What are the ingredients of successful travel behavioural change campaigns?

doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2012.06.017

Transport Policy

Volume 24, November 2012, Pages 19-29

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2012.06.017 Get rights and content

Abstract

An examination of the evidence from twenty case studies of behavioural change projects identifies common and specific elements which led to their success. Using evidence from a recent EU project, the paper discusses the design of travel behaviour change campaigns, with specific reference to the theoretical underpinnings and practical approaches of social marketing. Important design elements include clear measureable aims, a combination of communications and face-to-face marketing approaches and formative research to build a holistic picture of the target audience and identify potential barriers to behavioural change. The varying nature of campaigns reflects a need to improve and synchronise evaluation, with particular focus on the actual design of the campaign.

Highlights

► An exploration of the design of design travel behaviour change campaigns. ► Best practice elements for travel campaigns are identified. ► Successful design elements are specific to target group and behavioural aims. ► Social marketing provides a solid guiding set of principles for campaign design. ► There is a need to evaluate design itself in addition to impacts on behaviour.

Introduction

Between 2006 and 2009, an EU transport research project, MAX-SUCCESS, was tasked to determine what makes effective travel awareness campaigns: a type of VTBC (voluntary travel behavioural change) project which employs soft measures to promote sustainable travel behaviour amongst a chosen target audience. Recent studies have aimed to ascertain the overall effectiveness of VTBC projects (see Chatterjee and Bonsall, 2009, Stopher et al., 2009). Comparatively, little regard has been paid to the actual design of VTBC campaigns and their individual elements, nor about their relative effectiveness. The growing body of literature focuses primarily on the individual or household (Seethaler and Rose, 2009, Chatterjee, 2009). However, there is also a need to understand and theorise the design of campaigns, both singularly and collectively, as part of overall policy to change travel behaviour on a wide scale. This paper uses case study research to explore the design of campaigns and their reported successful elements.

Section snippets

Marketing travel behavioural change: a social marketing approach

In the past, travel awareness campaigns have been employed as marketing communication tools to “sell” ideas to people, such as the early Travelwise campaigns in the UK. They have generally provided information only to a limited effect. Tertoolen et al. (1998), for example, found that such methods can be counter-productive due to strong attachment to car-use and a tendency of individuals to react negatively to messages to decrease it. The emerging discussion now focuses on more comprehensive

Case study analysis

The study involved case-study analysis of both travel change campaigns and non-transport campaigns. The latter category includes established areas such as public health campaigns, which demonstrates potential elements for incorporation into VTBC projects. By incorporating social marketing elements, MAX-SUCCESS differed from its predecessor, TAPESTRY (see Tyler and Cook, 2004) which mostly focused on communications approaches.

Case studies are often used to generate theory, adopting an inductive

The dimensions of a travel behavioural change campaign

The research illustrated complex relationships: firstly between elements within campaigns and secondly between singular campaigns and their external elements.

Fig. 1 explains the key elements which affect, or are affected by a travel change campaign. On the horizontal axis are the significant dimensions addressed by the design of the campaign: internal (consumer related elements) and external (environmental elements and other external influences on design and operation of individual campaigns).

Aims and preparation

Clear, measurable aims, based on behavioural goals were important across cases. Establishing a culture to facilitate change was considered important for several campaigns. ‘Race against Waste’, a national recycling campaign, was implemented in several ‘waves’ to prompt the target audience through ‘stages’ of behavioural change. The behavioural goal was to induce a collective feeling of responsibility of the ‘problem’ behaviour, an approach considered integral to the eventual successful outcome

Target audience

Most campaigns used segmentation to target measures towards appropriate sections of the target audience. Some designers considered this a particular strength of the campaign. Sometimes one segment of society was targeted: young people, drivers, or school children and their parents, for example. Elsewhere, different measures were targeted towards specific segments. More sophisticated targeting involved assessing how close individuals were to achieving behavioural change, and segmenting

Approach

Design and implementation approaches varied based on aims and target audience. Several campaigns including Fit for Life, VERB and Bike It were implemented at community level, allowing frequent interaction between agents delivering the campaign and the target audience. This enabled a more locally informed approach. Some campaigns achieved this approach by using ‘champions’ of the desired behaviour. According to a project officer, the principal success factor of ‘Bike It’ was the employment of

Campaign message and branding

The cases demonstrated a range of reported success factors relating to messages. Using positive messages appeared to raise awareness of the perceived benefits of the ‘desired’ behaviour. Frequently delivered messages improved the awareness as recipients became familiar and more receptive to the campaign message. In some circumstances (for example mass one-off events such as car-free days) overarching, easily identifiable messages were effective. Messages were more readily accepted if considered

Personnel and networks

A number of personnel-related qualities were considered important: ‘commitment to the cause’, being able to identify and remove barriers to behavioural change and being innovative with their ideas for achieving this. Just as the credibility of the campaign message was important, so also was the believability of the person delivering it. Dissemination of Active for Life found that an authoritative message giver (such as a Government official) was more likely to convince stakeholders to take up

Demonstrating benefits

There was evidence to suggest that using incentives led to behavioural change. The Spanish campaign ‘La Cuidad sin mi coche’ (The City Without my Car) made bicycles available for loan and provided free public transport during a week of activities to enhance perceived benefits of non-car travel. The same case had an element of ‘upstream’ campaigning, by highlighting good publicity for local organisations by involvement in the campaign. Convincing arguments of the benefits from switching mode was

External success factors

Funding and resources was widely considered as advantageous or (if lacking) an inhibitor to campaign success. Strongly aligned policy goals and suitable infrastructure were other common influential factors. Projects based in schools succeeded when the aims tied closely to educational attainment goals.

Internal and external barriers

Barriers were reported as either: barriers to the operation of the campaign, or to behavioural change. The former included political changes, limited funding and bureaucratic hurdles. Behavioural change barriers were either pre-empted in the design, or became apparent during the campaign as a lesson for the future. Bike It removed the perceived ‘cost’ of risk of accident to parents by promoting cycle safety education for children and determining safe routes to school. In conjunction, perceived

Discussion

The MAX-SUCCESS project analysed a series of behavioural change campaigns, using social marketing as a contextual framework to understand best practice. Whilst published research on the design of transport-based projects is relatively scarce, the established body of literature which underpins social marketing approaches to behavioural change offers a relevant area to learn from. Parallels can be drawn between successful elements in campaigns of varied lengths, target group size and scope

Conclusion

The EU project MAX-SUCCESS provided a research opportunity to assess the design of travel behavioural change campaigns. Design elements were explored and a framework developed to map the processes and key relationships of campaigns, elements of social marketing theory on behavioural change, policy, networks and the surrounding environment.

A travel awareness campaign can support modal shift on several levels: by raising awareness of reducing car use, highlighting benefits of alternative

Acknowledgement

Funding: the case studies were conducted and analysed as part of the MAX project, which was funded by the EU 6th Framework Programme.

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What are the ingredients of successful travel behavioural change campaigns?

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Marketing travel behavioural change: a social marketing approach

Case study analysis

The dimensions of a travel behavioural change campaign

Aims and preparation

Target audience

Approach

Campaign message and branding

Personnel and networks

Demonstrating benefits

External success factors

Internal and external barriers

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgement

Transport Policy

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour

Transport Policy

Transport Policy

Transport Policy

Public Health

Journal of Nutrition Education

Transport Policy

Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment

Accident Analysis and Prevention

Transport Policy

Transport Policy

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

Transport Policy

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

From intentions to actions: a theory of planned behavior

Social marketing: its definition and domain

Journal of Public Policy and Marketing

Social marketing in the 21st century

Marketing as exchange

The Journal of Marketing

Is a residential relocation a good opportunity to change people's travel behaviour? Results from a theory-driven intervention study

Environment and Behaviour

Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change

Psychological Review

Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency

American Psychologist

An Overview of the social norms approach