Back

7 Tips for Tackling the Attitude-Behaviour-Gap

What exactly do we mean when we talk about the ‘attitude-behaviour-gap’ and what role do nudges, convenience, purchasing choices, positive tipping points, citizen-priced products and lower washing temperatures each have in reducing it? CSCP Project Manager and behaviour change expert, Rosalyn Old shares 7 tips on tackling this challenge.

The attitude-behaviour-gap

In her book “Das 60% Potenzial” (The 60% Potential), Dr. Johanna Gollnhofer suggests that over half of the consumers are neither too ethical in their choices nor completely reluctant to move toward more sustainable behaviours. Similarly, experts at the Sustainable Future Summit emphasised that focusing on the ‘60% group’ is instrumental in mainstreaming sustainable behaviours.

But while many in the ‘60% group’ agree with the importance of individual actions to tackle climate change and affirm their intention to make sustainable choices, in reality, research consistently finds a gap between intention and action.

Known as the attitude-behaviour-gap, the topic was at the centre of the Sustainable Future Summit 2024 held in Hamburg, Germany. At the summit, field experts discussed different approaches to tackling, and ultimately reducing, the gap in Germany and beyond.

Address the 60%

Focusing on the group of people that are in the middle – namely, the undecided – is a promising approach to putting major scale transformations into motion. Dr. Gollnhofer suggests that this should be done by drawing attention to the real-life advantages of sustainable products, services, and behaviours, rather than using complex sustainability labels and jargon that may shy some away.

Use positive ‘tipping points’ to mainstream sustainable behaviours

We often hear the phrase ‘tipping point’ in relation to negative environmental impacts of climate change. Dr. Franziska Gaupp, a climate impact researcher, suggests that we can also turn the concept around and use positive tipping points for behaviour change. At the summit, she shared that in cases when between 3 to 30 percent of a group are on board, transformation processes have real success chances. A similar approach is taken by the co-do lab, where the focus is on engaging a core group working within an organisation in order to achieve a tipping point that ultimately scales the transformation path to the whole organisation.

Focus on one simple behaviour and clearly state the benefits

The CSCP was involved in the Colder Washing Campaign #wirdrehenrunter run by Procter&Gamble and WWF Germany, which targeted consumers to reduce laundry washing temperatures. The campaign showed that a focus on one simple behaviour, backed by research and a measurement method can achieve great results – in the #wirdrehenrunter case, an actual decrease in average washing temperatures can be seen. Experts involved in the campaign shared the importance of emphasising the practical benefits to households, such as electricity costs.

Support environmentally-friendly choices with green nudges

From fast fashion tags highlighting impacts to shopping self-scanner devices providing suggestions to buy healthier products in the supermarket, the organisation Green Nudges provides a collection of real-life examples of where nudging has been used as a tool to support people to act sustainably. Matthias Höppner, editor-in-chief at Green Nudges shared that some of the important elements to explore in the development of nudges are social influence, feelings and cognition, and tangibility.

Involve consumers in the design and pricing of sustainable products

Nicholas Barthelmé shared that “Du bist hier der Chef” (You’re the boss here) provides a model for the involvement of consumers in the full design phase of milk (from living conditions and treatment of breed to packaging choices), linking the choice of different production elements directly to its pricing. This is meant to raise awareness on the value of sustainable options in the make-up of a product and its associated costs. Where there is ownership, Barthelmé insists, there is action.

Explore the newest models and consider bundling measures in the design of interventions

Helen Czioska from the Umweltbundesamt suggested that using more complex models of behaviour to facilitate sustainable behaviours can be of added value. One such example is the “Approaches to Promote Environmentally Friendly Behaviour” model shared in a recent report from the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). Czioska stated that key to success is being able to wisely bundle a variety of potential measures together in the right configuration – information alone is not enough.

Gather insights on target groups to effectively tackle the attitude-behaviour-gap:

Experts at the FUTURE Institute of Sustainable Transformation, who hosted the summit, worked with Consumer Panel Germany GfK and YouGov to use consumer data to bridge the gap between attitudes and behaviours in their new “Mind the Gap” report. Amongst the concrete attitude-behaviour-gap findings on different consumer groups, they found that convenience plays a big role. Cognitive ease is a key aspect and for most people it means avoiding the mental effort (for example choosing a new, more sustainable product) by going for what you always choose and evading any negative feelings of shame or guilt.

Do you work on addressing the attitude-behaviour-gap toward making sustainable consumption and lifestyles the norm? Let us know – we are looking forward to new collaborations to unlock sustainable behaviours!

For further questions, please contact Dr. Rosalyn Old.

* Gollnhofer, Das 60% Potenzial

Image by CSCP and AI.

en_GBEnglish