Climate Memo 2 – Framing: Do the wave – Make Good Behavior Contagious

TL;DR: People are hesitant to undertake a new action without knowing how their peers will respond. Thus, when attempting to inspire behavior change, it’s helpful to present the behavior as being widely perceived as something that “good people” perform.

Humans are herd animals. Many actions we take are the result of what we see around us. We want to fit in. We do good things because we want to behave in a way that we understand good people behave. Thus, when attempting to inspire behavior change, it’s helpful to present the recommended behavior as being widely perceived as good; that is, a behavior “good people” perform (Rand et al., 2014). 

It’s hard to be the first person to take up an action or change. Most of us would prefer to see someone else get up and dance, for example, before we join in. People are very conscious of how their peers perceive them. We want to see how the rest of the community responds to a new behavior before joining that behavior ourselves. Did the audience smile when the first person decided to dance? Or did they find it inappropriate and think it reflected badly on the person? 

If you want to inspire a change in behavior, you must show that the new behavior will reflect positively on the participant. To do this, show someone doing the new behavior first, followed by a positive reaction from their peers. Make the action seem like a socially acceptable “right thing to do.” The action must also be observable by other people, such as neighbors, so that others who take up the action can reap the reputational benefits and reinforce their identity as people who do good things.  

For example, let’s talk about the UK Electoral Commission’s voter registration campaign. An ad created by the campaign shows a variety of people displaying publicly in some way that they’re registered to vote. Their peers notice the display and visibly offer a nod of approval or recognition that validates both the display and the “good”character of someone who registers to vote. It’s evident from these interactions that registering to vote is a positive behavior. People respect someone who is registered to vote. 

This in turn inspires passersby to register so they can likewise belong to the community of good people who vote. In this way, a sense of community and identity is built around the behavior and more people are encouraged to join their peers in taking action. 

Written by Katie Russell
Date: 03/5/2024
Edited by Madeline Fisher
Photo by Edmond Dantès from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-holding-a-badge-with-i-voted-7103133/