How social change happens How social change happens Susie Rabin Campaigning Effectiveness NCVO.

How social change happens


Susie RabinCampaigning Effectiveness

NCVO


Sometimes we need change…

“here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin.

It is as far as he knows the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think about it”. *

*AA Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh


But we need to step back and look at how and why it happens

what drives social change?

what makes a successful campaign?

The role of change in successful campaigns


“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things………”

Niccolo Machiavelli


exercise

what drives or inhibits change?

3 groups –

• What drives change

• Fairtrade bananas

• Smoking ban



group 1

change will always happen - but why and

how? How can we lead change?

exercise

list the factors that you believe drive change



group 2

The sale of Fairtrade bananas increased by

130 % in 2007.

What drivers influenced that change? and

what might have impeded it?



group 3 There has been a 17% fall in the number ofpeople in Scotland being taken to hospitalwith heart attacks since the smoking banwas introduced

What drivers influenced that change andwhat might have impeded it?


Growth of the UK Fairtrade banana market

Source: Adjusted from DEFRA 2008 figures Fairtrade Foundation 2008


• The uplifts have been driven by the commitment of Sainsbury and Waitrose to Fairtrade bananas

• 1 in 4 bananas sold are now Fairtrade

• 2012 target to double this

• Customer is king – you can help achieve this!


THE PROBLEM

THE SOLUTION

Change awareness

Change attitudes

Change behaviour

Change Policy

Change practice

Change the lives of beneficiary

Course of the campaign

Campaign messages are disseminated and public awareness is raised

Because of what they have heard, people think about the issue differently

Some people take action or show support for the campaign that brings it greater attention

In response to pressure, the institution adopts new policy

The policy is implemented

Positive impact results, as predicted in the analysis of problems and solutions.

standard model of change within a campaign


drivers of social change

implementing policy change in itself can

create change e.g. the smoking ban

however policy change is not always enough e.g.

disability, civil partnerships

all successful social change also requires

sustainable behavioural change


but beware of relying on rationality

“It’s a common fallacy that effectivepersuasion is driven by rational argument...people... rarely change long establishedhabits and behaviours simply becausesomeone has presented a strong intellectualcase.”

Brand Green: Mainstream or Forever Niche? By Wendy Gordon. Green Alliance 2002


• The government’s 5 a day fruit and veg campaign has probably succeeded in making more people aware that they should eat 5 portions per day.


• However that hasn’t necessarily led to people changing their behaviour and eating 5 portions per day …


Social norms and nudging

• Robert Cialdini, psychology professor at Arizona State University conducted a test to increase the reuse of towels in the Holiday Inn in Phoenix

• Cards with a number of environmental messages were randomly placed in guests’ rooms


drivers of social change

• “Help the hotel save energy. Re-use your towels”

• "Help Save the Environment. It deserves our respect…." •• "If you will do this we will give a % of the savings to a green cause."

No influence at all.

• "We have donated … If you would like to help cover the expense while also conserving resources, please re-use your towels"

• "Join your fellow guests in helping to save the environment”.

• “The majority of guests who have stayed in this room have recycled”Best


• The majority of guests who stay at the hotel do reuse their towels at least once.

• Most messages produced the same level of response• The promise to donate by the hotel didn’t work

• What did work was ‘social proofing’ the message - the majority of our guests do reuse linens at least once during their stay, we increased linen reuse by 32 percent.


Behavioural economics

• Richard Thaler and nudge

www.nudges.org

• knowing how people think, designing choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society.


Nudge research in the Philippines

• Smokers in the street were offered a bank account that paid zero interest.

• all the money deposited would be forfeited if, six months, their urine test showed evidence of smoking.

• more than 1 in 10 of the people approached actually signed up for the account

• 30 % of those who opened an account quit smoking. • That’s a higher success rate than is generally seen

among those who try to quit smoking using nicotine patches, etc.


Nudge examples

• it's better for everyone to be automatically enrolled in a pension scheme (or more controversially for organ donation), but give them an opt-out.

• Or for a shop to put real oranges by the checkout rather than chocolate versions.


Conservative Party policies using Nudge

• requiring household energy bills to contain information enabling families to compare their energy consumption with that of similar homes

• Encouraging Councils to pay people to recycle

• cooling off period of at least seven days between signing up for a store card and being able to use it.


Drawbacks of nudge

• Some people take exception to being 'nudged' into what to do by bureaucrats, however well-intentioned or may not trust politicians or civil servants to do the right thing.

• Is 'nudging' behaviour enough, to tackling climate change, or knife crime ?

• Does nudging ever tackle the root cause?


changing behaviour

• focus on a specific behaviour• segment specific groups of people:

understand them, their values and aspirations and circumstances and connect to them (don’t preach the issue)

• appeal to social norms• ensure two way communication and let go• build in trusted messengers and social

networks• stop and think what is preventing new

behaviour?


lessons for the future?

• people believe the facts of climate change but aren’t yet acting on a significant scale

• accepting that climate change is happening and it will affect the UK

• personally can influence it to a large extent.

• Moves to ethical consumerism.


• Knowledge

• Skills

• Attitudes

• Behaviour


in 3 groups – discuss what more can be done to create social change?


in conclusion

social change is complex and relies on amixture number of drivers

campaigning can be the start of it butattitudinal and behavioural change mustcombine with appropriate circumstances to deliverlong term change.


Further information:

www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/campaigningeffectiveness

www.louder.org.uk

www.forumforchange.org.uk

[email protected]

How social change happens How social change happens Susie Rabin Campaigning Effectiveness NCVO.

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