PREMIER
I am interested in and passionate about waste reduction; specifically, reuse and repair. At the University of Waterloo, I co-organized repair workshops, where the community could learn how to fix their clothes, jewellery, and electronics, among other things. In terms of my research, I'm interested in the factors that lead to success and failure in behaviour change programs, as well as external influences on human behaviour (e.g. social structures, choice architecture, etc). If you have similar interests, please reach out!
Resume & Projects
I am currently working on two papers related to external influences in social marketing programs.
172 Comments
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North American Social Marketing Conference 2024 keynote speaker: Dr. Doug McKenzie-Mohr
2024-03-14 16:12:26 UTC
Hi all,The Social Marketing Association of North America, held in Florida this year, will feature a number of exceptional speakers, including Dr. Doug McKenzie-Mohr. Dr. McKenzie-Mohr is the founder of community-based social marketing (CBSM). He has written/co-written three books on CBSM, one of which was recommended by Time magazine. His work has been featured in the New York Times, and he is the recipient of the American Psychological Association’s inaugural award for innovation in environmental psychology. More than 75,000 program managers have attended his workshops. Doug is a former Professor of Psychology and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University in Victoria, Canada.Dr. McKenzie-Mohr’s workshop at the conference will provide a comprehensive introduction to CBSM and how it is being applied around the world to foster sustainable behaviours. You will learn the five steps of CBSM (selecting behaviours, identifying barriers and benefits, developing strategies, conducting pilots, and broad-scale implementation) and be exposed to numerous case studies that illustrate its use.If you’d like to register for Dr. McKenzie-Mohr’s workshop and/or learn about the other speakers at the conference, please click here. -
European Social Marketing Conference - registration is now live!
2024-03-13 12:39:28 UTC
Hi all,The European Social Marketing conference is taking place this year in Slovenia (it looks beautiful there!), and the theme is “Addressing wicked problems in a rapidly changing world”. They are currently accepting abstracts and registration is now live. From November 4 – 6, 2024, you can participate in over eighty presentations, workshops and discussions related to innovation in behaviour change.
Please click here for more information or to register. -
Collaborate or confront? Protecting migratory birds from window collisions
2024-03-05 16:38:45 UTC
Hi all,
Migratory birds are returning to their native habitats in those parts of the world that are emerging from winter. A very interesting Toronto-based organization called FLAP is dedicated to protecting these birds from injury or death due to collisions with windows in urban settings. Somewhere between 15 – 30 million birds are killed annually in Canada alone after colliding with a window. FLAP works with building owners to reduce injuries and deaths by altering glass surfaces to make them more visible to birds. But what is the best approach to working with building owners? Collaborate or confront?FLAP has collaborated with municipal and commercial stakeholders in Toronto to develop best practices to reduce bird-window collisions. These guidelines were voluntary at first and then later became mandatory, as part of the Toronto Green Standard. FLAP tries to ensure that there are clear benefits to building owners, such as having volunteers remove dead birds from around the property. Interestingly, FLAP also uses compelling imagery to communicate their messages. For over two decades now, FLAP creates a yearly public layout of all the dead birds collected by volunteers. Last year’s toll was over 4000. This undoubtedly raises awareness by creating emotional resonance with priority groups.In contrast to FLAP’s largely collaborative approach, some organizations have been aggressive against building owners by taking them to court. Being aggressive with guilty parties can make the issue more well-known through media coverage or legal action, but this can also impede the ability to achieve long-lasting solutions. These efforts have had mixed results. FLAP seems to have learned that confrontation is best only when collaboration does not achieve desired results. -
Smart Cities: A good idea?
2024-02-28 14:13:30 UTC
Smart Cities have risen in popularity in the past several years. As sustainability professionals, many of whom work for municipalities, you may have come across or be working toward making your urban area a Smart City. These are technologically advanced cities that deploy hundreds or thousands of sensors to collect data about people and infrastructure in order to improve resource efficiency and operations across the city. Citizens may download apps that provide them with access to city services, reports on electricity outages, accidents, and crimes, allow them to pay taxes, etc. Smart City technology allows city officials to monitor city infrastructure (e.g. traffic flow, energy usage) in a way that is meant to optimize services for urban citizens.The primary benefits of Smart Cities are:- tackling climate change through resource efficiency- lowering operational costs by streamlining municipal services- dispatching, increasing, or decreasing services in a specific area- accessing information in real time- knowing what areas of the city are most and least frequented- providing free resources for citizens such as WIFI and device chargingThis all sounds amazing, and it could be, if the risks are adequately understood and addressed. The networked and centralized nature of Smart Cities represents a concern for the privacy rights of citizens. What data is collected about citizens (e.g. individuals’ movements in a city), how, and for what reason, matters. Privacy rights, data governance, and data security measures should be built into Smart City systems from the outset. And as always, for social marketers who aim to influence behaviour for the better, priority group empowerment and co-design is best.For more information about Smart Cities, visit the following sites: -
Re: Using Signage to Reduce Contamination in Aluminum Recycling Bins
2024-02-23 16:10:24 UTC
Hi Ashton,
Thanks for your question. It is difficult to know exactly without photos but my hunch based on professional experience is that this problem primarily concerns colour association. I am not sure if this is true in your region but in Ontario, blue bins are universally recognized as recycling and black or grey bins are recognized as waste. When people engage in the behaviour of recycling or putting an item in the waste, there are split second decisions that are made with very little conscious thought. So it would be helpful for you to simplify the process as much as possible. You could change the colour of the recycling bins to make them brighter and less likely to be confused with waste bins. You might also consider using one word for the signage, "Aluminum", instead of three words, and the signage should be quite large and easy to see. You could also do a waste audit before and after the changes you make to see if there is a positive difference. If so, you could modify all of the bins in your building and potentially save a bit of money on waste fees.
I hope this helps. -
"What's your superhabit?" - Reducing single use plastics in Vancouver
2024-02-20 16:44:31 UTC
Hi all,The Social Marketing Association of North America will be soon hosting their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, February 28th at 12pm ET. They will be sharing highlights from the past year, and there will be a presentation by Alison Schatz from Metro Vancouver whereby Alison will share a behind-the-scenes look at how Metro Vancouver developed its “What’s your superhabit?” behaviour change campaign to reduce single use plastic items in the city (e.g. bags, cups, containers, utensils, and straws). She will cover the campaign from research and strategy to creative and how they got buy-in from stakeholders and senior management. She will also share how social media was used to amplify this fun, celebratory campaign – including working with drag queens!For more information or to register, click here. -
Re: Looking for Effective Food Recovery & Donation Programs in Mountain Town Vacation Communities!
2024-02-15 15:28:07 UTC
Hi Ashton,
I did a bit of digging and found that the mountain resort town of Whistler, British Columbia is doing some interesting work around food waste and recovery. They have a 'Sea to Sky Food Recovery Plan' that identifies actions to reduce food waste. The report includes other regions besides Whistler, though, so you might consider speaking directly to someone from the Whistler Centre for Sustainability to find more details about their work in the mountain resort town specifically. The link to the report is on their website's landing page, as is their email address.
I hope this helps. -
Mixed signals: How incentives really work
2024-02-13 14:06:19 UTC
Hi all,
There's a fascinating book on incentives that you may consider reading. The author, a behavioural economist, provides an account of how actions send signals that shape behaviours and how we can design incentives in a way that can yield better program results. The following real-world examples are given: A CEO urges teamwork but designs incentives for individual success, invites innovation but punishes failure, and emphasizes quality but pays for quantity. The result is mixed signals. Drawing on behavioural economics, game theory, psychology, and fieldwork, the author explains how we can put the right incentives in place that align with our program/behavioural objectives.
To read more about the book or to purchase it, click here. -
Why has the Canada Greener Homes Initiative been so successful?
2024-02-08 18:47:08 UTC
Hi all,Food and energy prices have risen significantly in the past few years, sending the cost of living soaring all over the world. It is evident that citizens are looking for savings wherever they can find them. The Canada Greener Homes Initiative is a national program that helps Canadians fight climate change while saving on their energy bills. In only three years, more than half a million Canadians have applied for a grant to upgrade windows and doors, add insulation, and install solar panels. The speed of applications and approvals has been much faster than the government expected, and it is likely in part because Canadians are looking for ways to defray costs.The cost of living is high nearly everywhere, which means that national, regional, and municipal programs in other jurisdictions that provide grants and loans to citizens to retrofit their homes may also be successful. Of course, barriers to access must be removed. The Canadian government has received some criticism for this Initiative because Canadians must pay the up front costs and be reimbursed later. This is an obstacle to low-income Canadians, which the government is addressing in the second phase of the program.The marketing for these kinds of programs is important as well. Alternative channels such as social media may help to spread the message. And finally, streamlining the application process is key, particularly when municipal, regional, and/or national grants and loans are combined (as is the case in Canada).For more information on the Canada Greener Homes Initiative, click here. -
International Social Marketing Association newsletter
2024-01-31 14:02:50 UTC
Hi all,If you’d like to connect with social marketing colleagues around the globe, benefit from social marketing thought leadership, and find out about conferences, webinars, and publications in the social marketing field, consider signing up for the International Social Marketing Association (iSMA) newsletter. Your inbox will not be overloaded – the newsletters only go out once every two months.
Click here if you're interested.
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