Promoting the transfer of pro-environmental behaviours between home and workplaces

Abstract

Promoting individual lifestyle changes towards pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) has been one of the key strategies for tackling the climate crisis adopted by governments. Messaging to promote PEBs has been used in different contexts – most notably home and workplace settings; however, the message phrasing, opportunities, and motivations for adopting these behaviours can differ between locations. In this study, from a sample of working people, we investigate the sources and themes of PEB messages they remember. We then classify these based on their underlying motivations (egoistic, altruistic or biospheric). We compare these messaging prompts to those PEBs actually tried by participants and the factors leading to their successful or failed adoptions related to institutional or societal norms. Finally we explore what motivates and supports the transfer of adopted contextual PEBs between home and work. Our results highlight that messaging triggering a diversity of motivations may lead to the greatest adoption rates. For transfer of actions to be successful between contexts, both infrastructure and behavioural norms need to receive support for PEB changes to become habitual and ubiquitous.