Community-Based Social Marketing—Creating Lasting, Sustainable, Environmental Change: Case Study of a Household Stormwater Management Program in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario

Abstract

With increased frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change, there is growing need for urban, small-scale adaptation and preventative measures such as stormwater management to reduce the risk of flooding. Homeowners are often reluctant to adopt preventative stormwater measures without tangible benefits or direct experience with the flooding risks or other negative externalities. Using community-based social marketing (CBSM) as a framework, we investigated how to more effectively encourage stormwater management at the household level. In collaboration with the Canadian non-profit organization, Reep Green Solutions (Region of Waterloo, Ontario), we focused on an existing program, the RAIN Home Visit (RHV), which was designed to increase engagement in pro-environmental stormwater management behaviors. Reports from the RHV were assessed, and past program participants were interviewed using a semi-structured question set to identify barriers encountered in enacting these behaviors and to assess the program for inclusion of CBSM principles and tools. Surveys were used to collect demographic data from participants. We found that while preferred behaviors were explained and incentives were provided, more thorough, clear explanation was needed for homeowners as well as incentives of suitable size and value to effectively motivate homeowners to change. Key features that should be included in future RHV programs are public commitments, follow-up, and reminders. Further research should consider risk perception impacts with CBSM, to determine how these can work together and, perhaps, which precedes the other. Some people may be more influenced by social norms to act and others by risk perception.

Development and psychometric properties of a questionnaire to evaluate sustainable waste separation behavior and environmental health promotion

“…McKenzie-Mohr classifies identified barriers to sustainable behavior in five factors, including inadequate motivation, forgetting the act, inadequate social pressure, inadequate knowledge, and structural barriers [13]. Since the present study was designed by the CBSM, the barriers and benefits associated with waste separation at source were initially categorized into five factors of barriers and one factor of benefit.…”

“…It is a Psychometric Research performed in Genaveh in 2019, which obtained the ethical code (IR.IUMS.REC.1397.642) from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health of Iran University of Medical Sciences. Based on the CBSM, for sustainable behavior to be widely accepted, the barriers and benefits of a behavior need to be identified through a combination of community-based research methods [13]. Therefore, in order to prepare the questionnaire entitled "Investigating the barriers and benefits of waste separation at source based on the community-based social marketing model," we first designed the questionnaire items through literature review and focus group discussion and then made a psychometric analysis on the questionnaire.…”

“…The CBSM process consists of 5 steps: (1) behavior selection, (2) identifying barriers and benefits, (3) developing strategies, (4) piloting the program (implementing interventions), and (5) implementing the program. CBSM uses 7 tools to perform interventions [13]. Because the purpose of this study was to design instrument based on CBSM, only steps 1 and 2 were implemented in this study.…”

“…According to steps 1 and 2 in the community-based social marketing model, after selecting the behavior, one should identify the barriers and benefits of the relevant behavior first through literature reviews and then by deep and qualitative studies (focus group discussion or interviewing) in the study population. After qualitative study, concepts and items are extracted and used to design study instruments [13].…”

Institutional matrix of social management in region's economy: stability and sustainability vs innovations and digitalization

“…General issues of formation and development of the social market economy in the modern economic conditions, including Russia, are studied in the research works by Agunovich et al (2018), Andronova andRiazantsev (2006), D'Aleo and, Goyal and Sergi (2015a, b) The institutional foundations and specifics of social management in modern regions' economies are studied in the research works by Amin (2019), Andrew and Doloreux (2012), Bergsten et al (2014), Ciftcioglu (2019), Dreher (2012), Girardi et al (2019), Jackson et al (2012), Kourachanis (2019), Maroto et al (2013), Mertzanis et al (2019), Mylek and Schirmer (2016), Nayak et al (2019), Porro and Porro (2015), Reddy (2019), Smith et al (2019), Solis et al (2019), Sorj andFraga (2020), Vampa (2014), Wilson et al (2018) and Wolfe and Bramwell (2016).…”