Page 91 - Sustainability Communication Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Theoritical Foundations

74 L. Kruse

• Aside from problems of knowledge, individual factors include problems of the
perceptibility of environmental conditions and changes, as well as risk construction,
understanding complex systems and the accompanying processes of information
processing. Further individual factors include value orientations and attitudes as
well as personality characteristics or habitual motives (e.g. egocentrism, altruism
or social responsibility), but also temporary emotions like fear of failure or hope
for success when pro-environmental actions are at stake.
• Social norms and values of membership and reference groups are examples of
interpersonal and social factors. Values of a society as a whole (for example,
orientation toward the principle of sustainability) are important, as are social,
economic, political and cultural norms that are conveyed and filtered through the
mass media. Social interaction and communication play an important role as
they may facilitate or impede certain activities, and observation of others’ behav-
iour (social models) usually has a strong influence on one’s own behaviour.
Furthermore, existing social networks (neighbourhoods, teams at school or at
work) should be taken into consideration as they can facilitate the process of
participation and learning. Another important aspect of a social situation is con-
flict among interest groups, in which supposed winners and losers of a specific
action taken (e.g., reducing the speed limit in a residential area) may contribute
to completely divergent perspectives and appraisals of a controversy.
• External structures and contexts can advance or hinder sustainable actions. There
is often a lack of opportunities for action (e.g. lack of availability of public trans-
portation or energy-saving devices) that are necessary for resource-saving behav-
iour. Another aspect of external structures are the various incentives for positive
behaviour, with monetary rewards (eco-tickets, subsidies for solar panels) being
most important, but also non-monetary rewards, such as social recognition or
public praise having some influence.

For interventions to be successful the entire context of ecological and socio-
cultural conditions (climate, resource availability, economic, legal, technological
and scientific educational opportunities) has to be taken into account.

Strategies and Instruments for Promoting
Sustainable Behaviour

There are a great variety of explanatory models and strategies about how behaviour
can be made more sustainable. Environmental psychology has developed quite a
number of intervention strategies to enhance environmental awareness as well as
increase the likelihood of undertaking environmentally relevant actions (e.g. Gardner
and Stern 2002; Gifford 2007a). In the meantime the perspective has been broad-
ened to address more complex patterns of awareness and actions, such as climate
change and sustainable development (e.g. APA 2010; Gifford 2007b). The various
intervention methods can be roughly classified into cognitive and behavioural strat-
egies. The latter can be subdivided into antecedent measures preceding critical
behaviour and consequence measures following critical behaviour.