3 ways to influence your event audience
TRANSCRIPT
3 ways to influence your audience
by Jarno StegemanThe Event Tutor
www.eventtutor.com
During a busy Bank Holiday weekend in Brighton, with several events taking place at the same time, litter surfaced in the streets almost immediately.
That made me think. Why do people litter? And when an event site is clean, who is the first person to litter?
in the UK
councils spend close to £1 billion
a year to tackle littering
30 million tons
of litter are collected each year
86% of people
think that littering is disgusting
5,000 abandoned
tents
6,500sleeping
bags
54 tonnes of cans and
plastic bottles
and that’s just
1 festival
Encouraging Sustainable Behaviour is a report written by Lindenberg and Steg. It’s about social norms and the so-called goal framing theory.
Social norms, they write, have in common that we take them seriously. We disapprove of someone if they leave the social norm. There is also some kind of feeling that we have to live up to the norm.
As long as everyone lives up to the social norm we’re all good.
That is where the
problem about littering comes in.
Not everyone is living up to that
social norm.
Norms work under social pressure but at the end
self-interest always wins. So if 90% of your audience act according to the norm, it means
only 10% of your crowd litters.
but that 10% can have a huge impact
So why do people litter? This is where the goal framing theory comes in.
How we make our goals is based on our perception, thinking-process, and decision-making.
When you are hungry or drunk, your goals change (hedonic goals).
When you are with friends your goals change (normative goals).
Or you make choices based on what will benefit you most (gain goal).
Under different circumstances, you make different decisions.
How clean is your event site?
Now, think of your event site. Is it a clean site?
How often do you empty the bins? How clean is your toilet area or your
food court?
How much respect do you show for your own event
site?
How to influence your audience?
You need an audience that
has a pro-environmental
attitude
Demonstrate your support
of pro-environmental
norms
Self-regulation
People with a pro-environmental attitude
need to work hard as the decisions they make go
against their egoistic values.
Hence it is hard work to go green.
So you, the event organiser, need to make it easy for them not to
litter.
Make it clear to them what it is you want to
them to do.
Demonstrate your support
for the environment
If your event supports environmental initiatives
you need to shout about it.
You need to make it clear that this is what you stand
for. Communicate with your audience and educate
them.
Self-regulation
What you as an event planner organise for your visitors, will be considered the norm.
If you offer alcohol then most likely your guests will drink alcohol. If you offer vegetarian food, most likely people will eat vegetarian.
If you offer a clean site, people will keep it clean.
You, the event planner, can influence the behaviour of your
audience.
You need to make it clear to them what you
want to achieve.
To change the attitude of your
audience…
you might need to change
yours first!
For more information about sustainable event management
visit
EventTutor.com
or follow me onfacebook and twitter