Liam Smith from BehaviourWorks Australia presented at the UNAA Sustainable Consumption and Production Seminar held on 27 June 2013 hosted by Russell Kennedy, Melbourne. Held in support of the United Nations 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, the seminar brought together experts and practitioners from across business, government and civil society to provide a platform for shared learning on integrating sustainable consumption and production measures throughout business operations, relationships and value chains. Guest Speakers and Panelists: - Tim Grant, Director, Life Cycle Strategies - Joshua Bishop, National Manager – Markets, Sustainability and Business Partnerships, WWF Australia - Craig Chester, Operations Manager Australia, Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand - Liam Smith, Director, BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainability Institute - Clinton Squires, Australian Managing Director, Interface More information available at: http://www.unaavictoria.org.au/education-advocacy/masterclasses/sustainable-consumption-and-production-seminar/

1. Behaviour and sustainable
consumption forum
United Nations Association of Australia
27th June, 2013
Melbourne
Liam Smith
Director, BehaviourWorks Australia
Monash University

2. 1. Starting with a problem, identify and prioritise target
behaviour/s (and the associated target audience)
2. Understand the key determinants that influence the
target behaviours
3. Select appropriate behaviour change techniques and
strategies to address these influential determinants
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions in
terms of their impacts on the determinants and the
behaviour
Steps in a behaviour change process

3. Understanding the behaviour
• Is the behaviour performed once, occasionally, for-a-
period or regularly?
• If regularly, how habitual is the behaviour? Are there
opportunities when habits are reconsidered?
• Is the behaviour illegal? If so, what are the target
audience’s perceptions about the severity of the
punishment and the risk of being caught?
• Do the target audience know about the behaviour and
have they had the opportunity to perform it?
• What drives the behaviour and its alternatives? Culture,
values, attitudes, perceived norms, control, habits?

4. Step two: identify determinants of behaviour
Behaviour
Attitudes
Social
pressure
Capacity
External
constraints
Habits
Emotions

5. Predicting intention to buy recycled toilet paper
Instrumental
attitude
Experiential
attitude
Injunctive norm
Descriptive norm
Capacity
Autonomy
Behavioural
intention
0.34
0.14
0.18
0.23
0.48
0.04

6. The problem of habits
Context-CuedRepetition Automaticity

9. Looking for opportunities to change behaviour
Normative opportunities
• How publically visible is the behaviour?
• What is the potential to make the behaviour more visible?
• How many others are performing the behaviour? Who are they? How similar are they to the target
audience?
• What are the opportunities to communicate with the target audience either directly or through others?
• Who are the peers of the target audience?
Barrier removal opportunities
• How hard or easy is the behaviour to do?
• What incentives are available?
Consistency opportunities
• Are there opportunities for foot-in-the-door (commitments etc)?
Spillover opportunities
• What other behaviours are non-compliers undertaking which are similar to it?
Habit discontinuity opportunities
• What other behaviours are performed around the target behaviour? i.e. what is the routine in which the
behaviour sits?
• Are there circumstances where routine behaviour will need reconsidering? If so, what are the
circumstances?
• Educational / informational opportunities
• What are the target audiences’ perceptions of good and bad outcomes that could occur as a result of the
behaviour?

10. Spillover

11. Things that prevent spillover

12. Spillovercan also be positive

14. Other suggestions for motivating spillover
• Realign
motivations for
‘sometimes’
buyers
• Point out
discrepancies
in behaviour

15. Thank you
Liam Smith
BehaviourWorks Australia,
Monash Sustainability Institute
Liam.smith@monash.edu