Recycling And Other Conservation Behaviours Flashcards
Key research
Lord
Additional studies
Yale model of persuasion
Positive reinforcement in Oregon
Luyden and Bailey
Cialdini
Aim of Lord
Investigate the effectiveness of different message approaches (positive or negative framing) and different message sources (advert, letter, article) in improving attitudes and behaviour recycling
Sample of Lord
140 households from metropolitan area with 20 per condition
In the North-East of USA
Matching conditions in Lord’s study
Quota sampling to match each household per condition to avoid race and gender bias
Message source conditions for Lord
A personal letter signed by student addressed to acquaintance
Local news publication article
Advert of fake company
Message framing conditions for Lord
Positive = benefits of recycling
Negative = consequences of not recycling
7 Conditions of Lord
Control condition no message received
Positive/ negative letter
Positive/ negative news article
Positive/ negative advert
First observation of Lord
Students completed covert observation on every household’s recycling bin on bin collection day
Measured number of items recycled and what they recycled
What happened after Lord’s first observation?
Dependent on the condition, the household received a message (or no message) delivered to their front door
Second observation of Lord
Repeat the observation after message was delivered to house front door
Count number of recycled items
How did we assess behavioural impact on Lord?
Compare number of items put to be recycled in Second observation vs first observation
How did we assess attitude change in Lord?
Send out a survey after the second observation to find attitudes to recycling
Survey for Lord consisted of…
Semantic differential (7 point rating scale) questions to assess attitude
And questions asked about gender, age etc of each participant
Results of Lord: who reported significantly more positive attitudes to recycling?
Those who received a positive framed message compared to a negative framed message
Lord results: which message source caused the highest increase in recycling behaviour?
Those who received a personal letter
Yale model of persuasion
There are 4 major factors that determine if communication will be persuasive:
The source
The message
The recipient of the message
The situation
Yale model of persuasion: what must the source be?
The message source (eg presenter, advert, article, letter) must be attractive, credible and trustworthy
Yale model of persuasion: what must the message be?
Contain a counter argument to persuade a well educated audience
Contain one sided argument to persuade a less educated audience
Yale model of persuasion: how does the recipient of the message affect the persuasiveness?
If they are resistant to change then small attitude changes must occur to persuade
If they are more neutral then a big attitude change can occur
Yale model of persuasion: what situation means persuasion is more likely?
Casual situations than formal situations
More likely to sign petitions
Yale model of persuasion: the 3 stages of effective communication (that leads to an audience being persuaded)
Pay Attention to the message first
Understand the message
Accept and believe the message
Luyben and Bailey study was on…
How proximity to facilities for conservation (recycling) increases conservation behaviours (recycling)
What did Luyben and Bailey do?
Increase number of recycling facilities nearby 4 mobile home parks
Effect of Luyben and Bailey?
52% increase in recycling newspapers if more recycling facilities are nearby
Positive reinforcement in Oregon
To encourage behaviour after it took place (consequent strategy) by using positive reinforcement (giving something pleasant)
In Oregon, you get 5 cents for every bottle recycled
Dramatically increased recycling behaviour
Cialdini’s experiment
Investigating the effect of leaving 5 diff messages in hotel guest rooms to encourage reusing towels to see which type of message is most effective
Cialdini’s sample
260 guest hotel rooms
Divided into 5 groups: each received a different message
In Cialdini’s experiment what are examples of the messages left?
‘Join fellow citizens in helping to save the environment’ (social norm message)
‘Help the hotel save money’
Results of Cialdini’s experiment
Most successful message was social norm one where 41% reused their towels
People are more likely to copy behaviour if it is presented as a social norm eg that’s what everyone’s behaviour is
