REFINING AN AKA -B MODEL FOR GREATER BEHAVIOR CHANGE

15 Pages·2012·0.84 MB·English

REFINING AN AKA-B MODEL FOR
GREATER BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Katherine V. Randazzo, Ph.D., Opinion Dynamics
Jane S. Peters, Ph.D., Research Into Action
Caroline Chen, Statwizards
Brian Smith, PG&E; Andrew Fessel, PG&E
Introduction
 This presentation is about going beyond the low-hanging fruit in promoting
energy-efficient behavior
 For many years the dominant “model” of how to get customers to save
energy was the PTEM (Physical-Technical-Economic Model)
 Incent people to purchase technologies and the technologies will save
the energy
 This was enough for a while, but we have less low-hanging fruit now
 I’m going to talk about using a conceptual model of change to help us think
about how to go beyond where we have been
 How do we go beyond installing lighting and certain one-time purchases?
 How do we get to the human element and to durable changes in the use of
the energy-efficient products?
 How do we avoid take-back?

Refining the AKA-B Model 2
Background
 California’s IOUs have long used a simple model of behavior change to think
about influencing customers to change their energy efficiency behavior
 AKA or AKA-B
 Awareness, Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior
 Shows up in most program logic models and statewide program planning metrics

 The CA IOUs wanted an assessment of the currency & usefulness of AKA
 AKA toward what? Programs? Energy efficiency? A technology?
 Attitudes are not enough to change behavior
 Subsequently, jointly we developed a revised model and generated generic
questionnaire items
 to track movement of customers based on that model
 and describe participants and non-participants at any point in time to see if
the programs were reaching the right customers

Refining the AKA-B Model 3
Revised Model (synthesized from a variety of literatures)
(these aren’t actual interview questions)
 Stage Model—not causal  Addresses durable change-not one-
 Can be used for different motivational time or immediate decisions
domains  Can be used for general or specific
 Environmental objects of awareness etc
 Financial  Program
 Comfort  Technology/appliance, etc

Refining the AKA-B Model 4
Mapping Revised Model to Original AKA-B
ak A B
 Awareness and Knowledge Collapsed
 Attitude expanded into
 Concern
 Personal Responsibility
 Intention Added
 Behavior Expanded into
 Behavior Change
 Maintenance

Refining the AKA-B Model 5
Some Uses of the Model
 Describes where customers are in the process of changing behavior in a sustained
way
 Knowing this helps with messaging and targeting
 If target customers are already far along, then information will not be
effective
 If customer is not knowledgeable, then information may be most effective
 Provides new insight into the decision drivers for participants and nonparticipants,
possibly a better estimate of true readiness to adopt technology and change
habits on their own
 Can be combined with segmentation to even better describe
customers/participants/non-participants
 Provides guidance on what to measure and at what point

Refining the AKA-B Model 6
Causal Model with Intervention Points
Refining the AKA-B Model 7
What We Did Next
 Developed questionnaire items to measure each construct
 Reliability and validity good—following two pre tests testing nearly 100 items
 Some insights from our initial uses of the model:
 It is essential to distinguish between influencing someone to make an energy-
efficient purchase (or behavior) on one occasion versus influencing sustained
changes (we knew this before but testing the model reminded us)
 It is easier to predict/influence specific attitudes and behaviors than general
ones
 But general attitudes may be important as the context in which to influence
specific behaviors at any given moment
 Triggers
 Making new behaviors convenient
 It is a lot to ask for a specific utility/third party program to change customers’
environmental awareness or convince them to take personal responsibility for
it!

Refining the AKA-B Model 8
Refined Model (representing insights from prior slide)

General KAwnoawrelendegsse/ / Concern RePspeorsnosniba ill it y Intention BCehhaanvgieo r Maintenance

Awareness/ Behavior
Knowledge Intention Change

Specific Program
Provides
Program
Trigger
Information
Program
Program Makes it
Messaging
Convenient to Change
Provides Decision Habit
Heuristics
Overcoming Barriers:
Examples
 But programs can build on a foundation of environmental awareness/concern that
was built by mass media campaigns
Refining the AKA-B Model 9
Examples: General akAB Messaging
Making the connection between energy and the environment
(AK)
Refining the AKA-B Model 10