Do we have a water problem?...The Use of Social Marketing as Problem Solver

[BlueWater Outreach]

Since the 1970s, the environmental issues and education field has been
changing from dependence on top-down marketing methods such as public
service announcements (PSAs) to more sophisticated approaches borrowed
from commercial marketers termed “social marketing”. This focus on
people and their behaviors involves market research, scrutiny and
evaluation to form the cornerstone of any social marketing effort.

Social marketing in the environmental field is concentrating on
changing behaviors, attitudes, lifestyles and ideas. Social behaviors
portrayed in marketing and advertising campaigns now seek to benefit
the target audience and society in general. Social marketers can be
credited for use of behavioral change campaigns within diverse socio-
economic cultures in product groups such as healthcare and medicine,
smoking and tobacco, and water quality and water use management. The
focus of social marketing is on the public. We want to educate people
on practicing good behaviors rather than persuading them to buy what
we happen to be selling.

A marketing mix of broad-based communications is necessary to educate,
motivate, and change public behavior regarding water conservation and
water quality. This is even more important today in our media-rich
culture. The average American is bombarded with some 3,000 marketing
messages daily - many carefully constructed to grab our attention and
make us remember their content.

Three broad themes apply to most social marketing campaigns – fear,
facts and fun.

Fear generally has greatest impact during drought and other emergency
situations. People who see physical changes in water quality or supply
(polluted rivers or drying lakes) react immediately. But fear tends
to be a temporary motivator – the situation goes back to normal and
people revert to pre-emergency behaviors. Using fear as a general
message usually backfires – what people can’t see can’t be a real
threat.

Facts are always appreciated by targeted audiences – as long as the
facts are simple and easy to remember. Most people will comply to
behavior-change suggestions as long as they understand – and believe –
the reasons given for why changes are necessary and the messages are
delivered in memorable ways.

Fun is a social marketer’s secret weapon. Breaking through those
3,000 competing marketing messages each day takes lively, energetic,
engaging and often humorous methods to help gain attention and help
messages stick. Many technical and scientific water resource managers
favor straightforward, fact-filled messages. Unfortunately, people
decide to read, watch or listen to a message in fewer than three
seconds. Humor, energy and upbeat messages engage audiences long
enough to get the message across.


The following is an example of a social marketing solution recently
implemented for a water use management district in the southeastern
United States. The public agency is challenged with ensuring that
adequate and affordable supplies of water are available to a growing
population. According to district officials, most all of the public
use water within the district comes from fresh groundwater. Using too
much groundwater could result in wetlands drying out, reductions in
lake levels and spring flows, and water quality problems from salt
water intrusion. The district also determined that by the year 2020,
at least 40 percent of its area of responsibility may not be able to
meet its projected water needs through groundwater and would need to
turn to more expensive supply sources.

The district decided to produce a water conservation education plan
that would change the behavior of the public. Using professionally
produced advertisements and paid media, the district focused its
message on water conservation to extend the current water supply,
which would reduce or delay the need to develop costly new supply
sources and treatment facilities, thereby delaying the need to pass
the cost increase on to the public.

The multi-year campaign began in 2001 and continues to evolve with a
consistent theme and succession of recognizable characters. Using a
humorous approach, the campaign made people think about their water
use behaviors differently. The public was persuaded to believe that
they are a part of the solution, because the campaign uses positive,
educational and motivational concepts.

By the third year of the campaign, a sense of social responsibility
was instilled in the public. Through an ongoing program of phone
surveys, evaluations, and focus groups, district officials saw that
people are changing behaviors with an understanding that small changes
are what make a difference.

From 2002 through 2004, surveys demonstrated that 50 percent of the
public recalled the advertisements, and 17 percent admitted to
changing their water-use behaviors. That means that approximately
700,000 people within the district improved their water-use practices
as a result of this campaign. For campaign year 2005, 81 percent of
the public remembered the ads and awareness of the message increased
significantly from 66 percent to 83 percent. The message is being
heard and behaviors are changing.
The above campaign is one example of a water management district that
has great vision and a progressive board and staff.

Behavior modification through social marketing can take some time and
long-term messaging is one of just few ways to make new behaviors
socially acceptable. It can take years and policymakers may have to
accept that. It’s hard to get people to realize that water issues are
important. A well planned and orchestrated, broad-based media
communications campaign is the best way to hasten behavioral change
and is a cost efficient the way to reach the broadest audience.

The heart of social marketing is using traditional advertising and
marketing strategies to bring lessons to the public and instill a
sense of social responsibility. The lesson must communicate the notion
that we will all benefit if we all participate in a positive behavior
change.