacy Perceived behaviroal control

26. SSBC- Processes contributing to the maintenance of the new behavior Postactional Stage Maintenance Self-efficacy Implementation Intention New habit Recovery Self-efficacy

27. The stage model of self-regulated behavioral change

28. Model specificfocus: Developingandtestingactionhypothesesforthe SSBC.

29. Interventions targeting people in the predecisional stage. • The SSBC provides clear guidelines on which strategies interventions targeting people in the predecisional stage should focus on: • enhancing problem awareness; • increasing acceptance of personal responsibility; • making social norms salient; • strengthening perceived ability to change current behavior; and • promoting the formation of a clear and challenging, but not excessive personal change goal.

30. Interventions targeting people in the predecisional stage. • However, because of the aforementioned risk of eliciting reactance, the intervention should include not only arguments promoting behavioral change but also elements trying to reduce reactance. • Research (e.g., Knowles & Riner, 2007) has indicated that one of the most effective ways to reduce reactance is to merely acknowledge the fact that the person might feel some resistance.

31. Interventions targeting people in the preactional stage • The main task people are confronted with in this stage is to select the personally most suitable behavioral strategy. • Consequently, the main intervention goal in this stage is to provide more knowledge about the pros and cons as well as the personal feasibility of behavioral alternatives, and then help people to select their personally most suitable behavioral alternative

32. Interventions targeting people in the preactional stage • Besides promoting arguments, interventions for people in the preactional stage should also include arguments targeting potential sources of reactance/resistance: • According to Knowles and Riner (2007), one effective strategy to deal with concerns about an offer consists in giving guarantees. • In the mobility case for example, participants could be offered a possibility to test whether public transport services fit their purposes with a free one-week travel pass.

33. Interventions targeting people in the actional stage. • In this stage the main task people are confronted with is to translate their “good” behavioral intentions into real action. • Gollwitzer (1999; Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006) proposed that explicitly motivating people to plan the when, where, and how to enact the intended new behavior is a simple and effective strategy for dealing with this problem.

34. Interventions targeting people in the postactional stage • In this stage people are reflecting on the experiences they have made with the new behavior and are comparing it critically with the old behavior. • As a result, the main intervention task in this stage is twofold: to provide feedback on how successfully they have achieved their personal change goal and to help them to cope with the temptation to relapse to the old behavior.

35. Interventions targeting people in the postactional stage • As a consequence, besides repeating and strengthening the positive consequences associated with the new behavior and helping them to overcome barriers, the focus of interventions should be on providing social support. • This could be done by explicitly thanking and praising people for their good decision and offering them a small gift in recognition.

36. Interventions targeting people in the postactional stage • Besides asking them whether they need additional information, another intervention element for this stage group consists in motivating them to think about buying a permanent monthly or annual public transport pass. • The idea behind this intervention element is to increase participants’ commitment to their current behavior and to strengthen its habitual nature.

37. From the Model to a Real InterventionThe Berlin Intervention Study General aim: • To test the ability of a stage-based phone marketing campaign to promote voluntary car use reduction for daily trips in Berlin. General logic of the intervention approach: • Using personal contact (a phone call) to motivate car users • Tailoring the intervention to the person’s current behavioral change stage. • Combining personal contact with supporting print materials • Repeating the intervention (2 times)

38. The Berlin Intervention StudyIntervention Elements • Invitation letter contains the stage diagnosis tool • Specific dialogue modules for the phone contact with participants in the • pre-decisional stage • pre-actional stage • actional stage • post-actional stage • Stage specific support print materials

39. Guidelines for Developing Stage-specific Intervention Modules Aiming to Trigger Stage Transition

40. Intervention Effects • H1: The stage-based dialogue marketing intervention has a significant effect on post-intervention travel behavior. • H2: The effect of the stage-based dialog marketing intervention is significantly stronger than the effect of a standardized information intervention.

41. Effect of the Berlin Dialogue Marketing Campaign on Car Use for Daily Trips ANOVA F (2, 243) = 5.31, p < .01 p = .001 p = .30 p = .01

42. Effect of the Berlin Dialogue Marketing Campaign on PT Use for Daily Trips ANOVA F (2, 243) = 3.31, p < .05 p = .02 p = .80 p = .03

43. Identification of four Stage Groups • H3: With help of the information obtained by a newly developed stage measure in the total sample four homogeneous subgroups could be identified representing the four stage groups of behavioral change.

44. The Stage Measure1. part: Six statements representing the stage typical “mind-sets”

45. The Stage Measure2. part: Current behavior

46. Empirical Evidence for the Postulated four Stage Groups Results of a Latent Class Cluster Analysis (LCCA) Half Year Test-Re-Test Reliability: gamma = .74; rank-correlation = .66

47. Post-intervention Behavioral Profils of the four Stage Groups Planned contrasts indicate significant differences in Car und PT use between the two earlier and to later stages of behavioral change Furthermore, there is a significant decrease in car use and increase in PT use from actional to postactional stage.

48. Testing the role of the three intention types as stage transition points • H4a: A strong goal intention is significantly associated with the probability of assignment to the preactional stage, • H4b: A strong behavioral intention significantly associated with the assignment probability to the actional stage, • H4c: A strong implementation intention significantly associated with the assignment probability to the postactional stage.

49. Results of a non-proportional ordinal logistic regression analysis: Odds Ratio (OR) Estimates

50. Stage Transition as mechanism mediating the intervention effect on behavior • H5: The intervention triggers a significantly stronger transition from earlier to later stages. • H6: The intervention effect on behavior is mediated by its effect on stage progression: after controlling for the intervention effect on stage transition, the direct intervention effect on behavior is no longer significant.