Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and

Integration

Social Issues Fact Sheet: 3

Developing Personal Responsibility for

Fuels Reduction: More Ways to Catch and

Hold Peopleís Attention

United States

Department

of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Research Note

RMRS-RN-21-3-WWW

September 2004

In other fact sheets, we discuss the different types of information that are useful

in explaining to property owners the importance of taking personal responsibility for fuels management on their land. However, for some property owners, new

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin. Following a windstorm, this property owner recognized the need

to improve access to his home. This commitment to action

provided the local forester an opportunity to develop a thinning proposal that reduces fuels loads and at the same time

widens and straightens the driveway (photo credit: Pam

Jakes).

considered. Knowing your audience is critical to making your message personally relevant and useful. More information on the importance of knowing your

audience for effective programs will appear in future fact sheets in this series.

Vivid informationóVivid information grabs us emotionally, triggers our imagination, and is immediate in a sensory, temporal, or spatial way. Spice up your

text by writing actively: using action verbs, referring to concrete details, tossing

in a few colorful adjectives, and when appropriate, including meaningful quotes.

Retrieval cuesóOften you are passing along some information that people

canít put to use immediately but will need at a later time. The trick is to get them

to remember that information at the appropriate time. To help them do that, you

can provide cues. An example is getting people to remember the appropriate

response to an evacuation order. Using a vivid image when you are conveying

the message, such as boxes being carried from a home to a vehicle for evacuation, brings forth a memory of that event and will reinforce your message regarding the evacuation process. By using the same image or cue in diverse media, you

can help ensure that your basic message is reinforced and remembered.

PromptsóCues help people to recall a message to trigger an action at a later

time, while prompts remind people of actions to be taken now. Prompts need to

be placed as close as possible to the location where the desired behavior will

information is not enoughóthey

may need more information in

order to understand that change

is necessary. In this fact sheet,

we discuss ways to catch and

hold peopleís attention so that they

become (and stay) engaged in fuels reduction activities.

Catching and Holding

Peopleís Attention

Personal relevance and usefulnessóYou want your message

to grab the property ownerís attention and be stored in his or her

memory, to recall it at the right

time. The relevant and useful

messages will be most seriously

Social Science Team Co-Leads:

Pam Jakes

Sue Barro

USDA Forest Service

North Central Research Station

1992 Folwell Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55108

Fuels planning: Science synthesis and

integration, an interagency research/

management partnership to support

the Ten-Year Fire Plan, led by Russell

T. Graham, RMRS, and Sarah M.

McCaffrey, NCRS.

Synthesizing

Scientific Information

for Fire and Fuels

Project Managers

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

The information for this

fact sheet was provided

by Dr. Martha Monroe

and Ms. Lisa Pennisi,

University of Florida.
The Fuels Planning fact sheets are based on preliminary findings. Information from fact sheets will be synthesized in an upcoming publication.

take place. For example, stickers attached to garden tools

or trashcans can remind homeowners while they are

pruning trees or raking pine needles to dispose of slash

or other potential fuels appropriately. A lawn sign can

remind neighbors to place their slash on the curb for scheduled community pick-up.

Other Ways to Approach People

CommitmentóIf you can get a property owner to commit to some behavior or course of action, even if it is

small, you will often hook them into the larger program.

When people commit to an action it affects the way

they perceive themselves. Even doing something as minor as putting a sticker on a window or sign in the lawn

will make it more likely that that person will commit to

a larger act. Thatís because once a person takes action,

they begin to see themselves as the kind of person who

supports that behavior. This makes it more likely that

they will take the next, perhaps bigger, step.

Asking people to do an onerous task and being refused

will often allow you to get commitment from them to

do a smaller task. These techniques have been widely

used in changing behaviors related to energy efficiency,

recycling, pedestrian safety, and recreation.

IncentivesóIncentives can either reward people for

ìgoodî behavior (positive incentives) or punish them

for ìbadî behavior (negative incentives). The most successful incentives closely link the incentive with the

behaviorófor example, reducing home insurance rates

for those who create defensible space or offering coupons for purchasing less-flammable plants. Negative

incentives are usually less successful than positive

incentives because people focus on how to avoid being

caught. Pairing incentives with one of the other persuasion techniques discussed above can increase the power

of the message. For example, when people sign up for a

contest or a raffle they often interpret that as a written

commitment to support the broader contest objectives.

A prize or other recognition that is publicized among

neighbors is effective for those who are motivated by

what others think.

Incentives work best for a discrete behavior or a behavior occurring over a short timeframe. It is tricky to use

incentives to encourage long-term behavior change because people will expect to continue receiving the incentive as long as they maintain the favored behavior.

If the incentive is removed, the desired behavior often

stops. Worse still, some people who performed the desired behavior before the incentive was introduced may

also stop performing the behavior because they too have

linked the behavior to the incentive.

Other fact sheets in this series will be available in the

forthcoming months.

Social Science Team Fact Sheets

Look for fact sheet topics from the Social Science Team including

information on developing personal responsibility for fuels reduction, communicating fire hazard, topics for community fire plans,

guidelines for community education, and the ìgolden ruleî for communicating fire hazard to people.

Fuels Planning: Synthesis and Integration

This fact sheet is one in a series being produced as part of a larger

project supported by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize new

knowledge and information relevant to fire and fuels management.

Fact sheets address topics related to stand structure, environmental

impacts, economics, and human responses to these factors. Information in the fact sheets is targeted for the dry forests of the Inland

West, but is often applicable across broad regions of the country.

For more information, please visit our Web site at::

www.fs.fed.us/fire/tech_transfer/synthesis/synthesis_index