The Perils of Medical Messaging

I’m very skeptical about the effectiveness of social marketing messages related to death and destruction. Although the end of the world may come soon if we don’t quit smoking, start exercising, and end environmental justice violations, I’m not sure audiences will listen to us if we tell them so.

The tradition of being a lone voice in the wilderness is very well-established in the environmental movement. I wrote a paper about John Muir’s communication style for a science media course during grad school. However, being a lone voice doesn’t work well in marketing or social media. It’s a new era; we need a new style.

On Twitter, I see many environmental headlines proclaiming death and destruction. Reframing health crisis messaging is difficult, but I believe it has to be done. Here are three reasons to rewrite those headlines:

1. Compassion fatigue and news burnout may discourage audiences. Although bad news attracts page views, I’ve seen little to no evidence that it’s an effective tool for promoting socially positive actions. Fear-based messages may be practical for some types of outreach, but they aren’t particularly effective for encouraging long-term behavior change. For example, resistance to cigarette smoking now appears to be a matter of peer acceptance – not fear of cancer.
2. Female and/or minority audiences may already believe their actions will not make a difference. Social marketers should build audiences’ confidence and support them in taking action.
3. Health crisis messaging may discourage audiences that haven’t experienced the problem directly. Cancer patients are often assertive advocates, but their zeal doesn’t necessarily translate into a larger mass movement.

Social marketers who want to address health issues need a new toolbox. We need language that’s persuasive, confident and encouraging. Think “Oprah,” not “Metallica.”

Social Marketing and Energy Efficiency

In 2010 and 2009, I developed two reports on behavior change for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

The first report, an overview of advanced metering programs, demonstrated that user-friendly technology can make it easier for homeowners and businesses to save energy. It emphasized technology rather than motivation.

In the second report, I took a more in-depth look at the gears that move behavior change. Why do we choose to save energy?

Many groups rely on environmental and economic motivations to get results. While these benefits do matter to audiences, emphasizing them can lead nonprofits and businesses to overlook the value of social marketing.

If you buy an iPhone, the odds are that you didn’t make that choice to save money. The iPhone may make your life more convenient. It may be fun to use. It might even improve your social life. Motivations like these – the nuts and bolts of social marketing – are absent from many conversations about saving energy.

Audiences who have a DIY ethic may find it satisfying to save energy. However, this group is only part of the population. For the rest of us – the ones who want to be talking with our friends online, checking our calendars, or playing solitaire – saving energy can also be satisfying. But to tap into this potential, we need to move beyond talking about money and the environment. We should ask questions and innovate.

Visualizing Energy Efficiency

In 2009, I wrote a post called “The Invisible Hand of Plastic.” But energy efficiency is much less visible than plastic.

Energy efficiency's invisibility makes it more difficult to promote than renewable energy.

Although software developers find creative ways to show customers how saving energy works, sometimes a visual analogy can change audience perspectives.

This video from the Minnesota Energy Challenge says wasting energy is like letting a faucet drip. The message is simple, but was based on market research. You can also see how the video uses numbers to show potential savings.

Environmental Behavior: When Seeing Isn’t Believing

Today, I took a closer look at the Grist article on the behavior change research I did earlier this year. Here’s a quote:

If you want to know how to change behavior, don’t read a bunch of polls about the messages that make people say positive things to pollsters; read a report like this one from ACEEE, which looks at which behavioral programs around energy efficiency have worked, i.e., demonstrated tangible, consistent results.

I would reframe that point and expand it to say that awareness, motivation and action are three different things.

Here’s one practical example. An avid snowboarder who studied science in college may be deeply opposed to global warming. This person might even answer market research surveys in a way that shows commitment to a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. But the snowboarder might still buy a ticket to Alaska for an outdoor vacation without thinking about the global warming effect of the plane flight.

Meanwhile, the snowboarder’s next-door neighbor may have never taken a college-level science class. This neighbor might take a local fishing vacation with a much lower environmental impact than the environmentalist’s trip to Alaska.

Scientists and environmentalists often believe providing information leads to action. The reality is much more complicated than that. People tend to take actions that are convenient, socially respected and expected, entertaining and economical. People also view time and mental energy as expenditures, too; efficiency isn’t just a matter of saving money. Community respect and support motivate many environmental choices.

There are many potential motives for environmental learning. Curiosity about science motivates some people to seek out environmental news. Self-sufficiency also appeals to many people. Many people take an interest in health and community well-being. But motivation and learning are distinct from action.

I haven’t seen enough evidence to say that I support Grist’s conclusion about action leading to changes in beliefs. It does certainly lead to changes in habits. It would be interesting to look into this question further.

The snowboarder I mentioned isn’t lacking information. There’s plenty of carbon footprint information available online. But the appeal of outdoor sports, the sense of adventure, and the desire to see new places are high priorities for some people.

Instead of judging the snowboarder’s sense of adventure, we should talk about ways those adventures can happen closer to home. Although going without the things one enjoys may seem like a reasonable response to environmental concerns, environmentalism – like dieting or exercise – can be taken to an extreme where people lose their sense of enjoyment and feel isolated or discouraged in their efforts. Environmental issues are long-term; our responses should be long-term, too.

P.S. As always, my blog reflects my personal perspectives, not those of any organization where I’ve worked.

Environmental behavior change doesn't have to be this difficult.

Why Doing Environmental Outreach Is like Selling Pomegranate Juice

Environmentalists often question the ethics of marketing and advertising. Given that advertising usually increases consumption – and that environmentalists often try to shift our course of action on that front – it’s understandable that environmentalists often steer clear of marketing classes.

The course I’ve taken that made the strongest impression on me was a class in promotional materials design. A few years later, I attended a workshop on Community-Based Social Marketing which had an even greater impact.

Why? Well, from taking science classes, I already knew how to justify things rationally. I knew how to analyze long-term trends and tell people they should give up short-term benefits for “the seventh generation.” In other words, I knew how to do what environmentalist science majors already do well.

But, like many other people, I did not know how to communicate, advertise and promote environmental change in a way that would get results. It took marketing and environmental psychology to teach me that.

It might seem paradoxical that environmentalists should hire marketing professionals. After all, what we’re doing is the right thing, isn’t it? But that type of conviction doesn’t necessarily translate into a successful social movement. To reach people, one has to talk with them. One has to ask them about their experiences, rather than just saying they should hang their laundry to dry even if their communities prohibit using clotheslines.

There are many health, environmental and economic benefits to bicycle commuting. Why don’t people bike more often? When I applied environmental psychology to my own life, I realized I wasn’t doing this because my bike (a heavy hybrid) was in the basement. I moved the bike to the front fence and solved the problem.

This is an example of how marketing and psychology can help environmentalism rather than holding it back. We should pay attention to the human side of environmental issues, listen to our audiences, and think creatively about ways to make it easier and more fun to take eco-friendly actions. As diet failure statistics show, telling people to “do the right thing” doesn’t necessarily deliver results.

Let’s make sure environmental choices get advertised as well as pomegranate juice has been over the past couple years. Pomegranate juice is sour, but people drink it all the time now. Compared to that, many eco-friendly actions are relatively sweet alternatives.

Pomegranates may be sour, but they're still popular with health-conscious shoppers.