NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Community-Based Social Marketing

Fostering Energy 

Conservation Behavior

Amy Hollander

January 11, 2011

NREL/PR-7A20-50349
NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

CBSM Creating effective 

community 

programs to 

foster sustainable 

behavior

...Doug 

McKenzie-Mohr
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Challenges for SERC Client Education

3

Client education is the most challenging, 

yet most neglected part of weatherization

• Clients can greatly benefit from energy 

education

• Very difficult to measure success

• Difficult to break through when low-income 

populations are facing more serious 

challenges
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SERC Grant Goals within CBSM

4

The CBSM activity should be attempting to change 

clients’ behavior to save energy. This activity is 

analogous to a new “technology” allowed in SERC for 

the first time: it needs to be saving energy in-and-ofitself, not marketing for other services.

Examples of behavior change: 

• Program for turning off lights

• Setting thermostats

• Saving water (esp. where hot water)

• Learning about CFLs, debunking the myths about CFLs

• Energy coaching 
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SERC Grant Goals within CBSM

5

1. SERC dollars must not be used for items funded by 

regular weatherization grants

2. SERC dollars can be used congruently on units 

receiving weatherization services

3. SERC dollars can be used on units that received 

weatherization in the past

4. SERC dollars can be combined with utility dollars or 

other sources
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Program 

Design

“The failure of mass media campaigns to foster 

sustainable behavior is due in part to the poor 

design of the messages, but more importantly 

to an underestimation of the difficulty of 

changing behavior....Information campaigns 

alone will rarely bring about behavior change.”

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Promoting Client 

Education 

7

• Conventional 

methods to 

promote 

behavior 

change are 

often ineffective
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Four Marketing Styles

8

1. One-on-one conversation

2. Television

3. Radio

4. The printed word (flyers, 

brochures, junk mail)

Community-based social marketing expands on the 

person-to-person social interaction.
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Program Design

9

1. Identify Barriers and Benefits

2. Commitment: Move good intentions to ACTION

3. Prompts: Reminders to conserve energy

4. Build Social Norms –How did greening America get 

so popular?

5. Marketing Your Message

6. Incentives-Enhancing Motivation to Act

7. Removing External Barriers

8. Evaluate
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Uncovering Barriers and Benefits

A VARIETY of barriers exist for most energy-saving 

behaviors, and the barriers differ for each behavior. 

To change a behavior, you need to figure out those 

barriers!

1. Literature Search

• Identify your mandate (target behaviors)

• Review articles and reports

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Uncovering Barriers and Benefits

2. Qualitative Research

• Observational Studies

– Reliable information

– Offers an understanding of people’s performance that is un- captured (stress of participant, ease of behavior, effective 

outcome)

– E.g.: Have energy auditors observe clients ability to change 

behavior

• Focus Groups

– Opportunity to discuss in-depth perceptions

– 6-8 individuals paid to discuss what the literature review has 

identified as important

– Clearly defined questions to randomly chosen community 

members

– E.g.: Conduct with low-income to discover their attitudes 

towards conserving energy

– E.g.: Conduct focus group on how low-income may respond to 

energy counseling

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Uncovering Barriers and Benefits

3. Survey

• Less expensive

• Mailed survey’s (05% to 20% response rate) result in responses 

from already interested participants

• Phone surveys provide more random samples and result in 

more accurate assessment of current community attitudes and 

behaviors

• E.g.: Survey low-income clients to measure what they already 

do to save energy

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Build Commitment 

Written Pledge

•People have a strong desire to 

be seen as consistent

•Keep it simple

•Non-authoritarian

•E.g.: I pledge to use the clothes 

line every four loads of laundry

•E.g.: I pledge to lower my 

thermostat at night and when I 

leave the house

•Offer a pledge card after energy 

coaching

Block Leaders

•Neighbor to neighbor

•Community Leaders

•E.g.: Identify community IT 

experts who can assist with 

Google power meters

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•Yard signs are much more effective than mailings if able to 

target neighborhoods or multifamily units

•Stickers on light switches

•Notes of praise for achieved energy savings and 

reminders after retrofits are performed

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Prompts: Effective Reminders

Energy 

Saving

Meeting 

Tomorrow
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Build Social Norms

15

•Inner-community modeling

• Neighborhoods organizing to save energy inspires 

• Peer-to-Peer challenges or competitions are successful

• E.g.: 1930s farmers received brochures to encouraged topsoil 

mitigation. Brochures failed, but working directly with farmers 

was successful. Within their own group, some modeled, and 

others followed.
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•Community Norms

• Energy conservation gives low-income residents 

a way to contribute to the greater good. 

• Low-income residents will respond well when 

their own leaders are setting examples.

• Low-income residents enjoy helping and 

becoming block leaders or community organizers. 

CBSM can offer this sense of pride.

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Social Norms
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•Know your audience

•Use nonpolitical language (improve air quality, help 

asthma sufferers, reduce pollution)

•Make your message easy to remember

•Make your message specific

•Provide feedback about the impact of saving energy 

– 1 CFL will save 300 lbs of carbon dioxide and $60/life of bulb 

– 1 incandescent bulb will consume 82 pounds of coal over its life 

span, 100x more than a CFL 

– 1 CFL saves 75% in electricity compared to an incandescent 

bulb

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Marketing Your Message 

“The major influence on our attitudes and behavior is 

not the media, but rather our contact with other 

people.”
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Offer Selected Information

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•Listen to client’s interests

•Use neutral language (pollution, air quality, energy 

reduction)

•Only give paper or DVD information on what they 

relate to (carry accordion files)

•Suggest they tell their friends and family about 

resources and retrofits

•Thank them for contributing to the nation’s efforts to 

reduce energy consumption

•Always stay positive and avoid fear arousing 

messages
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Incentives

Incentives, financial or not, can 

provide the motivation.

Goal: create incentives, and remove 

disincentives

•Examples applicable for SERC:

• Prizes for high energy savings

• Competition amongst neighborhoods

• Public recognition (i.e., name in the 

paper)

• Fiesta or block party

• Energy reports with “smiley” faces 

where progress has been made

• Note: avoid junk giveaways (key 

chains, pens, magnets)

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Removing External Barriers

Identify your 

Barriers

• Cost

• Inconvenience

• Unpleasant

Create solutions

• Utilities spend millions 

marketing energy 

conservation. Instead 

spend millions on 

retrofits and the good 

word will travel person 

to person, community 

to community.

• Schedule audits 

around your client’s 

work/school schedule

• Train crews to leave 

home cleaner than 

before their arrival

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1. Design and Evaluate

1. Design

2. Pilot

3. Implement

4. Evaluate

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•Identify Barriers & 

Benefits

•Tools (Use focus groups, 

surveys and research)

Design
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2. Pilot 

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Your Pilot will provide more 

information than the best 

planning 
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3. Implementation

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Implement only after a pilot

Design your program to 

be flexible at 

implementation 
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4. Evaluation

24

Evaluation is 

priceless and at a 

minimum should 

include customer 

feedback!
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•Fostering Sustainable Behavior

Community-Based Social Marketing

Free Membership on website:

http://www.cbsm.com/public/world.lasso

•Workbook: Tools of Change: Proven Methods for Promoting 

Environmental Citizenship

• Offers specific tools and case studies 

• Best practices

• 176 pages

•Doug McKenzie-Mohr –author and environmental psychologist

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Resources
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Example: Neighborhood Energy Sweeps

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Can use weatherization funds for ECMs, utility dollars for non- eligible low-income ECMs and SERC dollars for energy education

•One-on-one engagement

•Identify their human interests and desires

•Offer resources that work (don’t inundate with 

paper)

•Directly install the energy conservation 

measures

•Suggest behavior changes (nonauthoritarian)
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Develop Program

CU 

Environmental 

Center Students

Train on 

Concept

Energetic 

Concepts

Senior 

Volunteers

Train on 

Concept

Trusted 

Wisdom

Low-Income 

Neighborhood

Door to 

Door

50% Entry 

rate to 

install items
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Energy Sweep Results for 1 Saturday and $10,000

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Of the 327 homes swept:

•180 received devices and/or education (55%)

•179,000 kWh/yr, 2,650 therms/yr saved

•162 mTons/yr of GHG emission reductions

•$19,000 total annual utility savings to residents
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

•Please send your questions by typing in the questions 

box on the screen.

•Networking Opportunity - Please type notify us in the 

questions box if you want to be part of the CBSM 

conference call to share program ideas. Include your 

email.

•Amy Hollander can mail you a budget and planning 

examples of neighborhood energy sweep if interested.

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End of Presentation
NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Amy Hollander

National Renewable Energy 

Lab

Amy Hollander

303-275-3198

Amy.Hollander@NREL.gov