Climate News 25:24
There’s an interesting new research paper out this month on the use of social norms to influence sustainability behaviours.
Specially, the paper, Leveraging social norms for sustainable behaviour: How the exposure to static- and dynamic-norms encourages sufficiency and consumption reduction of fashion, explores how a deeper understanding of norms shift over time can make for more effective messaging. The paper distinguishes between static norms (those understandings that we already have) and dynamic norms (those understandings that are in the process of change, shifting towards new static states). It builds on previous research and tests how a combination of static and dynamic norms in messaging influence consumer behaviour, specifically with regard to buying fewer clothes. The most influential combination is a mix of an unsustainable static norm and an unsustainable dynamic norm. For example, “more than 80% of consumers do not make an effort to limit the amount of clothes they buy” (unsustainable static norm) and “And they are changing their behaviour, more and more consumers are engaging in over-consumption” (unsustainable dynamic norm). This runs counter to a lot of our thinking which would more likely mix an unsustainable static norm with a sustainable dynamic norm (e.g. “but they are changing their behaviour; more and more consumers are engaging in sufficient consumption”). The researchers suggest people are engaging in social moral cleansing. That is, when they are confronted with the behaviour of others, they push back against it. That's not what I expected but there’s plenty more opportunities for researching whether this applies in all circumstances. Good to have your preconceptions challenged.
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