Consumer Behavior Change & Reuse

Consumer behavior is sometimes a mystery, but for the most part, it’s pretty predictable. Influencing consumer behavior, or rather consumer behavior change, however, is where the real riddle is. It isn’t impossible, though. We see it all the time with pop culture. It’s about the right place, right time, right message, right audience. Right?

Kimberly S. Wolke, with the University of Chicago, and Paul C. Stern, with the Social and Environmental Research Institute and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology list four distinct determinants of human behavior according to their analysis and application of human psychology to consumer behavior in Chapter 6 of Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses. 

Let’s apply these to your new reuse program, so you can start influencing consumer behavior change towards sustainability.

Determinant #1: Knowledge

Ecommerce customers are most likely frustrated with single-use packaging; they just don’t know it, yet. Not until they hear recycling pick-up roll down the street at 7 a.m, remember the overflowing recycling bin, and rush outside in their bathrobe to get it to the curb in time so that this week’s pile isn’t next week’s mountain.

Chances are, customers aren’t fully aware of the better way, you now have to offer. But chances are, you have the information they need to make an informed choice. You’ll want to localize, visualize, and humanize when communicating and educating your customers on your new reuse program. They’re going to ask, “why reusable packaging?” And you’ll have an answer which speaks to their current circumstances and current capacity to understand why reuse is the better choice.

Educate customers on the why but, also, communicate the how and what. Outline the opt-in program. Explain how it’ll improve their ecommerce experience; how it works; what they need to do to participate; what is it they’re contributing to by opting-in. The more they know, and understand, the better. This includes returning the reusable package, too, and therefore, closing the loop.

Returning the Package

Getting the packages back is easy. It just may take some creativity and collectivity. This is where localizing, visualizing, and humanizing the process becomes integral when involving your customers. Once they’ve emptied their package, they simply need to flip the return label over and leave it at their mailbox or local post office for pick up and return.

Again, knowledge is key. As you work to scale your reuse program, don’t be afraid to educate your local carriers about the packaging and what to do with it, too. 

Determinant #2: Personal motivations and values

This one’s tricky because customers are definitely going to have their own motivations and values behind their behaviors. I’ll do what I want. And that’s cool. But to engage your customers so that they opt-in to reuse and return the package, your brand messaging must inspire. 

Wolke and Stern write, “Values are theorized to influence worldviews about the relationship of humans and nature, which, in turn, influence-specific beliefs about the consequences of environmental problems and actions.” Customers care about the environment. They care about their impact. They care about climate change and sustainability. They’re just on auto-pilot. 

Position your customers as the ambassadors of their own sustainability journeys when they opt-in to reuse by aligning the environmental, economical, and social benefits of using reusable packaging. This will assure your customers they can value the environment and enjoy shopping – guilt and worry-free. The shared values between you and your customer will then make them feel supported as they confront their current motivations and values in changing them. 

In other words, they’ll start to believe in these new motivations and values you, as their retailer, present, and believing in something means they trust you to guide them through it. Trust is everything.

Determinant #3: Beliefs, attitudes, and habits

We’ve consumed goods in much the same way for 150 years, meaning retailers have been shipping with single-use for about as long as anyone can remember. Consumer beliefs, attitudes, and habits, then, have been engrained based on an outdated system. Sure, we’ve had the “Don’t be a Litterbug” and “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” campaigns which have positively impacted consumption and waste management. But the narratives were transfigured in translation from intent to action.

There’s a reason, “reduce and reuse” are first and second to recycling. It isn’t the end-all solution for waste management if there’s more and more waste being produced. The solution, then, is to reduce waste and reuse what’s in circulation. Therefore, to shift your customers’ behavior from single-use to reuse is to shift their beliefs, attitudes, and habits from “take-make-dispose” to “reduce and reuse.”

How do you do that?

Wolke and Stern write, “The theory of planned behavior proposes that intentions to engage in a behavior are the outcome of three factors: attitudes about the behavior; subjective norms (i.e. social pressure), and perceived behavioral control (i.e. perceived ability to enact the behavior).” In other words, make reuse easy, exciting, and exclusive – yes, we said exclusive – and you’ll influence your customers’ beliefs, attitudes, and habits surrounding sustainability.

Exclusivity adds a touch of subjective norms. Customers opting for reusable packaging become your new VIPs. Existing customers? Upgrade and retain them. New customers? Introduce and excite them. And you’ll want to reward your participating customers by providing incentives for their exclusivity. Whether this is earned discounts or rewards with each order and package return cycle, or other perks and benefits – exclusivity will drive people to perform a behavior because they’ll want to be included. It’s human nature. So long as they feel good about what they’re doing and are capable of doing it.

Determinant #4: Context

Context is different from knowledge in that there are always variables your customer cannot control. However, that doesn’t mean these variables impede on feasibility. They simply create obstacles. “For some behaviors, supportive policies that reduce costs, make the behavior more convenient, and provide necessary infrastructure are critical,” explains Wolke and Stern. 

Think back to the customer rushing outside with their recycling in their bathrobe. What if they lived on the top floor of an apartment complex? What if they lived in a city without a recycling program at all? Knowledge is knowing there’s a solution. Context is making the solution fit. Show your customers using reusable packaging. Show them you’re invested in more than the packaging or in the program but in its efforts of improving their experiences and the environment.

Similar to pop culture, reuse must be exclusive to catch, then inclusive to survive. Show your customers that they can join the revolution and become a part of the solution, and they will.

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