GOOD MOVES #13: From Science to Practice
Hi everyone,
One of the recent topics we've discussed is how to best help businesses incorporate behavioural science into their sustainability efforts. For many of them, getting customers to choose more sustainable products and practices represents the final mile in meeting their sustainability and/or business goals. And behavioural science is extremely relevant in this context.
Making the science more accessible and relevant by providing businesses tools that fit within their frameworks and lexicons is a way to help. Another one is demonstrating how much of a competitive advantage it can provide, making their programmes more effective than their competitors'.
But let’s not underestimate the power of setting a good example and demonstrating what leading brands and companies are doing to apply behavioural science to their sustainable business initiatives. This is the focus of this edition of GOOD MOVES, thanks to our two fantastic guests, Richard Wright and Michael E. Smith.
Richard is Unilever's Global Sustainability Director, Behaviour Change. He has worked on the innovative application of behavioural principles and cutting-edge behavioural measurements all over the world. In this episode, Richard discusses the use of behavioural science at Unilever and the need to create tools that are tailored to the company's needs.
Michael is a neuroscientist and marketing professional who works as a Scientific Advisor for CloudArmy, a company that provides online implicit testing. In his interview, we talk about his book 'Inspiring Green Consumer Choices' and his extensive experience working at the intersection of neuroscience, behavioural science and sustainability.
What makes both of our guests remarkable is that they have been experimenting with and applying behavioural science long before Kahneman and Thaler popularised the discipline. Please read carefully what Richard and Michael have to say. They have a wealth of experience to share.
Enjoy GOOD MOVES and stay sustainable,
The Behaven team
Applying Behavioural Science in Unilever
Richard Wright discusses the use of behavioural science in Unilever and the need to create tools that are tailored to the company's needs.
Inspiring Green Consumer Choices
Michael E. Smith talks about his book 'Inspiring Green Consumer Choices' and his extensive experience working at the crossroads of neuroscience, behavioural science and sustainability.
Highlights from the OECD’s ‘Fighting Climate Change’ Report
The OECD recently released a report on international attitudes toward climate policy. The report is based on responses from over 40,000 people in 20 countries that account for 72% of global CO2 emissions.
It demonstrates that individuals’ support for climate policies is based on three key factors: the policies' perceived effectiveness in reducing emissions, their perceived distributional impacts on lower-income households (inequality concerns), and their own household's gains and losses.
It also surveys people's “willingness to change behaviours”, which appears to be positively associated with support for climate policies.
Some highlights (as per the below figure):
Reducing meat consumption, car driving and home heating or cooling are the climate-friendly behaviours that receive the least support, especially in high-income countries. Is this the result of our comfort-seeking tendencies?
Using an electric vehicle and flying less frequently are more popular, but here too with less support from high-income countries.
When it comes to factors that would encourage behaviour adoption, it is important to people that they receive adequate financial support to make these changes and that others, particularly the wealthy, change their behaviour as well.
Surprisingly perhaps, one’s community also changing behaviours is regarded as more important than ambitious climate policies. Another indication of the significance of social norms.
The report covers a number of other key topics and is available on the OECD website.
Missed the Previous Episodes?
Curious to read more about sustainable diets, behavioural insights for climate action or harnessing positive emotions to promote sustainable behaviour change?