Improving Energy Conservation With Effective Home Audit Programs in California Using Communication and Commitment

Cases
Aronson, E. (1990). Applying social psychology to desegregation and energy conservation. Special Issue: Illustrating the value of basic research. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 16, 1, 118-132.
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in California provided a home audit program as a method to improve energy conservation. This initiative gave homeowners a free home ins…

Reducing Lunchtime Garbage Produced by New Brunswick Students Using Prompts and Commitment

Cases
A literature review revealed that prompts and commitment were effective tools in reducing the amount of garbage produced at lunchtime. These behavior change tools were then integr…

Conserving Energy and Water at University of California at Santa Cruz with the Use of Norms and Prompts

Cases
Aronson, E. & O'Leary, M. (1982-83). The relative effectiveness of models and prompts on energy conservation: A field experiment in a shower room. Journal of Environmental Systems, 12, 3, 219-224.
After conducting a literature review, a norm appeal was incorporated into a pilot program designed to conserve water at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Although a sign…

Washington State Promotes the Purchase of Recycled Content Products With Prompts in the "Get in the Loop, Buy Recycled" Program

Cases
King County commission for Marketing Recyclable Materials & Atwood, A. M. (1994). Consumer research survey: Knowledge, attitudes, and purchase of recycled-content products. King County Commission for Marketing Recyclable Materials.
Washington State used market research to identify the primary barriers to buying recycled products. Although concerns about price and quality were not addressed during this campai…

Shifting to Sustainable Modes of Transportation in Boulder Colorado Using Incentives, Norms, Communication and Feedback

Cases
In order to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion, the Boulder City Council began to promote sustainable methods of transportation. Through public meetings, barriers to usin…

Using Commitment to Reduce Energy Consumption in Iowa City

Cases
Pallak, M.S., D.A. Cook and J.J. Sullivan (1980). Commitment and Energy Conservation. In L. Bickman (ed.), Applied Social Psychology Annual 235-253, Beverley Hills, Ca: Sage.
First, a literature review identified public commitment as an effective tool for behavior change. In order to further investigate the effectiveness of commitment, this tool was in…

Encouraging Environmentally Friendly Shopping using Prompts, Commitment and Norms

Cases
Customers at a Zehr's supermarket in Kitchener, Ontario were encouraged to purchase environmentally friendly products. 168 products were identified that either had least-waste pac…

Global Action Plan Community Lifestyles Campaign

Cases
Gershon, D. & Gilman, R. (1991). Household ecoteam workbook: A six month program to bring your household into environmental balance. Uxbridge, Ontario:
The Global Action Plan (GAP) Community Lifestyles Campaign is targeted at households. A group of friends or neighbors get together eight times over 4 months. At each of these meet…

Energy and Water Reduction: "Green" Hotels

Cases
Patricia Griffin created "Green" Hotels Association in 1993. The goal of this association is to reduce the amount of energy and water consumed by the lodging industry. GHA provide…

Restoring the Redwood River

Cases
The Redwood River Clean Water Project, an accelerated program to restore the Redwood River and Lake Redwood, was officially launched in 1995. It began as a response to deteriorati…

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