Are our outreach & education efforts having any impact?

Dave GalvinLocal Hazardous Waste Management Program

in King County, WANW NAHMMA – June 25, 2013

Hilary Collin’s innocent listserv question re: education/outreach

• “What works…?”

• She wanted to create a campaign to encourage the purchasing of less toxic/hazardous products

• What techniques have worked well?• What would you recommend based on your

experience?

Rational Theory

• Also known as the “knowledge-deficit” model– Once given the right information, people will

logically follow-through with whatever changes are needed or requested

– Awareness begets knowledge begets action– If we simply educate people, they will change their

behaviors

Strategy? Measurement?

• Have we asked our audience where they are at on the issue? What their barriers are?

• Are there any changes in awareness after our campaign? How do we know?

• Are there any changes in behavior? How do we know?

• Do any behavior changes actually result in changes to products or the environment?

Do the fish notice any improvement downstream?

Social Marketing

• Applying psychology and social science• “Common sense, but commonly ignored”• Key attributes of effective campaigns:– Know the audience– Focus on high impact, high probability behaviors– Address barriers and benefits– Provide feedback– Use social peers (“modeling”)

Social Marketing (cont’d)

• Attributes…– Frame messages to avoid loss– Use reminders and prompts– Use public commitment– Change social norms– Refer to credible sources– Involve community, groups, neighborhoods, …– Use social networks and diffusion– Measure, learn, adjust…

DIAZINON LEVELS IN THORNTON CREEK, SEATTLE, WA 1996-2002

“Upstream” Social Marketing

• Change the policies and laws in order to change outcomes

• “It is unfair to expect individuals to use healthy behaviors when the social environment has extremely marked impacts over our choices.”

“Upstream” Social Marketing

• Instead of asking individuals to choose Less-toxic Product B over Toxic Product A, let’s change Product A to reduce its toxicity!

• Referred to as a “technological” change rather than a behavior change.

• Outreach efforts are still necessary in order to create support and constituency for policy change.

Sales of Insecticides in King County, WA, 2000 - 2002

What works?

• Education/outreach alone is not enough.• “Upstream” social marketing looks at broad

environment within which behaviors occur.• Employ evidence-based techniques to

increase support and constituency.• Change policies so that we don’t have to rely

on individual behavior change.