Professional-in-residence notes keys to effective ‘green’ messaging

November 25, 2013

When it comes to sustainability, purely informational advertising and marketing campaigns just don’t work. Marketers need to “tap into emotional drivers” to effect change.  And they need to send segmented messages to different demographics.

So said Lee Ann Head, an expert on communications related to energy efficiency, on campus in November as the inaugural Arthur W. Page Center Professional-In-Residence at Penn State’s College of Communications, in a public presentation to students, faculty and others.

“Americans are not exactly enthusiastic and engaged about their energy consumption,” said Ms. Head, vice president of research and insight for the Knoxville-Tennessee-based Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications agency entirely focused in the sustainability and energy efficiency sectors.  “We’re dealing with a case of real apathy.”

Through quantitative and qualitative research, the Shelton Group has found that many citizens see the “locus of control” for their energy costs as being external, she notes.  That is, they don’t feel there is much they can do to change the situation. Utilities, for example, often create incentive programs for consumers to save energy, but they raise the utility rates to pay for them.  The result: energy bills do not go down. This leads to de-motivation, anger and a feeling of disempowerment.

This is hard ground in which to plant the idea that individuals can and ought to do more to conserve energy and engage in sustainable practices.  Ms. Head outlined what works and what doesn’t in reaching people with sustainability messages.

Fear doesn’t work. “You can’t frighten people into change,” she said.  “We shut down when we think about the immensity (of climate change).”  And telling people that they are wrong doesn’t work, either.

The Shelton Group, which works with many firms, focuses on “drivers” that resonate with persons with differing political views and demographics.  Among them: the quality of life for future generations, health concerns, and the issue of waste.

She advocates sending specially tailored messages to segmented groups when discussing these points.  A group she calls “cautious conservatives,” for example, might get a message that focuses on return-on-investment.  “Actives”—the 25 percent of Americans who are intrinsically motivated to be “green,”—would get another message appropriate for their beliefs.

“Connect to their driver to get the change you want,” she told the audience.

The light-hearted approach is effective in creating messages that work, she added.

In summary, Head outlined several steps toward creating effective sustainability programs and communications:

• Wake people up to their habits.
• Shift people’s perceived locus of control to let them know that they can do something.
• Give them a few step-by-step instructions on what to do.  Too many choices are overwhelming.
• Engage both logic and emotion.
• Segment messages to different audiences.
• Keep it light and don’t scare people.
• Use incentives wisely.  They can become addicting.

The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication is a research unit of Penn State University’s College of Communications.  Ms. Head’s November visit for the inaugural Arthur W. Page Professional-in-Residence and Lecture Series was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Along with her public lecture, Ms. Head participated in classroom sessions and worked with individual faculty members during her visit to Penn State.

Here is the link to her presentation: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/40509749