Seventy per cent of people across Europe are willing to change their behaviour to address the climate crisis, according to research published today by Sky and the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT).
Using behavioural science techniques, Sky and BIT set out ten new behavioural science principles to guide broadcasters on helping their viewers to take action.
The report, “The power of TV: nudging viewers to decarbonise their lifestyles”, is being launched at the United Nations’ 26th Climate Conference. Sky is one of the sponsors of the COP26 conference.
“At Sky we have set out our pathway to achieve net zero carbon, but we know this alone will not be enough. Through the content that we bring into our customers’ homes we believe broadcasters have a clear role and responsibility to encourage lifestyle changes that address the climate crisis,” said Dana Strong, Group Chief Executive, Sky. “We’re publishing these research results in full as an open tool for content creators and broadcasters. This means that for the first time we have empirical evidence demonstrating how the creative industries can work together to deliver the behaviour change required to meet our net zero ambitions.”
Strong has come in for criticism after adopting a private jet from Sky’s parent company, Comcast to commute to the UK during her first six months as CEO. Sky has defended the decision saying that she was balancing visiting her family when her schedule allowed with running the business at a time when the Covid pandemic was at its height.
Sky offsets the carbon emissions of its business travel and has reduced its carbon footprint by 23% since 2018.
Over 3,500 participants were interviewed in the report from the six countries European countries where Sky operates. 70% state that they are worried about the environment and the same proportion (7 in 10) state they are willing to make lifestyle changes in order to tackle the climate crisis.
However, many respondents also said they are overwhelmed by choice and their understanding of how to make lifestyle changes to reduce their carbon impact is low. Only 16% knew what they needed to do to act sustainably, while just 2 in 10 people said they know how to recycle or save energy at home.
The study also found 80% of people across Europe support the idea of broadcasters using content and advertising to encourage people to adopt more environmentally positive behaviours. Of those asked, 3 in 4 survey participants support TV broadcasters ‘nudging’ viewers to think about the environment, whether that’s through documentaries, advertising or increasing the coverage of environmental issues in the news.
David Halpern, CEO, Behavioural Insights Team, said: “Broadcasters like Sky have a unique role in fostering behaviour changes that are essential to tackle climate change. Our new report finds not only that people’s behaviours and attitudes are significantly shaped by the media they consume, but also that viewers expect and encourage broadcasters to do more to educate and inspire viewers to do their bit
Portrayals of real people are most likely to inspire audiences to change their behaviour according to BIT (41%) followed by activists (33%), and charities (32%).
This ‘social modelling’ of lifestyle changes from characters and people that TV viewers can associate themselves with carries evidence of having high impact on viewer behaviour. ‘Crucially, this type of content should provide people with information on what to do to change their lifestyle as well as showing them how to do so.
However, broadcasters and content creators should avoid creating TV content that is fear-mongering, blaming, and preaching to TV audiences. This type of content was proven to be counter-productive and BIT conclude that it can reduce consumers’ willingness to make changes in their lifestyles.
