Making good behavior more appealing November 3, 2010

Overview How do we make being good more appealing? What do people respond to? – Make being bad less appealing – Make being good profitable – Make being good fun – Make being good social A caveat

Make bad behavior unfun

Economic disincentives

Make bad behavior unfun Taxes and fees Punishments

Make it profitable Keep it simple Dignity? Kane et al., 2004

Make it profitable

Make it fun!

The Fun Theory

Pepsi Refresh

Make it social

Make the cause social

Use social norms

People like you… Goldstein, Cialdini, & Griskevicius, 2008

…Reuse their towels Goldstein, Cialdini, & Griskevicius, 2008

Use reciprocity Which is more effective? If you reuse your towel, the hotel will make a donation in your name to an environmental protection organization Please reuse your towel; the hotel has made a donation in your name to an environmental protection organization Goldstein, Griskevicius, & Cialdini 2008

Social proof and compliance Descriptive norms tell you what people actually do Injunctive norms tell you what people shouldn’t do Which works better to improve people’s behavior? Cialdini designed two signs for the Petrified Forest National Park, one with descriptive norm, one with an injunctive norm

Many past visitors have removed petrified wood from the Park, changing the natural state of the Petrified Forest Please don’t remove the petrified wood from the Park, in order to preserve the natural state of the Petrified Forest

Social proof and compliance Cialdini et al., 2006

Status and consumption Conspicuous consumption is often used to express status Sadalla & Krull (1995) found that many behaviors that can help preserve the environment as well as save money are seen as low class and unattractive – Drying clothes on a clothesline – Riding the bus – Taking recyclables to a recycling center Creates another barrier to responsible consumption— how can we change views about these behaviors?

Give the cause status Griskevicius et al., 2010

Green status Griskevicius et al., 2010

But… These external motivators can be helpful But do they lead to lasting change? Be careful! – Wanting the incentive and wanting the outcome are different things

Extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation: An environmentally-created reason to initiate or persist in a particular action – The source of the behavior is incentives, rewards, and punishments contingent on the behavior – The behavior is a means to an end Intrinsic motivation: Your own interests, wants, and desires encourage you toward a particular action – The source of the behavior is a psychogenic need, curiosity, or striving for growth – The behavior is the end in itself

Self-perception Enjoyabl e activities No external reward External reward (e.g., $$) Self-perception: I do this because I like it Self-perception: I do this because I’m paid to Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation

Overjustification % time playingQuality of drawing No reward Unexpected reward Expected reward Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett, 1973

Summary We can induce good behavior by attaching other positive things to it – A lack of bad things – Money – Enjoyment – People Keep it small, though—you want people to think they do it because they like it, not that they like the incentive