Providing information October 30, 2010

Overview Does information work? The qualities of effective information Yes…and no The qualities of effective information What kinds of information work? When might information be an effective way to behavior change?

Does calorie posting help? Yes? One study found a 6% drop in calories ordered at Starbucks after calorie posting (ends up being about 14 calories) No? One study of low-income NYC residents found a slight increase after posting, even though people believed otherwise

Can information help? Only r = .30 correlation between knowledge about recycling and recycling behavior Everyone is aware of the risks of smoking, yet people still start and continue to smoke

Necessary psychological steps Perceive the message Favorably evaluate the message Understand the message Remember the message If any of these steps fails, information will be of no use

Perception

Favorable evaluation Why might people not favorably evaluate a helpful message? The medium Not funny, interesting, likeable, fun The message itself People get defensive when they’re being criticized Sometimes people just don’t like things

Understanding Costanzo et al., 1986

Remember this Memory is not perfect Information may even backfire

The best information is… Accurate Vivid Direct Immediate

Give people accurate information

The best information is… Accurate Vivid Direct Immediate

UV photographs & sunscreen

Fear appeals Fear appeals are effective, but not as strongly as they could be How can we make them work better? Threat and efficacy are two main components of fear appeals What is the bad thing? How can we fix it? Three responses: Low threat: ignore it High threat, low efficacy: deal with the fear High threat, high efficacy: deal with the threat

The best information is… Accurate Vivid Direct Immediate

MPG or GPM?

The best information is… Accurate Vivid Direct Immediate

Gas mileage

“Nutricate” your customers Stores that gave out these receipts saw increases in the number of smoothies over milkshakes, increases in no mayo order, and increase in no cheese orders over other stores without these receipts

Feedback Energy consumption is hard to track—which appliance is using how much? The easiest to move around is AC and heating—a change of a degree or so can have a big impact on energy use and a much smaller one on comfort Participants who were given feedback about their actual energy use as it compared to their predicted use ended up using 10% less electricity Seligman & Darley, 1977

Feedback as information

Summary Information is a simple but often ineffective way to prompt good behavior It is very easy for information to fail to have impact Information is more likely to help when it is: Accurate Vivid Direct Immediate

Next time… How do we make good behavior more appealing?