1. Promoting lower-carbon
lifestyles
Dr Rachel Howell

2. Outline of thesis and seminar
1. Lights, camera… action?
2. Investigating the long-term impacts of climate
change communications
3. How might films encourage individual
behaviour change?
4. It’s not (just) “the environment, stupid!”
5. Living with a carbon allowance: the
experiences of Carbon Rationing Action
Groups
6. Overall summary and conclusions

3. Why bother with individuals?
Percentage of UK emissions by source
Other Household
emissions energy
15% 20%
Domestic and
international
Household travel
indirect 15%
emissions
50%
Office of National Statistics 2004

4. 1. Lights, camera… action?

5. 2055

7. Background: literature
 Affect plays an important part in determining people’s
responses to environmental issues
 Emotions, not just knowledge, should be targeted by
environmental education campaigns
 Visual media offer many advantages for communicating
motivating messages
 Many studies suggest that fear-based appeals change
attitudes and behavioural intentions

8. But…
 People need a sense of agency
 Protection Motivation Theory: people change behaviour in
response to fear appeals only when they believe specific
behaviours will reduce the threat
 People don’t like feeling helpless, therefore climate
change fear appeals can trigger denial, apathy,
repression, anger, counter-productive defensive measures
 Cognitive dissonance: people may change their attitudes
to match their actions if they feel uncomfortable about the
gap between the two
 What about behaviour in the ‘real world’? Lab-based
studies of fear appeals are flawed

9. Survey: the impact of the film
 ‘Before’ and ‘after’ questionnaires in the foyer at
the Edinburgh Filmhouse (March 2009)
 241 respondents at 21
screenings
 Follow-up questionnaire
completed by 162 of these respondents 10-14
weeks later
 Further follow-up one year later (15 months after
viewing the film);104 respondents

10. Increased concern and motivation to act…
 83% said they were ‘a bit’ or ‘a lot’ more
concerned immediately after seeing the film
 Significant increase in agreement with
statements “I feel motivated to do something
about climate change”, “I can do something
to prevent climate change getting worse” and
“It’s worth lobbying politicians about climate
change”
 But this effect had worn off by the time of the
follow-up surveys

11. Does this translate into action?
Awareness raising and lobbying
politicians
Home energy use
Travel
Food

12. Glass half empty
For each action
asked about, the
percentage of
respondents who
said they were
doing it because
of seeing the film
was small,
decreasing as the
behaviours got
more costly

13. Glass half empty Glass half full
For each action For each action,
asked about, the 1%-29% said they
percentage of were doing it
respondents who because of seeing
said they were the film, e.g.
doing it because 12% driving less
of seeing the film 18% buying more
was small, local produce
decreasing as the 22% decided to
behaviours got stop/reduce holiday
more costly flying long-term

14. Respondents were not the ‘general
public’
 Very high levels of concern and
motivation to act even before seeing
the film
 Over 1/3 said they were actively
involved in a group campaigning
wholly/partly about climate change
 The film likely presented information
they were already familiar with and
accepted

15. 2. Investigating the long-term impacts
of climate change communications
One reason I came to see the film is because I’m
interested in/concerned about climate
change/global w arming
Interest in/concern about climate change/global
w arming w as my MAIN reason for coming to see
the film
I am very concerned about climate change/global
w arming Q1 sample
(n=230-241)
Q3 sample
I feel motivated to try to do something about
(n=155-162)
climate change/global w arming
Q4 sample
(n=99-104)
I’ve donated money in the last year to a group
that campaigns partly/w holly about climate
change/global w arming
I am actively involved in a group that campaigns
partly/w holly about climate change/global
w arming
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percentage of valid responses
Figure 1: Percentage of respondents in each sample who agreed on the first
questionnaire with these statements

16. Behavioural changes
 Participants generally persisted with changes they’d
made as a result of seeing the film
 A few ‘late starters’?
 Behavioural intentions do not
necessarily lead to action
 Respondents’ causal attributions of their behaviour
are unreliable (in retrospect they attributed action to
the impact of the film that earlier they had said they
were already taking)

17. Implications for research
 Recruitment and retention of participants
who are not ‘the converted’
 Behavioural intentions cannot be
assumed to be proxies for actual
behaviour
 Requesting causal self-attributions adds
another layer of complexity to problems
with self-report measures
 Collection of data can influence
respondents’ action
 Isolating the impacts of one ‘intervention’
over time

18. 3. How might films encourage
individual behaviour change?

19. ‘Stages of change’ model of
behaviour change
aka the transtheoretical model (TTM) – health psychology

20. Processes of change used/modelled by
climate change films
Pre-contemplation Contemplation Preparation Action Maintenance
Consciousness raising
Dramatic relief
Environmental re-evaluation
Self re-evaluation
Self-liberation
Helping relationships
Contingency
management
Counter-conditioning
Stimulus control

21. Role of films in promoting change
 Climate change films employ/depict several processes of
change that TTM suggests should encourage
attitudinal/behaviour change
 Consciousness-raising and dramatic relief are the
processes most frequently associated with the films –
most suitable for audience at early stages of change
 Consciousness-raising and self-re-evaluation best done
by characters the audience can relate to
 Self-liberation could be emphasised more – pivotal
process between thinking about change and beginning it
 Filmmakers keen to promote action could portray the
variety of processes that help to support and maintain
behavioural change

22. 4. It’s not (just) “the environment,
stupid!”
Values, discourses, and routes to
engagement of people adopting lower
carbon lifestyles

23. Purposive sampling – 16 interviewees
 9 women, 7 men
 Age range: early 20s – 80s
 14 white, including 1 Hungarian and 1 South
African; 1 Indian; 1 English Chinese
 All middle class, university educated, though
some on low incomes
 4 renters; 12 owner-occupiers
 Varied household composition
 Average interview: 1 hour 41 minutes

24. Social justice
"I think the gut thing that moves
me is people."

25. Community
"I think this has to do with
being linked into the
community."

26. Frugality
"There's no
desperation
for new
trainers."

27. Talking about climate change
"I think that you don’t even have
to care about climate change to
want a low carbon lifestyle."

28. 'A lower carbon lifestyle'
"For me it’s more local living,
stronger communities, more time
for each other."

29. Triangulation: values survey
 Questionnaire
based on
Schwartz Values
Survey
 Top-rated value:
social justice
 Meanalt > Meanbio
(de Groot & Steg 2007, 2008)

31. Implications?
 'Altruistic' values might be as useful as 'biospheric' ones
 CC campaigns could make more links with ‘altruistic’
organisations e.g. refugee/women’s/religious groups
 Frugality: need for a fundamental shift away from a
materialistic/consumerist culture?
 Climate change communications need to encourage
people to imagine a holistic positive vision for a
lower-carbon future, not just give a 'to do' list

32. 5. Living with a carbon allowance:
experiences of CRAGs
 Small grassroots groups of
concerned individuals
 Calculate carbon footprint
and set themselves a
'carbon ration' each year
 Some groups have a
financial penalty for over-
emitters
 Rationale for study: implications for a personal carbon
trading (PCT) policy?

33. Table 1: Features of particular interest in the CRAGs included in this study
CRAG Interviews Details of interest
Hereford 3 Into third year; rural CRAG; equal-per-capita target; no penalty
Oxford 3 2 years completed; equal-per-capita target; financial penalty but
no trading
Hackney and 2 Into second year; equal-per-capita target; operates rudimentary
Islington carbon trading
Glasgow 3 Into second year; equal-per-capita target; operates rudimentary
carbon trading
Leeds 2 Completed one year; individual targets and penalties; no trading;
denotes itself a Carbon Reduction Action Group
York 2 Completed one year; equal-per-capita target; no penalty; denotes
itself a Carbon Reduction Action Group
WSP PACT 3 Part way through first year; workplace-based CRAG; penalty and
reward
Fownhope 3 Part way through first year; rural CRAG; percentage reduction
rather than equal-per-capita target; no penalty
Peckham 1 New CRAG still starting up; no penalty
Edinburgha 1 A ‘failed’ CRAG
a
Since this research was carried out, a new CRAG was started in Edinburgh.

35. Key findings from CRAGs
 Motivated individuals can make significant reductions in
their direct GHG emissions
 Improved carbon literacy:
- greater awareness of energy use and related emissions
- C footprint statements help people understand the
relative impacts of different aspects of their lifestyle
 Equal-per-capita allowances not necessarily seen as
‘fair’
 Being part of a group is helpful for many reasons,
especially moral support, increased sense of agency,
and information sharing
 CRAGs can’t tell us much about PCT policy

36. Overall summary/conclusions
 Need to engage more of the population in action
 Make common cause with organisations concerned
about social justice and human rights
 Emphasise non-environmental benefits of lower-carbon
lifestyles (but don’t stress financial benefits)
 Recruit different audiences to see climate change films –
promote in schools?
 But primary role for climate change communications is to
encourage and reinforce public concern so politicians act
 Need for serious top-down legislation that will impact on
everyday practices and behaviours

37. Thank you! Questions?
Rachel Howell
rah22@aber.ac.uk

38. Papers
 Howell, R.A., 2011. Lights, camera… action? Altered attitudes and
behaviour in response to the climate change film The Age of Stupid. Global
Environmental Change 21, 177–187.
 Howell, R.A., 2012. Investigating the Long-Term Impacts of Climate Change
Communications on Individuals’ Attitudes and Behavior. Environment and
Behavior, doi: 10.1177/0013916512452428.
 Howell, R.A. How might climate change films encourage individual
behavioural change? An analysis using the transtheoretical model. To be
published in a special issue of the International Journal of Sustainable
Development on ‘Sustainability Tales, Fictions and Other Stories from the
Movie Industry’.
 Howell, R.A., 2013. It’s not (just) “the environment, stupid!” Values,
motivations, and routes to engagement of people adopting lower-carbon
lifestyles. Global Environmental Change, 23, 281–290.
 Howell, R.A., 2012. Living with a carbon allowance: the experiences of
Carbon Rationing Action Groups and implications for policy. Energy Policy
41, 250–258.

39. Processes of change
 Consciousness raising e.g. education,
feedback

40. Processes of change
 Consciousness raising
 Dramatic relief being moved
emotionally

41. Processes of change
 Consciousness raising
 Dramatic relief
 Environmental re-evaluation thoughts and feelings
about how behaviour affects one's environment

42. Processes of change
 Consciousness raising
 Dramatic relief
 Environmental re-
evaluation
 Self re-evaluation thoughts
and feelings about self-image with
and without particular behaviour

43. Processes of change
 Consciousness
raising
 Dramatic relief
 Environmental re-
evaluation
 Self re-evaluation
 Self-liberation
belief that one can
change and commitment
to do so

44. Processes of change
 Helping relationships offering support for
change

45. Processes of change
 Helping relationships
 Contingency management consequences
for behaviour - sticks and carrots

46. Processes of change
 Helping relationships
 Contingency management
 Counter-conditioning learning substitute
behaviours

47. Processes of change
 Helping relationships
 Contingency
management
 Counter-conditioning
 Stimulus control remove cues
for problem habits; add prompts for
good ones

48. Processes of change
 Helping
relationships
 Contingency
management
 Counter-
conditioning
 Stimulus control
 Social liberation
increased opportunities/
alternatives