Today's guest post comes to us from EcoAlign in the form of an interview with EcoAlign CMO, Andrea Fabbri and Oxford scientist Dr. Pippa Chevenix talking about closing the green gap. You can learn more by downloading the report for free at EcoAlign's website, www.ecoalign.com

Recently, EcoAlign, a Washington, D.C.-based, marketing firm focused on energy and the environment released their first report in a new series titled "Visibility, Ambivalence and Trust: Cultural Stumbling Blocks to Greater Household Energy Efficiency."  The report provides new thinking around why consumers who many "talk the talk" don't "walk the walk."  Andrea Fabbri, chief marketing officer from EcoAlign, and Dr. Pippa Chenevix, a natural scientist from Oxford who authored the study, share more about how we may better engage people to close the green gap.

Question:  EcoAlign has identified a "green gap" between stated intentions and actual behavior?  Why are you using social science as an approach to bridging this gap?

Andrea:  First, we started EcoAlign to help people and their companies understand and develop strategies to close the "green gap" between consumers' stated intentions and their actual behavior with regards to energy consumption and the environment. Closing the "gap" requires a massive societal behavioral change - one that will be driven by more than good green products. Because of this, we're working with social scientists to stimulate discussion on consumer behavior towards sustainable energy consumption and conservation by identifying emotional, social, instinctual, psychological and subconscious codes that shape human actions and perceptions. That's the heart of our new research series called Project Energy Code.

Question:  Dr. Chenevix, what does your anthropological research around environmentalism tell us?

Pippa: The research is clear.  It is folly to reduce human behavior to pure economics or to expect that information and education alone can change what we do and how we act.  People are at once individuals and a part of something bigger - a mesh of human interactions that shape who we are and where we fit in the world.  Consumption is not just about status and one-upmanship - it is about belonging.  What we consume is an expression of place in our community and the society in which we live.    

Today, we expect that people become "socially responsible consumers."  People are asked to make the "right" decisions.  But what are consumers to do when the "right" decision looks wrong?  We are told we should drive less, yet business owners need to use cars to support their businesses; families need to make their weekly trip to see grandma.  The moralistic overtones common to the environmental movement result in guilt and denial because it does not accept who we are and why we chose to do the things we do.  We cannot shame people into making positive and lasting change.

Much of our behavior is driven by habit and shared culture - research has shown that people adopt new behaviors if they learn that others like them are doing the same.  But many of our everyday actions to improve energy efficiency such as turning off the lights, driving more slowly or turning off the tap when we brush our teeth are largely invisible.  These actions, and their benefits, are hard to measure and harder still to demonstrate among peers.           

We need to find a way to integrate energy efficiency into society in a way that is shared, visible and rewarding.        

Question:  What are the next steps in bridging the gap, and how can environmentalists encourage action?

Pippa:  There are a couple of things that we can do to bridge the gap.

1. We need to apply a multi-disciplinary approach to further determine what causes the gap between talk and action. EcoAlign's leadership in this area is exciting as they are bringing together social scientists, economists and other thought leaders who can help us learn how to be more effective.
2. We need to find ways to make energy efficiency more visible in a positive way within communities. Schools, religious communities and neighborhoods are good places to start.
3. We need to develop messages that are easily shared and non-judgemental. People need to feel part of a movement.
4. Consumers can't accomplish this alone. We must be innovative with products, tactics and even with legislation.

Question:  What further research is needed and what does EcoAlign hope to accomplish through its research series?

Andrea:  First, we want to stimulate conversation among marketers. The issues are far from being mechanical and require thinking and debate. That's why the next phase of our research through Project Energy Code will feature a behavioral economist and a historian. Second, and maybe more importantly, we want to leverage the insights we gather from the series and help others assimilate the finding into strategic plans that focus on how to address the gap we've identified.  All of our research to date points to one thing...talk will only take us so far.  Action is key.