To change or not to change: what are the consequences of awareness raising?

Attempting to get customers, or indeed anyone, to alter and change their behaviour can sometimes be counterproductive. You may not get the results you want, says Steve Martin, co-author of Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion.

Most advocates for changing behaviours is that they want to do good, and achieve a positive result. But this may not always be the case. For example, nutritionists advocate for changing eating habits for healthy lifestyles. Selecting a salad instead of a plate of fries may appear to be a positive change. But what if the person then eats dessert? Is this counterproductive? Working until late today may “permit” us to come into work later tomorrow. Is this counterproductive?

These effects, called ‘licensing’ or ‘negative spillover effects’ may negate our own attempts to change behaviours.

A recent study conducted in public toilets clearly shows that some efforts of persuasion backfire. Before starting the experiment, researchers collected data on the number of paper towels typically used in washrooms on a daily basis. After their baseline research, they introduced a large recycling bin/box near the sinks with signs saying that users of this washroom were partipating in a recycling program and that paper towels in the bin would be recycled. When researchers measured the amount of paper hand towels used after the recycling box was installed they found that significantly more hand towels were used than before the recycling box was there. About 12,500 paper hand towels were used annually for each washroom since the installation of recycling bins. Yes, the behaviour had changed – instead of putting their paper hand towels in the rubbish, they were now putting the paper in the recycling bins. Good yes? But now they were using much more paper! Isn’t this counterproductive?

One explanation is that recycling bins serve as a justification cue leading people to think that if the paper can be recycled they can use more because it wouldn’t matter. This idea seems to be evident in other studies too. For example, the presence of office recycling facilities led to an increased use of stationery.

When persuading others to change, one implication is clear: simply providing facilities that make it easy for people to change their behaviour may not be enough.

Insight, Business Life, June 2013

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog