Given that Millennials have indicated a strong
desire to support sustainable brands that are environmentally correct, it is
interesting to note that while they "talk the talk," they do not
"walk the walk." In fact, the
older you are the more you care about the environment and the more willing you
are to back your feelings up with appropriate action.
Specifically, according to a Harris Poll of 2,000
U.S. adults, here's the percentage of people who regularly recycle in each age
range:
·
65+: 54%
·
35 - 44: 43%
·
18 - 34: 33%
Clearly there's room for
improvement across the board. (Leblanc, 2016)
Mary C. Long, a columnist from
mediapost.com has a few suggestions. She
believes terms like "green" and "eco-friendly" conjure up
images of folk singers and hippies and need to be updated.
She suggests four messaging
approaches to consider...
1.Save energy/money (LED lights)
2. Increase productivity (making
a difference motivates employees)
3. It's good PR (consumer
loyalty)
4. It's the future (states are
banning plastic bags and bottles) (Long, 2016)
All interesting ideas. How do you think people feel about being more
environmentally responsible in their actions?
Do any of these approaches make sense based on that insight? What about persuasive techniques? Which ones do these messages use and will
that be likely to make them more successful?
Last week I read about an interesting new idea. It's a reverse vending machine, and it's
being deployed in metro stations in Istanbul.
Insert a plastic bottle or aluminum can and credit gets added to your
metro card. They are also rewarding
those with the largest number of recycled containers with free or discounted tickets
to events such as the theater. (Yeginsu, 2018)
So what do you think about this idea? Is it likely to be successful? Why or why not? How will its effects compare with the effects
of the messaging options?
LeBlanc, R. (2016, September 9) Recycling Beliefs Vary Between Generations,
Says Study. thebalancesmb.com. Retrieved
October 23, 2018, from
Long, M. (2016, May 19) Marketing 'Green' To Fuchsia Verticals. mediapost.com. Retrieved October 23, 2018, from
Yeginsu, C. (2018, October 17) Istanbul Vending
Machines Offer Subway Credit for Recycled Bottles and Cans. nytimes.com. Retrieved October 23, 2018, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/world/europe/istanbul-vending-machines-recycling-subway.html
1 comment:
I like the ideas provided by Mary C. Long. In fact, I also believe the terms like “green” and “eco-friendly” are outdated and ineffective. The new ideas which can motivate people to protect the environment are necessary.
Being environment-friendly is good, but there is a question: “why should we pay our attention or money to be environmentally friendly?”. The answer to this question is could be different to people at different ages. We all know that protecting the environment is good for our next generation. This idea works for people who have children. However, young people don’t really care about the next generation before they have kids. The terms “green”, “eco-friendly” or the “future of next generation” are not interesting to young people.
In my opinion, the younger generation would pay more attention to the term “Money”, because young people do need money. The young generation is trying their best to develop their careers to earn more money and have better lives. Thus, if predicting environment contributes to the terms like “saving money”, “increase productivity”, “earn money in the future”, young people will be much more interested in protecting the environment than ever before.
I think the ideas from Mary will be successful. Young people would pay attention to environmental protection when they think about Mary’s four messaging approaches. The young generation may have insight: “Protecting environment help me save money! It is cool and smart to be environment-friendly!” I think May’s approaches are based on reciprocity technology. The potential rewards motivate people to take some actions. If those messages can use consensus technology like “70% of people are using LED lights and they are saving money!”, the messaging approaches will be more successful!
In addition, I think the rewarding metro vending machine is a very very excellent idea. I believe this idea will be very successful for three reasons. First, there are many passengers who take drinks and create a lot of bottles and cans. The bottles and cans problem is always one of the biggest problems in the metro. Those bottles trash causes the train delay and the amazing vending machine can deal with that problem. Second, passengers will be motivated to use the vending machine because they can earn some money, the credits, by using the vending machine. However, the cost of the reverse vending machine could be a problem to the metro company. If the subway company decide to apply this approach. A great number of the reverse vending machine is necessary. If the number of the vending machine is not enough, people will not spend the time to wait for using the reverse vending machine.
Guo Yu
Post a Comment