For ListServ: Social Marketing/Behavior Change - Stats of Results/How Long it Takes to See Behavior Change

An interesting question. I imagine you will have to be more specific to get any useful answers. For example, what sort of behavior are you wishing to change, what is the population you are trying to get to change, what methods are you using to try to produce the change (for example just social marketing or SM accompanied by supporting policies or incentives). What do you mean by "change," is it an incremental change in the desired direction for a simple act, or a full blown radical departure from a previous complex behavior set to a new complex one. Do you mean how long would it take to see change in the entire population or how long before early adopters start to change? There may be more variables involved but you probably get the point by now.

Mel, Thank you for your response. The behavior we are trying to change is physical activity - encouraging people to be active throughout the day and our end goal is to get 75% of the population in Minnesota "active" in a ten year period. By active I mean 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, five days a week. We are a few years into the campaign and have and continue to do research on our target audience to observe changes, but we wanted to see what we should expect based on other people's social marketing/behavior changing campaigns. It doesn't have to be directly linked to physical activity, but more wondering how long it generally takes to change people's behavior. I understand what I am asking is very vague, which is why I'm probably having a tough time finding answers, but hopefully the above explains a bit more. Suggestions?

betsy ringham

fast horse
612-746-4621 (p)
[email protected]

We have arranged numerous behaviour change campaigns over the years with the intention of reducing energy consumption. However, these have been targeted at employees of particular companies we have partnered with as part of our energy management programs. We have found that if people are given solutions they will adopt many of them very quickly if they are provided with a good justification (e.g. information about the effects of global warming in the case of an energy efficiency behaviour change program). An important factor is the need for follow-up reinforcement until the new behaviour becomes accepted practice. Even with the best intentions people have a tendency to revert back to old habits if the new approach is not reinforced by examples and reminders (e.g. feedback at staff meetings, notes in staff bulletins, emails, etc). This is where you need a champion who will follow up with the necessary reminders and other information needed to keep people aware of the need for change and the improvements that have been made since the campaign began. In the case of energy management it has been found that energy savings of about 5% are usually made as a result of a staff awareness campaign. In an organisation with large numbers of employees and high energy use this can run into many thousands of dollars per year.

Cheers
John

John Osborne | Renewables, Sustainability Victoria
T: 03 8626 8783 | F: 03 9663 1007 |
Level 28, Urban Workshop, 50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000 | www.sustainability.vic.gov.au

Hi Betsy

The "PushPlay" campaign endorsed by the New Zealand government is recognised as a hugely successful behavior change model: Campaign summary: http://www.sparc.org.nz/pushplay/overview Campaign evaluation: http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/116-1179/535/ Campaign case study: http://www.socialmarketing.co.nz/casestudies/PushPlay.htm A handy hint for web searching too - "commonwealth" nations typically spell behavior "behaviour". "Behaviour" will get you results from UK, Australian and New Zealand.

Cheers
Mike Frew