Using community-based social marketing to identify promising behavioral targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions among college students

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to recommend behavioral targets for future interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at college campuses and to advise interventionists on how to choose between many potential behavioral targets. Design/methodology/approach The authors used the community-based social marketing (CBSM) methodology over two studies. In Study 1, the authors assessed adoption rates (i.e. penetration) and likelihood of adoption (i.e. probability) for 16 potential behavioral targets. In Study 2, the authors used quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the barriers and benefits of engagement in five of the top-performing behaviors from Study 1. Findings The findings suggest that an intervention to promote purchasing green energy credits (GECs) has a high potential to reduce emissions. Purchasing GECs has a small penetration (<7%) and a large impact (1,405 kgCO2e/person/year). Compared to the other four behaviors the authors examined in Study 2, purchasing GECs is also more convenient and requires very little time. Thus, the behavior should be appealing to many individuals interested in reducing emissions or protecting the environment. Originality/value The authors performed a holistic evaluation of potential behavioral targets that included a barrier and benefit analysis, in addition to the traditional CBSM method of combining impact, probability and penetration.