Nesta report attacks 'miserable' climate change campaigns

Called 'Selling Sustainability - Seven Lessons from Advertising and Marketing to Sell Low Carbon Living', the report argues that while UK policy has responded to some degree to the threat of climate change, the government has not yet fully embraced the importance of mass behaviour change to respond to it.

Despite increasing efforts to engage the public on climate change and link it to their individual behaviour, there is little evidence of significant behaviour change to reduce emissions.

The main findings of the report show that as well as avoiding being miserable, campaigns should emphasise that taking action on climate change is normal.

The research, which looked into the effectiveness of advertising on individual behaviour, also suggests that campaigns should recognise the importance of fairness -- everyone needs to be seen to be doing their bit including government and industry.

Nesta said that campaigns should be personally relevant relating to "our" environment not "the" environment and should use insight from commercial ads to engage emotional responses.

Nesta cites Honda's TV ad "Hate something - change something" as a good example of an effective campaign.

One example of current gloomy government environmental advertising is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' 'Act On CO2' TV ad campaign, which shows people going about their daily lives leaving visible black carbon footprints.

The report also recommends identifying the potential benefits for individuals by taking action as the basis for a social marketing campaign, citing consumer research that shows millions of people desire a lower-stress, less consumption-oriented lifestyle.

The Nesta report reveals a set of core principles which it strongly recommends should be used for any future campaigns called "The 7Cs". Ads should be clear, compelling, connected, creative, configured, consistent and confident.

Jonathan Kestenbaum, Nesta CEO, said: "The report shows that it's not enough to simply make people aware of climate change issues. To have a mass impact, campaigns must engage people in a compelling way and persuade them to change their behaviour."

Nesta commissioned the British Market Research Bureau to conduct the research.