Dr Rachel Howell - Promoting lower-carbon lifestyles (March 2013)

Promoting lower-carbon

lifestyles Dr Rachel Howell

Outline of thesis and seminar

1. Lights, camera… action?

2. Investigating the long-term impacts of climate

change communications

3. How might films encourage individual

behaviour change?

4. It’s not (just) “the environment, stupid!”

5. Living with a carbon allowance: the

experiences of Carbon Rationing Action

Groups

6. Overall summary and conclusions

Why bother with individuals?

Percentage of UK emissions by source

Other

emissions

15%

Household

indirect

emissions

50%

Domestic and

international

travel

15%

Household

energy

20%

Office of National Statistics 2004

1. Lights, camera… action?

2055

Background: literature Affect plays an important part in determining people’s

responses to environmental issues

Emotions, not just knowledge, should be targeted by

environmental education campaigns

Visual media offer many advantages for communicating

motivating messages

Many studies suggest that fear-based appeals change

attitudes and behavioural intentions

But…

People need a sense of agency

Protection Motivation Theory: people change behaviour in

response to fear appeals only when they believe specific

behaviours will reduce the threat

People don’t like feeling helpless, therefore climate

change fear appeals can trigger denial, apathy,

repression, anger, counter-productive defensive measures

Cognitive dissonance: people may change their attitudes

to match their actions if they feel uncomfortable about the

gap between the two

What about behaviour in the ‘real world’? Lab-based

studies of fear appeals are flawed

Survey: the impact of the film

241 respondents at 21

screenings

Follow-up questionnaire

completed by 162 of these respondents 10-14

weeks later

Further follow-up one year later (15 months after

viewing the film);104 respondents

‘Before’ and ‘after’ questionnaires in the foyer at

the Edinburgh Filmhouse (March 2009)

Increased concern and motivation to act…

83% said they were ‘a bit’ or ‘a lot’ more

concerned immediately after seeing the film

Significant increase in agreement with

statements “I feel motivated to do something

about climate change”, “I can do something

to prevent climate change getting worse” and

“It’s worth lobbying politicians about climate

change”

But this effect had worn off by the time of the

follow-up surveys

Does this translate into action?

Awareness raising and lobbying

politicians

Home energy use

Travel

Food

For each action

asked about, the

percentage of

respondents who

said they were

doing it because

of seeing the film

was small,

decreasing as the

behaviours got

more costly

Glass half empty

For each action,

1%-29% said they

were doing it

because of seeing

the film, e.g.

12% driving less

18% buying more

local produce

22% decided to

stop/reduce holiday

flying long-term

For each action

asked about, the

percentage of

respondents who

said they were

doing it because

of seeing the film

was small,

decreasing as the

behaviours got

more costly

Glass half empty Glass half full

Respondents were not the ‘general

public’

Very high levels of concern and

motivation to act even before seeing

the film

Over 1/3 said they were actively

involved in a group campaigning

wholly/partly about climate change

The film likely presented information

they were already familiar with and

accepted

2. Investigating the long-term impacts

of climate change communications

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

I am actively involved in a group that campaigns

partly/w holly about climate change/global

w arming

I’ve donated money in the last year to a group

that campaigns partly/w holly about climate

change/global w arming

I feel motivated to try to do something about

climate change/global w arming

I am very concerned about climate change/global

w arming

Interest in/concern about climate change/global

w arming w as my MAIN reason for coming to see

the f ilm

One reason I came to see the f ilm is because I’m

interested in/concerned about climate

change/global w arming

Percentage of valid responses

Q1 sample

(n=230-241)

Q3 sample

(n=155-162)

Q4 sample

(n=99-104)

Figure 1: Percentage of respondents in each sample who agreed on the first questionnaire with these statements

Behavioural changes

Participants generally persisted with changes they’d

made as a result of seeing the film

A few ‘late starters’?

Behavioural intentions do not

necessarily lead to action

Respondents’ causal attributions of their behaviour

are unreliable (in retrospect they attributed action to

the impact of the film that earlier they had said they

were already taking)

Implications for research

Recruitment and retention of participants

who are not ‘the converted’

Behavioural intentions cannot be

assumed to be proxies for actual

behaviour

Requesting causal self-attributions adds

another layer of complexity to problems

with self-report measures

Collection of data can influence

respondents’ action

Isolating the impacts of one ‘intervention’

over time

3. How might films encourage

individual behaviour change?

‘Stages of change’ model of

behaviour change

aka the transtheoretical model (TTM) – health psychology

Processes of change used/modelled by

climate change films

Pre-contemplation

Contemplation

Preparation

Action

Maintenance

Consciousness raising

Dramatic relief

Environmental re-evaluation

Self re-evaluation

Self-liberation

Helping relationships

Contingency

management

Counter-conditioning

Stimulus control

Role of films in promoting change

Climate change films employ/depict several processes of

change that TTM suggests should encourage

attitudinal/behaviour change

Consciousness-raising and dramatic relief are the

processes most frequently associated with the films –

most suitable for audience at early stages of change

Consciousness-raising and self-re-evaluation best done

by characters the audience can relate to

Self-liberation could be emphasised more – pivotal

process between thinking about change and beginning it

Filmmakers keen to promote action could portray the

variety of processes that help to support and maintain

behavioural change

4. It’s not (just) “the environment,

stupid!”

Values, discourses, and routes to

engagement of people adopting lower

carbon lifestyles

Purposive sampling – 16 interviewees

9 women, 7 men

Age range: early 20s – 80s

14 white, including 1 Hungarian and 1 South

African; 1 Indian; 1 English Chinese

All middle class, university educated, though

some on low incomes

4 renters; 12 owner-occupiers

Varied household composition

Average interview: 1 hour 41 minutes

Social justice

"I think the gut thing that moves me is people."

Community

"I think this has to do with being linked into the community."

Frugality

"There's no desperation for new trainers."

Talking about climate change

"I think that you don’t even have to care about climate change to want a low carbon lifestyle."

'A lower carbon lifestyle'

"For me it’s more local living, stronger communities, more time for each other."

Triangulation: values survey

Questionnaire

based on

Schwartz Values

Survey

Top-rated value:

social justice

Meanalt > Meanbio

(de Groot & Steg 2007, 2008)

Implications? 'Altruistic' values might be as useful as 'biospheric' ones

CC campaigns could make more links with ‘altruistic’

organisations e.g. refugee/women’s/religious groups

Frugality: need for a fundamental shift away from a

materialistic/consumerist culture?

Climate change communications need to encourage

people to imagine a holistic positive vision for a

lower-carbon future, not just give a 'to do' list

5. Living with a carbon allowance:

experiences of CRAGs

Small grassroots groups of

concerned individuals

Calculate carbon footprint

and set themselves a

'carbon ration' each year

Some groups have a

financial penalty for over-

emitters

Rationale for study: implications for a personal carbon

trading (PCT) policy?

Table 1: Features of particular interest in the CRAGs included in this study

CRAG Interviews Details of interest

Hereford 3 Into third year; rural CRAG; equal-per-capita target; no penalty

Oxford 3 2 years completed; equal-per-capita target; financial penalty but

no trading

Hackney and

Islington

2 Into second year; equal-per-capita target; operates rudimentary

carbon trading

Glasgow 3 Into second year; equal-per-capita target; operates rudimentary

carbon trading

Leeds 2 Completed one year; individual targets and penalties; no trading;

denotes itself a Carbon Reduction Action Group

York 2 Completed one year; equal-per-capita target; no penalty; denotes

itself a Carbon Reduction Action Group

WSP PACT 3 Part way through first year; workplace-based CRAG; penalty and

reward

Fownhope 3 Part way through first year; rural CRAG; percentage reduction

rather than equal-per-capita target; no penalty

Peckham 1 New CRAG still starting up; no penalty

Edinburgha 1 A ‘failed’ CRAG

a Since this research was carried out, a new CRAG was started in Edinburgh.

Key findings from CRAGs

Motivated individuals can make significant reductions in

their direct GHG emissions

Improved carbon literacy:

- greater awareness of energy use and related emissions

- C footprint statements help people understand the

relative impacts of different aspects of their lifestyle

Equal-per-capita allowances not necessarily seen as

‘fair’

Being part of a group is helpful for many reasons,

especially moral support, increased sense of agency,

and information sharing

CRAGs can’t tell us much about PCT policy

Overall summary/conclusions

Need to engage more of the population in action

Make common cause with organisations concerned

about social justice and human rights

Emphasise non-environmental benefits of lower-carbon

lifestyles (but don’t stress financial benefits)

Recruit different audiences to see climate change films –

promote in schools?

But primary role for climate change communications is to

encourage and reinforce public concern so politicians act

Need for serious top-down legislation that will impact on

everyday practices and behaviours

Thank you! Questions?

Rachel Howell

rah22@aber.ac.uk

Papers Howell, R.A., 2011. Lights, camera… action? Altered attitudes and

behaviour in response to the climate change film The Age of Stupid. Global

Environmental Change 21, 177–187.

Howell, R.A., 2012. Investigating the Long-Term Impacts of Climate Change

Communications on Individuals’ Attitudes and Behavior. Environment and

Behavior, doi: 10.1177/0013916512452428.

Howell, R.A. How might climate change films encourage individual

behavioural change? An analysis using the transtheoretical model. To be

published in a special issue of the International Journal of Sustainable

Development on ‘Sustainability Tales, Fictions and Other Stories from the

Movie Industry’.

Howell, R.A., 2013. It’s not (just) “the environment, stupid!” Values,

motivations, and routes to engagement of people adopting lower-carbon

lifestyles. Global Environmental Change, 23, 281–290.

Howell, R.A., 2012. Living with a carbon allowance: the experiences of

Carbon Rationing Action Groups and implications for policy. Energy Policy

41, 250–258.

Processes of change

Consciousness raising e.g. education,

feedback

Processes of change

Consciousness raising

Dramatic relief being moved

emotionally

Processes of change

Consciousness raising

Dramatic relief

Environmental re-evaluation thoughts and feelings

about how behaviour affects one's environment

Processes of change

Consciousness raising

Dramatic relief

Environmental re-

evaluation

Self re-evaluation thoughts

and feelings about self-image with

and without particular behaviour

Processes of change

Consciousness raising

Dramatic relief

Environmental re-evaluation

Self re-evaluation

Self-liberation belief that one can change and commitment to do so

Processes of change

Helping relationships offering support for

change

Processes of change

Helping relationships

Contingency management consequences

for behaviour - sticks and carrots

Processes of change

Helping relationships

Contingency management

Counter-conditioning learning substitute

behaviours

Processes of change

Helping relationships

Contingency management

Counter-conditioning

Stimulus control remove cues for problem habits; add prompts for good ones

Processes of change

Helping relationships

Contingency management

Counter-conditioning

Stimulus control

Social liberation increased opportunities/ alternatives