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June 2011

Research Debrief. June 2011. PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL: Carbon Reduction Study. CONTENTS. Strategic Overview Research Objectives Methodology Summary Main Findings Attitudes to Carbon Reduction Issues Domestic Residents Landlords SMEs Next Steps: Action Plan. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW.

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June 2011

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  1. Research Debrief June 2011 PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL: Carbon Reduction Study

  2. CONTENTS • Strategic Overview • Research Objectives • Methodology Summary • Main Findings • Attitudes to Carbon Reduction Issues • Domestic Residents • Landlords • SMEs • Next Steps: Action Plan

  3. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW • Plymouth City Council is one of 9 local authorities that have been selected as national pilots, looking at the best ways of reducing carbon dioxide emissions • Ambitious targets have been set, to reduce CO2: • by 20% by 2013 • by 60% by 2020 • by 80% by 2050 • The action plan is focussed on businesses and industry, but will also encompass the general public, and social marketing campaigns will be conducted aimed at changing behaviours which produce carbon dioxide • This research project will help to explore attitudes to these issues, in order to identify the types of messages and actions that will be most effective

  4. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW • Before the fieldwork began a series of meetings and discussions revealed the following priorities: • Owners of domestic properties – owner-occupiers and landlords – can have a considerable impact on their carbon footprints by attending to three highly cost-effective enhancements: 1. Insulating cavity walls 2. Insulating the loft thoroughly 3. Replacing old boilers • Transport creates a substantial amount of preventable carbon dioxide which can be addressed by local actions • Central Government/EU policy has focussed on larger business users of energy which largely excludes SMEs. Hence, the importance of encompassing smaller companies in this national pilot, and understanding their likely triggers within the scope of our study • With thanks to PCC staff and to Exeter University for their input and advice during the scoping stage. These insights helped to focus this study on audiences who can make a real difference

  5. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Overall Research Objective: to understand attitudes to carbon reduction, and to identify the best ways of changing behaviours • How do people feel about climate change? To what extent do they accept their own contribution to the problem, do they have a sense of ownership for the issue? • Do they understand the likely impact of carbon dioxide emissions, and to what extent do they embrace the need for them to reduce their own carbon footprint? • What are the barriers to making changes in behaviour? • What kinds of triggers are likely to be most effective? • What awareness is there for Government schemes to encourage behaviour change? • And how do they feel about these schemes – have they taken part? If not, why not? Which are most likely to encourage their participation? • Which audiences are most likely to engage, and which are least likely to?

  6. SCOPING MEETING DISCUSSION GUIDE/STIMULI CO-CREATION FOCUS GROUPS – OWNERS & LANDLORDS SME DEPTHS/MINI-GROUPS ANALYSIS DEBRIEF METHODOLOGY SUMMARY • POST-DEBRIEF IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT • QUANTIFICATION 6

  7. METHODOLOGY Fieldwork spread across 3 separate samples We would encourage more extensive fieldwork amongst key target groups And quantification of attitudes remains strongly recommended • 2 Focus Groups with home-owners • Split by household income • Recruited from postal codes with a high likelihood of cavity walls • 2 Focus Groups with landlords • across a range of numbers of rental properties (from 1 to 10+) • 2 Mini-groups and 7 depth interviews with SMEs • Aiming for a range of industry sectors and size • 3 depth interviews conducted face to face and 4 on the phone • Fieldwork all took place during May 2011 • All fieldwork and analysis conducted by Carolyn Bird and Simon Strutt Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  8. MAIN FINDINGS: Attitudes to Carbon Reduction Issues

  9. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:Different perspectives – different segments There were a huge range of perspectives: • Some were convinced about Global Warming and the role of the human race in causing it: ‘I think the human race has contributed to global warming, definitely contributed’ ‘The evidence is getting to the point now that it's hard to say there isn't a correlation between human activities and the statistics coming out with regard to climate change’ • Though for some, doubts remained: ‘I'm a believer. I'm not sure it can be proven. But recent changes have been so drastic, and given what we do it makes sense that we’re at least exacerbating what's happening, even if we’re not the main cause of it’ ‘I think we’re having an effect on the climate, nobody really knows for certain’ • Extreme Weather Events (real or perceived) seemed for many to be the most convincing evidence for Global Warming: ‘Over here I think it's happening more often, Boscastle, but since then we've had Tewkesbury and lots of other things…. Bangladesh…it is becoming more and more a case’‘so many weird freak weather conditions’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  10. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:Different perspectives – different segments • ‘Tend to be Good’: Some followed the established advice on climate change – but largely because they were ‘pretty good anyway’: ‘It's just a consciousness of doing your bit, not just reducing your bills but trying to keep the planet safe’‘I don’t like waste anyway so I try not to waste’‘I'm a little bit of a goody, goody I guess, it's mainly altruistic and just feeling I should be doing the decent thing’ • This segment often talked about avoiding waste as being part of a good upbringing and sound education: ‘I am very much trying to be environmentally friendly, I think it's also the way I've been brought up as well, it's watching the pennies aspect. My mum was always like that’ ‘There's no embarrassment in Plymouth about living frugally’ ‘I've always encouraged my children to be frugal really. It's not that we can't afford it it's just stupid to be wasteful isn't it’ ‘It's education I think’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  11. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:Different perspectives – different segments But we had shades of scepticism from a large minority across the sample: • Either thinking that we may not be the cause of any climatic variations ‘what we’re doing (is) a drop in the ocean’ and several mentioned volcanoes as putting the human contribution in the shade:‘I'm still not convinced it's mankind that’s actually making that much, I'm sure I've read somewhere that volcanoes give out 8 times as much carbon as we ever produce’ ‘Some of it's a load of bull. A volcano recently kicked out something like 10 years worth of what we’re doing in the cars, so come on it's so small’ • In particular, the idea that this is just another of the earth’s natural climatic cycles was commonly mentioned: ‘the earth has gone through ice ages and hot periods through its history before we were ever here’ ‘The earth over the generations, centuries has gone like that anyway, cycle, it has been a whole lot warmer and it has been a lot colder. So I don't think it is a worry, I don't think you can make much difference’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  12. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:Different perspectives – different segments • Or they sensed some kind of conspiracy: ‘There's a lot of people with self-serving motives’ ‘I think Governments, successive Governments are over obsessive about the whole issue, it’s a damned good reason to tax’‘I think a lot of it is just a con’‘I think sometimes there's a lot of people jump on the bandwagon, especially politicians, green issues right I’ll get votes for that if I say I'm going to do something’ • Or that there isn’t much that they can do about it – largely focussing on the UK impact being insignificant: ‘this country seems to do it a lot, America and China don’t care…if everyone else is not bothering you're on a hiding to nothing’ ‘it’s like a drop in the ocean, you could be slogging yourself to death and everybody else is not bothering’‘if everybody was doing the same’ ‘You look at China all that pollution, are they doing anything, look at America look at all the big cars there’ • Or they blamed others – public transport, retailers etc: ‘They ask you to do these things but they don’t provide the means for you to do it’‘The shops don’t make it easy either with the packaging’ ‘the Government needs to step in and make sure that the big stores don’t have so much packaging’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  13. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:Different perspectives – different segments Following a blitz of media coverage over many years, views seem fairly well established • Confusion (urban myths?) was widespread, and many were happy to admit it: ‘I'm sure I read the production of solar panels is way worse carbon footprint than coal anyway. I think the chemicals used poison the environment’ ‘you hear so many different conflicting sides’‘I often think about all these electric cars and bicycles, you're plugging in a 3 pin plug and to get that electricity to that you’ve either got a diesel generator pumping away somewhere with emissions’ • And others were just not bothered: ‘A lot of people say what about the next generation, well I just think 3 or 4 generations I'm not going to be here, so. I mean that sounds horrible but I really don’t care’ ‘I suppose there is evidence to support it but then if you worry about it all the time you wouldn’t actually be able to live would you’‘it doesn’t really worry me’ ‘I’m going to confess to being totally bloody disinterested’(does climate change affect your business decisions?)‘No it doesn’t, not really’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  14. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:Segmental perspectives Tend to ‘be good’ DARK GREEN LIGHT GREEN SENSIBLY FRUGAL CONFUSED/NOT BOTHERED Sceptical about Global Warming Embrace Global Warming BLAMER/ DEPENDENCY MERCENARY SCEPTICS Less good NOTE: we didn’t meet dark greens during this study (although we have in previous environmental projects) Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  15. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES: Scepticism Belief Not bothered Part of general good behaviour Confused Understand Selfish Doing their bit Lead from the front What about the Chinese! Someone else needs to pay Prepared to make an effort Money Money A diversity of views… but everyone is concerned about the impact on their finances – fuel bills and the cost of making changes Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  16. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:The Plymouth perspective Plymouth is thought to be a frugal place - for reasons of history and lack of money • When asked how Plymouth as a City impacts on carbon issues, traffic was cited as a major issue, with the large increase in the number of cars over recent years ‘the amount of cars coming in, yes, the amount of people coming into Plymouth, it’s gone really big in the last 15 years’ ‘fumes’ • Some thought that Plymouth populations and those in the surrounding areas were better behaved than most: ‘This part of the country, particular Devon and Cornwall I think we are quite on the ball with regard to things like this…we want to keep it beautiful’ ‘Everybody I know has an allotment or grows vegetables, everybody I know shops in charity shops’‘I know quite a few people who make their own clothes, just a load of hippies really’ • But perhaps less well advanced on insulation etc: ‘so many of the properties are old and not well insulated’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  17. ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARBON REDUCTION ISSUES:“Have you ever measured your carbon footprint?” Very little knowledge about how to do this – and some unfamiliar with the expression • Only two in our sample – across all three cells – had ever tried to do this: ‘It's just a phrase to me’ • Many were confused or unsure of how to do it: ‘When you say carbon footprint, where are you walking, what footprint are you talking about?’ ‘I haven't, no. I wouldn’t have a clue’‘how do you measure it?’ ‘You're buying bananas then it's how much energy it's taken to grow it, packaging, send it from the Dominican Republic and then you drive in your car to the supermarket…how can you quantify that?’ • Two SMEs claimed to have measured their carbon footprint: ‘I did a couple of years ago before I actually turned over to low energy light bulbs. I think I was in about the 2¼ to 2½ tonnes per year. I've reduced (mileage) down to less than 10 (‘000 miles per year) now. I think the light bulbs are a token gesture really. It does have an effect but I think the…one thing that really stood out was…insulation’ ‘I've tried on the website before, it said if I reduced the electricity usage by 10% I would save something like 320 tonnes of carbon a year’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  18. THE MARKETING WORKS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE MODEL

  19. 4½ STEPS TO CHANGE BEHAVIOUROur programme for identifying the levers of change • 1. Background Context • How does the behaviour fit into their attitudes to life? Their aims, aspirations and pressures • 2. Understanding Current Behaviour: • How do they behave currently and why? • 3. Barriers to Change: • Why don’t they change their behaviour – what stops them? What gets in the way? • 4. Triggers: • What might trigger a change? Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  20. 4½ STEPS TO CHANGE BEHAVIOURThe extra half step… • Behavioural Economics says… • Sometimes, our actions are not driven by rational motivations • And we may struggle to explain them… • What we say may not be what we do • Motivations may not be what they appear: • We need to listen out for peer pressure, emotional triggers, the unconscious and intuition • Nudges: • This can lead us to identify less rational nudges which can create behaviour which catches on across tribes Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  21. HISTORIC BENCHMARKSEnvironmental Behaviour Change 3. Carbon Reduction 2. Dog mess • Recycling Why change? Risk of disease Disgusting! Save the planet Cut waste ? Enforcement Charging in some locations Yes: £50 fine ? How? Collection from doorstep Free equipment from retailers ? Peer pressure? Very important – visible evidence! Very important – easily spotted – especially among dog owning community ? Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  22. MAIN FINDINGS: Carbon Reduction – Domestic Residents

  23. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS CONTEXT:Existing Insulation • Most had insulated their properties to a greater or lesser extent, including loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, new windows and double glazing. • The motivation varied, with several taking advantage of Government schemes and grants either directly or through Companies who had grants. ‘Because I was on benefits at the time it was a Government incentive’ • For some, it was done as part of an ongoing scheme to upgrade and improve their homes ‘he put insulation in behind the walls, but that’s only in the rooms we’ve decorated’ ‘it just needed to be done, it was mixture of everything, a house should have insulation now shouldn’t it?’ • For others the main motivation was warmth and comfort ‘purely because the place was freezing cold’ • There was mixed views on the efficacy of the improvements with some saying that their heating bills had reduced ‘ £27 a month electric I’m paying at the moment, there’s 4 of us in the property. It used to be £27 a month but it was only just me in the house’ whilst others reported little change. ‘They re-did the loft insulation and also the cavity wall insulation, I don’t think it’s made much difference, any of it. My neighbour says the same, not affected the fuel bill’ ‘I don’t think the insulation makes any difference’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  24. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Spontaneous: “What would encourage you to be more energy efficient?” Apathy and cynicism are high with this target group • The need for more information, education and expert advice was cited. ‘I’d like to insulate the house but I don’t know where to start and no-one seems able to advise me’ ‘I often think about solar heating, I think that’s a subject we could all do with knowing more about’ • And they would need to be convinced that the financial rewards would make the effort worth their while ‘knowing exactly how much it would cost upfront and what the rewards would be and being more specific, we’d be able to make an informed decision’ • With regard to travel; free public transport, better public transport, installing trams and more cycle lanes might help, but the convenience of the car will be difficult to beat. ‘We’re entitled to get free bus passes but we haven’t bothered, we use the car’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  25. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:3 main reasons you might make a change? • We asked them to identify the three main reasons that they might consider changing their behaviour. They struggled to identify any reasons at all. ‘I can’t think of any ways’ • However saving money was the main motivation ‘I might buy a smaller car and that would save me money on petrol’ ‘cost benefits to me and the family’ • Evidence and proof that changing their behaviour would have some impact on climate change was also felt to be important. ‘Before I’m prepared to spend money which I haven’t got, I’d like some concrete proof that the carbon footprint is causing the problem’ • There were several minority views including a vastly improved public transport system; to benefit mankind/our children’s future, and also social pressure, (as with dog fouling and smoking in public places), which could give the impetus needed. ‘We did in fact reduce our cars because we didn’t want to be seen as driving Chelsea tractors’ ‘if I could see everyone else was doing the same, I’d know it was having a more positive effect’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  26. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:3 main reasons stopping you from making a change? Rational and emotional factors at play here • We asked them to identify the three main barriers stopping them from making a change and once again money, education/information and other people doing it too were cited. ‘I am perfectly happy to do it if Jo Bloggs is doing it and Mr Smith and Mr Brown are doing it, but I don’t want to be the crusader who does it’ • There was a sense of wanting to blame others – the authorities, the Government and other people for not pulling their weight. ‘If the dustmen did their work properly, they leave more mess behind them than they take away’ ‘lack of transport facilities, I’d get the bus if there was one’ ‘I don’t think the Government has actually come out clearly and led the way on it’ • As well as a sense of futility that their little bit wouldn’t make any difference ‘there’s nothing I can do about it, I can’t change my carbon footprint to what I would like, you’ve got to be practical’ • And resentment about being told what to do all the time. ‘I don’t drop litter, I don’t waste things, I don’t tip oil down the drains, I don’t do anything, I don’t overfill my bin or anything like this, but all the time you’re being criticised and told' Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  27. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Design a poster to change behaviour We asked them to design a poster that describes a scheme that would change the behaviour of people like them, and their ideas included: • Saving money • Being paid money as an incentive • Explaining what a carbon footprint is • Taking pride • Showing the world coming to an end • Giving a better future to our children • ‘you could show a messy picture of the place or a really awful place that’s been devastated by something or if you treat it properly you could have this, you have a rather utopia looking picture’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  28. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Stimuli • We showed Domestic Residents 11 ‘Broad Messages’ to encourage reduced carbon emissions. There was a wide spread of winning ideas but with the most popular and persuasive messages being no. 3 and no. 8 • No.3 ‘SAVE MONEY BY SAVING POWER – E.G. DON’T LEAVE LIGHTS AND TV ON WHEN YOU’RE NOT IN THE ROOM’. Many agreed with the statement and confirmed that they already do this ‘it’s commonsense’ ‘that’s automatic’. There was debate in one of the groups about whether switching on and off costs more than leaving on ‘if you leave them on they cost less than flicking them on and off’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  29. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Stimuli • No.8 PLYMOUTH WILL BE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IF WE CAN REDUCE OUR CARBON EMISSIONS – HELPING TO MAKE US ONE OF EUROPE’S FINEST AND MOST VIBRANT WATER FRONT CITIES’. The initial reaction was positive ‘that appeals to me’ ‘that’s more like it’ ‘if we could get people to reduce their emissions it would look nicer as a matter of course’. They responded positively to the idea that Plymouth could become a better City and a more attractive tourist centre. However, they did want more information about how this could be achieved and the majority were cynical and curious. ‘Is carbon emission visible?’ ‘People in Paris aren’t going to come to Plymouth because they’ve got low carbon emissions, who cares, they want to come for what facilities you produce, what you offer them’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  30. DOMESTIC RESIDENTS BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Specific Stimuli ideas – most popular • We showed respondents a further 9 specific ideas and asked for their response. The most popular was no. 6 followed by numbers 4 and 5 • No. 6 ‘COSY DEVON: CAVITY WALL INSULATION FOR £99 AND/OR LOFT INSULATION FOR £99 (IF YOU CURRENTLY HAVE LESS THAN 100MM OF INSULATION). This was very well received ‘sounds good to me’ ‘that’s more like it’ • No. 4 ‘Energy saving trust. Phone 0800512012 for free and impartial advice on energy saving grants and offers’. There were a few grumbles about free phone numbersbut some had heard of the Energy Saving Trust. ‘I’ve heard of it, I think I have been in touch with them. I think that’s the way I might have got my roof insulation’. • No. 5 ‘Cosy Devon: Free cavity wall insulation and loft insulation if you’re over 70 (or over 60 with a household income of less than £18,000 per year, or if you’re on benefit). Again this was felt to be very good and there was some recognition of it as an existing scheme ‘they’ve already done that one’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  31. THE ANSWER FOR DOMESTIC RESIDENTS:Key Triggers 1. Money saving 2. Plymouth pride Save money on fuel Plymouth will be a better place to live Cosy Devon financial incentives Switch it off 3. Advice Energy Saving Trust Plus Nudging… Peer pressure – make it clear that everyone’s doing it Carbon reduction and Climate Change issues are becoming a ‘given’. Now they would suggest financial help – and could be motivated by pride in Plymouth. Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  32. MAIN FINDINGS: Carbon Reduction – Landlords

  33. LANDLORD CONTEXT:Existing Insulation • As with residents, most had insulated their properties or had plans to do so. And some, especially those with many properties, knew a good deal about it: ‘Yes we've got the standard requirement for loft insulation’ ‘I'm looking into getting one of our flats done at the moment, it doesn’t come up to current specifications, it's changed in the last couple of years’ • The main motivation was to do with cost saving – and many mentioned the recent increases in fuel bills:‘It's more and more these days down to cost…as the prices started to go up of fuel it is making me think’ ‘It's the cost of heating a property….the flats have all been done in the last 18 months…loft insulation as well they had….the more insulation you’ve got the more efficient it's going to be to live there’ • Some were motivated by what they thought was a legal requirement – but there was little certainty on this issue: ‘EPC, Energy Performance Certificates will have a bearing on people looking for rental properties. You’ve got to have an EPC’(Have you got EPC?) ‘No’…’We haven't been asked. If the tenant actually asked for it then you'd look into it, but I've never been asked’ …’No I haven't’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  34. LANDLORD CONTEXT:Existing Insulation (cont) • For some, humidity, damp and condensation can result from increasing insulation – and as tenants come and go they may not take steps to minimise the negative impacts of damp: ‘It's finding that balance between insulating a property and then creating a sealed box where no air actually circulates around it at all’ ‘If we’re talking about insulation keeping places warm I think there's several issues. That's keeping the humidity down and tenants do tend to dry their washing inside’ ‘It's a huge problem. I've banned them now from doing any drying of any washing’ • There were mixed views on the efficacy of insulation. Most felt that insulation did reduce heating bills – but not everyone: ‘we've insulated as much as we can, obviously we have double-glazing as well, we've insulated the roof to more than the minimum required depth. The wind blows through the house so we can insulate as much as we like and I don’t think we’re going to achieve a warm house’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  35. LANDLORD CONTEXT:Cavity Wall Insulation/Second Skin • Some were not sure whether they had cavity walls or not: ‘I've no idea’ • Some found it rather intimidating – and potentially costly: (would you consider it?) ‘I think I’ll start with the smaller things first, that sounds like a big job. I've absolutely no idea how you would start filling cavity walls, how do they do that?’ • But others seemed more clued up: ‘I don't know which firm it was, they came around, it was Government grants and they're doing £149 to insulate the cavity. I've got 1 tenant that’s unemployed so that one gets done free’ • Most thought second skin insulation sounded very expensive and a lot of effort: (second skin for £5,000?) ‘£149 it needs to be’ ‘It would be an immense amount of work though wouldn’t it, whether it was outside or inside, it would be a huge amount of work going around all those windows and doorways’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  36. LANDLORD CONTEXT:Existing Insulation (cont) Landlord motivations can vary – and this impacts on insulation decisions • There was some debate about tenant loyalty. Some are fickle, and many landlords resented investing in them: ‘Sometimes a tenant will come in and pay a months rent in advance and then he's gone within a month’ • But other landlords think the investment in insulation will result in greater loyalty – improving financial return and reducing hassle: ‘It purely and simply made sense for everybody. The bills are less, you're going to get more satisfied tenants and it's helping to improve the insulation qualities of the house, make it easier to maintain and let’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  37. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Spontaneous: “What would encourage you to be more energy efficient?” • Peer pressure was mentioned once or twice: ‘My children changed my behaviour because they do so much of this stuff now at school they come back and question what I'm doing in the home’ • But self-interest was by far the most commonly mentioned motivator: ‘For you to do something that’s good for the environment it has to be good in some other way…a good use of money, or this will make your house warmer, there needs to be some benefit to it’ • And for some, tenant satisfaction has a value: ‘But if you're improving your property it will ultimately benefit you because the turnover of your tenants probably… if you have a satisfied customer’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  38. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Spontaneous: “What kinds of things would you consider?” • Insulation and recycling were the most often mentioned – very widespread behaviours, with insulation increasing comfort and saving money, and recycling being easy to do • One or two mentioned: • Reducing car use • Composting • Using a water butt • Wearing jumpers (instead of turning the heating up) • Drying clothes on the line rather than using a tumble drier. • There was also some enthusiasm for the idea of photo-voltaics – though mentioning the cost barrier at the same time: ‘I'd like to have solar panels but they're so expensive…it was about £6500. I'm working it out saying how much money am I going to save, I'm in my 60’s now, it just wasn’t feasible’ ‘I know there was a guy down our way, he put in the solar panels on the basis of a particular (feed in tariff) figure and then they changed it and it wasn’t economic’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  39. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:3 main reasons you might make a change? • We asked them to identify the three main reasons that they might consider changing their behaviour. • Again, saving money was the main motivation ‘Primarily for me it's going to be cost, it's a constant juggling act at the moment with the cost of food, cost of petrol’ ‘Cost, money because at the end of the day it is a business’ • And convenience can help to nudge them: ‘If you live in a city actually having to travel around in a car is almost an encumbrance…it's the hassle’ • Happy tenants were mentioned by some: ‘Tenant satisfaction it's obviously going to lower their bills, encourage them to look after the property, it's them having a stake, not in the ownership but making it feel like theirs. Fabric of the building, looking after the property’ • For our Greener landlords, environmental issues were included as part of the motivation: ‘Concern, I'm concerned about carbon footprint…if you do all these things you just know you’ve done your bit’‘Efficient use of energy. Less waste. Less cost’ • And some felt that ‘living frugally is a Plymouth thing’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  40. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:3 main reasons stopping you from making a change? • We asked them to identify the three main barriers stopping them from making a change and once again money was high on the list: ‘The cost of any works that you have done, it will put you off actually having it done straightaway’ (barriers?) ‘Cost of installing the equipment’‘Reasons for not doing more – cost without a doubt. Not having enough knowledge, not enough advice’ • And help with finance was sometimes criticised because of the detail: ‘That boiler scheme that came out, it wasn’t out for long enough. They were giving £600, your boiler had to be over a certain age. You had to go through British Gas’ ’Their prices are way up. To change a boiler was about 4 grand, you could get it done for half that price’ • Information - about what to do and what help is available – was also in the top 3 for many ‘Lack of information, confusing information…is this the right one to do or is somebody going to come along in 6 months time and say that wasn’t the right one to do’‘You just need a leaflet that tells you what grants are available, what is the standard to which it should be done to in terms of the thickness, any other things you could be doing as a landlord, landlady to make the property more efficient’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  41. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:3 main reasons stopping you from making a change? (cont) • Hassle: many landlords have busy lives juggling family, work and property management – hence lack of time can be a barrier: ‘inconvenient or impractical’ ‘Time to sort it out, if it takes you hours and hours to work out what you need, you're just not going to do it’ ‘The effort involved, time to research, where you go for the information, just finding someone who is reliable and trustworthy’ ‘if I'm going to do something and it's going to take 6 weeks to do, have I got time to do that’ • And the risk of dodgy suppliers adds to the hassle factor: ‘Going for that reliable and trustworthy workman that isn't going to rip you off. Insulation for lofts has the same kind of tag attached to it that double-glazing has’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  42. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Ideas for a poster to change behaviour • We asked for their spontaneous ideas for a poster that describes a scheme/message to change the behaviour of people like them. Their ideas largely reflected perceived triggers and barriers: • Help with funding: ‘50% off your solar panel installation, buy one get one free. On all houses’ • Green messages: ‘Work with us and improve life…add in a phone number, e-mails. I was thinking of panels, insulation, do the whole lot’ ‘Plymouth City Council is concerned for our planet and your pocket’ • And help with information: ‘exhibition of home insulation and energy packets including solar. Across the top of it have ‘we will pay some for you’ ’ ‘Some sort of seminar or function so people tell you how and what is best to do. Approved companies like the Which magazine where you get the best buy for money’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  43. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Broad Messages: winning ideas • We showed the landlords 11 ‘Broad Messages’ to encourage reduced carbon emissions (the same messages as residents). The most popular and persuasive messages were to do with saving money, or making Plymouth/the world a better place. The two favourite money saving messages were: • No.3 ‘SAVE MONEY BY SAVING POWER – E.G. DON’T LEAVE LIGHTS AND TV ON WHEN YOU’RE NOT IN THE ROOM’. Regarded as sensible, common sense and straightforward: ‘keep it simple’ ‘not trying to blind us with science’ ‘a good reminder’ ‘logically if you put the light off your bill is going to go down’. Some thought it didn’t offer much in the way of new information:‘an old one’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  44. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Broad Messages: winning ideas cont. • No.4 ‘INSULATE AND DRAUGHT-PROOF YOUR HOME – YOU’LL BE WARMER AND SAVE POUNDS OFF YOUR FUEL BILL’. Regarded as a clear message, and ideal for recessionary times: ‘it’s giving people the money aspect’ ‘in today’s climate that’s what people are interested in’. One or two did point out the need to balance investment against the likely saving: ‘need to weigh up cost vs benefit’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  45. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Broad Messages: winning ideas • And the two winning messages to do with making Plymouth/the world a better place were: • No.8 ‘Plymouth will be a better place to live if we can reduce our carbon emissions – helping to make us one of Europe’s finest and most vibrant water front cities’. They liked the ‘feel’ of this message, and were motivated by some level of pride in Plymouth: ‘nice idea’ ‘quite impressive’ ‘I like the idea they’re comparing us to other European cities, which is a first for Plymouth…instead of being a poor relation’. In one group there was a suggestion that this could lead to an award: ’like the Blue Flag award – a flag award for carbon footprint’ • No.1 ‘Reduce your carbon emissions and make the world a better place for future generations’. One group in particular thought this was the fundamental message, everything else being in support of it: ‘that’s the start’ ‘the bottom line’ ‘the others are just things you can do’ ‘I would like to make the world a better place for my children’.However, some were more cynical: ‘allegedly’ ‘I’d like to think it’s correct’ or thought it was too complex /sciencey: ‘carbon emissions is just exhaust fumes’ ‘science platform’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  46. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Specific Messages – most popular • We showed respondents a further 9 specific ideas and asked for their response. The most popular was 4 followed by 9 and 2 • No. 4 ‘ENERGY SAVING TRUST. PHONE 0800512012 FOR FREE AND IMPARTIAL ADVICE ON ENERGY SAVING GRANTS AND OFFERS’. Information and help were seen as vital: ‘great’ ‘we need more information’ ‘that would overcome the minefield’ ‘that would be good’ and this idea received the most votes. Most had never heard of them. One person mentioned a bad experience: ‘I phoned them up and they were useless’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  47. LANDLORD BEHAVIOUR CHANGE:Reactions to Specific Messages – most popular cont. • No. 9 ‘Green Deal: the Government will pay to have your house fully insulated – you pay them back from the savings in your energy bills’. The principle sounded appealing, addressing the problem of up front funding of investments ‘I’m quite interested to know how it would work’ and several voted for this as their favourite idea. However, there were suspicions: ‘nightmare to administrate’ ‘they need to be looked at with great caution, these schemes’ ‘you’ll have to use Govt-approved operatives’ • No. 2 ‘Did you know that turning your thermostat down by 1 degree you will shave 10% off your fuel bill?’ Not much more than a tip, but easy and common sense:‘a widely promoted tip’ ‘that’s advertised quite a lot on the television’ ‘it’s a tip’ Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  48. THE ANSWER FOR LANDLORDS:Key Triggers 1. Money 2. Help Tenant loyalty = £ Provide them with savings in their fuel bills Make it easy – take away the hassle Single source of advice and information Help them with the cost of improvements 3. Plymouth Pride Plus Nudging… Make it feel good business practice Make it clear that everyone’s doing it Money is still key. But they need some help. And local pride can be a motivator. Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

  49. MAIN FINDINGS: Carbon Reduction – SMEs

  50. SME SAMPLE Our SMEs were exceptionally busy, and we very much appreciate their help with this study • Our SME sample covered a range of sectors, focussing on those highlighted in the scoping conversations, including: • retail, training, consultancy, professions, design, environmental • Size of businesses ranged… • from around 100 staff with several office locations • down to micro-businesses with just a few staff/affiliates • Almost all were tenants: • only one owned most of their buildings • and a couple worked from home • Between a quarter and a third of them were light greens / believers in global warming • the rest were across the spectrum of sceptical and not bothered Home-ownersLandlordsSMEs

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