5.3.8.2 Drivers of Consumption
If energy use, GHG mitigation, and cost-minimization are peripheral interests
in most people’s everyday lives, it might be helpful to consider what does
shape their consumption patterns. The influences on human behaviour are complex,
and can be described and understood in many different ways. Insights can be
found in several disciplines, including anthropology, biology, economics, mathematics,
sociology, philosophy, and psychology. Michaelis (2000a) summarizes some of
the different drivers of consumption patterns. They include
- demographic, economic, and technological change;
- resources, infrastructure, and time constraints;
- motivation, habit, need, and compulsion; and
- social structures, identities, discourse, and symbols
The first and second of these groups of influences are addressed elsewhere
in the TAR and in this chapter, and will not be considered here. The current
section focuses on the third and fourth groups. It draws partly on an IPCC expert
meeting held in Karlsruhe in March 2000 (German Federal Ministry of Environment,
2000b). It also considers the insights to be gained from viewing behavioural
change as an innovation process.
| Table 5.2: Strategies for risk management in social
dilemmas and barriers to transformations of unsustainable behaviour (Vlek
et al., 1999) |
 |
| Strategy |
Method |
Barrier |
|
| Provision of physical alternatives, (re)arrangements |
Adjusting /depleting /changing behaviour options, enhancing efficacy |
- Absence of physical or technical alternatives
- Failure to identify, or disbelief in feasible alternatives
- Unwillingness to make feasible alternatives available
- Inability to utilize available alternatives |
| Regulation-and-enforcement |
Enacting laws, rules; setting and/or enforcing standards, norms |
- Absence of pertinent laws or regulations
- Insufficient and/or ineffective law enforcement
- Disbelief in effectiveness of law or regulation
- Inability to abide by law or regulation |
| Financial-economic stimulation |
Rewards and/or fines, taxes, subsidies, posting bonds |
- Absence of financial incentives (rewards and punishments)
- Inconsistency of financial incentive systems
- Insufficient, ineffective financial incentives
- Incentive systems justifying squandering (“I paid for it”) |
| Provision of information, education, communication reduction strategies |
About risk generation, types and levels of risk, others’ perceptions
and intentions, risk reduction strategies |
- Lack of Knowledge (LoK) accumulating negative externalities
- LoK about own causal role and possible contribution to solution
- LoK about others’ problem awareness and willingness to co-operate
- Uninformed expectations about effects of proposed policies |
| Social modelling and support |
Demonstrating co-operative behaviour, others’ efficacy |
- Absence of invisibility of model behaviour by opinion leaders
- Fear of setting public examples and living by principles
- Inability to understand and follow visible model behaviours
- Failure of managers to provide needed social support |
| Organizational change |
Resource privatization, sanctioning system, leadership institution, organization
for self-regulation |
- Too large organization, too much diffusion of responsibility
- Organization form obscuring negative externalities
- Inefficient organization requiring unnecessary energy, materials, and
labour |
| Changing values and morality |
Appeal to conscience, enhancing “altruism” towards others and
future generations, reducing “here and now” selfishness |
- Personal identity associated to material possessions and consumption
- Importance of social superiority in spending capacity
- View of “whole world as my playground”
- Basic attitude biased against (“hostile”) natural environment
- Inability to feel responsibility for future generations |
|
|