environmental topic 3- recycling and other conservation behaviours

Question 1

lord background

Answer 1

1990s americans threw out 196M tonnes of waste, more than double 1960.
studies showed benefits of people making a public commitment to be environmentally responsible, keeping a record of their behaviour and having financial incentives

Question 2

lord aim

Answer 2

investigates effectiveness of 2 different message approaches (positive/negative) and 3 different source strategies (advertising/publicity/personal influence) in enhancing attitudes towards behavioural compliance with recycling programmes

Question 3

lord sample

Answer 3

140 households in NE US metropolian community served by a kerbside recycling programme - quota sampling
57% female
age ranged 19-65 in questionnnaire

Question 4

lord method

Answer 4

data collection:
1. observation and recording of contents and number of categories in each households recycling bin on kerbside collection day
2. next day stimulus message left at front door with one of 6 sources/form of message (except 20 control)
3. on kerbside collection week after, observers repeated
4. next day questionnnaires delivered to households about beliefs in messages arguments, attitudes to recycling and demographics

Question 5

lord results

Answer 5

inc in number of reycling categories and total number of items in recycling
control group showed no change
those with positive messages expressed more favourable attitudes to recycling and stronger belief to message
those with advertising had belief in positive claims
results supported personal influence especially through negative messages

Question 6

the yale model of persuasion

Answer 6

suggests that there are 4 major factors involved in persuasive communicatino:
1. the source (more believable if from creditable source)
2. the message (2 sided argument more effective with well educated audience, one sided with less educated)
3. the recipient (if audience is resistance to change then smaller attitude changes should be attempted)
4. the situation (more effective when communicated in informal situations

Question 7

positive reinforcement in action

Answer 7

in oregon and new york state
positive reinforcement- ‘bottle bill’ in oregon where 5 cents for every bottle returned
return rate 90% leading to reductions in litter
social learning theory - role models could make a point of being seen to engage in such behaviour themselves

Question 8

luyben and bailey- proximity

Answer 8

4 mobile home parks
increased the number of recycling containers in 2 parks (1>6)
52% increase for proximity
in the other 2 parks gave toys to children who recycled newspapers
92% increase for reward condition- operant conditioning

Question 9

cialdini- social norms

Answer 9

researchers randomly assigned cards with 5 diff messages to 260 guest rooms including:
-help the hotel save money
-help save the environment
-join fellow citizens to save the environment
last message with social norm was most successful- 41% reused towels
first message only 20% reused towels