Political marketing of environmental policy

Andrzej Falkowski & Wojciech CwaJina' Catholic University

0.1 LubUn,

Polalld

POLITICAL MARKETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLlCY

1. INTRODUCTION

Since 1950 there have been many publications addressed to the public on grow­ ing environmental and social threats. Many of these publications advocate a num­ ber of activities which would help confront these threats. The majoritv of them present the problems of environment in such an extreme way that evoke the reader's anxiety both about his or her own future as well as the future of humankind. Environmental problems are presented in such a way by Vlek such a dark picture of our world is the basis of all the attieles in Journal ofSocia I Issues of 1995 dedicated to "Psychology and the promotion of a sustainable fu­ ture" and edited by McKenzie-Mohr and Oskamp (1995a) as well as Time Edition "Earth Day 2000 ". In a similar manner, a number of television programs present an extremely pessimistic vision ofthe future, for instance NBC's action-adventure series Earth 2 pOltrays a future planet so environmentally de­ graded that humans have moved to space stations. According to psychological theories of learning, the apocalyptic vision of the future as described in the above publications constitutes so-called negative rein­ forcement, whose natural consequence is looking out fOl'ways to avoid the threat­ ening stimuli. It is known from the research conducted in educational gy, that negative reinforcements are not successful when and youth. It seems, however, that the one of the consequences ofworks on envi­ ronmental oroblems is a suggestion of imnlementation based upon the fear-ap­

• Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Andrzcj Falkowski (It Wojcicch Cwalina. Department of Experimental Psychology, Catholic University of Lublin, AI. Raclawickic 14, 20-950 Lublin. c-mail: andylidk@sunhb,p.Jodz,pl or cwalina@kuLlublinpl

JOURNAL FOR MENTAL CHANGES, VOL. VI, No 2. 2000, 67-R7,

ANDRZEJ FALKOWSKI & WOJCIECH CWALINA

POLITICAL MARKETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

peal, both in the way of presentation and the contents of the transmitted persua­ sion infOlmation. Such a marketing strategy seems closely related to one of the two solutions proposed by Vlek (2000) about the commons dilemma paradigm. which states that there is a discrepancy between the "we, here and now" - needs of individuals, and long telm distant needs for collective welfare. Vlek distin­ guishes so-called structural or hard solutions on the one hand. which seem to be generally more effective, and cognitive-motivational or soft on the other. The strategy of fear appeal is elosely related to the first solution. However, it poses quite serious threats. Structural solutions arc connected with environmental pro­ grams controlled on the level of central government. They arc introduced by prop­ erly enacted laws, for instance in the form of reduction of subsidies for energy, transportation or agriculture; higher taxes; fines for littcring, illegal dumping and other charges for pollutants and natural resources. Govemments have used disin­ ccntives and penalties to encourage environment-preserving behavior. These at­ tempts to protect the environment usually take the fOlm of ordinance or laws. Such programs seem cfficient when supPOlted by large scale media campaigns. which has been corroborated by the fact that drug use dropped from J 2% to only 6% by 1991 (Waddock. Post, 1991). Such media campaigns stressed the impor­ tance ofthe drug and its negative social implications ifnot resolved by presenting the tragic consequences. which is a very strong fear appeal. Similarly, as Corson (1995) points out, the recycling rate has doubled to 22% in the USA since 1988. Ifwe take into consideration the nationwide recycling campaigns featuring such slogans as "If You're Not Recycling, You're Throwing it All Away" and "Buy Recycled ... And Save ", we can notice the fear-appeal method. The decision-makers seem to forget, however, how such top-down environ­ mental activities are perceived. This disincentive/penalty intervention is more likely to be perceived as a threat to individual fi"eedom. Legislative activity on the level of central governments introduces new laws and duties in the field of envi­ ronmental protection without consulting with local communities, which ollen­ times leads to court trials connected with the violation of constitutional rreedoms (see Milbrath, 1995). However, such activities enforced from 'above' bring pos­ itive effects, which is illustrated by the above mentioned examples of drugs and recycling. We can say, therefore, that these activities arc limited to purely techni­ calor economic strategies for the promotion of environmental security. However, such limitation nmTOWS the horizon and makes it impossible to sec what the real and unpredictable social consequences arc (that is unintended side effects ofsuch environmental initiatives). Reports say nothing was though about this problem. The analysis of the experiences of rormer communist countries of East-Cen­ tral Europe adds another perspective to environmental problems. We can assume that the limitations of material consumption to conserve the natural environment

were caused by the economic poverty of the country. This is in contrast to analo­ gous limitations in highly industrialized countries, where such limitations are the result of caring for the environment in order to achieve sustainable behavior. No matter what the reasons for such limitations, which may be either a too weak or too strong economy threatening the environment, the reactions of citizens are similar. Once a need appears and it is not satisfied, man has two choices: I. Looking for a (new) object and/or way of meeting a givcn need; 2. Reducing (eliminating) a given need. In Poland and other countries of East Central Europe option numbcr two was implemented, that is reducing needs. Reducing needs leads to fi'ustration and thcn aggression and inter-human conflicts. We can assume then that many of the ten­ sions and conflicts that exist between various countries are, in fact, based upon unmet needs, which leads to aggression and wars. What is more interesting, such local and intemational conflicts are in most cases related to the Third World Coun­ tries. where economies are relatively weak. Although this very subject is closer to political economy, it is worthwhile to also pay attention to the psychological side of the reactions to unmet needs of poor countries, particularly in the context of the many environment improvement programs required by various international or­ ganizations (e.g. European Union, International Monetary Fund, or World Bank) as a condition for extending credits. Societies arc likely to accept such programs with resistance if no prior consultation is conducted (sec Bello, Cunningham & Rau, 1994; Cobb, 1995). Generally speaking, the above directives included in the strategies for struc­ tural solutions to commons dilemma and using fear appeal may have unintended side effects in the rorm of conflicts and aggravation of human relations. Should, on the other hand, controlling human behaviors by using in mass me­ dia fear-appeals strategies and implementing disincentive/penalty intervention be totaily rejected? Not necessarily, if techniques minimizing the above mentioned side effects are applied. as will be presented later on in this paper. If environmental actions are mainly limited to purely technical or economic strategies and used in practice by environmental policy makers and diplomats then, as Vlek (2000) points out, it would be necessary to widen their scope and adapt a socio-behavioral view ofenvironmental problems. Such broadening would be connected with assuming a different perspective than disincentive/penalty in­ tervention. Instead, the incentivelreward approach should be used. Such an incen­ tive/reward approach should be put within the cognitive concept of creating a positive image of the surrounding reality, which should stimulate society to be responsible environmental behavior. One ofthe more interesting proposals in that direction is Olson's concept (1995) of sustainability as a social vision. It should be emphasized that this approach creates positive attitudes and is more likely to

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be perceived as "voluntary" which is opposite to the threat to individual freedom elicited by disincentive/penalty approach. So the limitations imposed on people's behaviors should not be managed from the outside but, rather, they should be steered from the inside so that the decision was made not by strangers-others but by me personally.

a corporate image, i.e. an image of organizations or companies environmentally oriented, e.g. green pal1ies or Greenpeace, and c) creating a cross-cultural image of a certain lifestyle. In the third, most interesting case for us, we do not focus on a pat1icular pro-ecology product or company but on a specific mode of consumer behavior, which sets up preferences for a particular set of products which both allow for satisfying their own needs as well as protecting the environment. An of such a consumer could be the with the

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2. THE IMAGE OF A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: TWO APPROACHES

Kenneth Boulding (J 956) convincingly justified the validity of imagination for man's planned behavior. The image, as a certain 'unobservable' variable. be­ ing the vision ofthe future. is closely related to cognitive structures formed under the inOuenee of previous experience. One of the approaches referring to Bould­ ing's theory in the sphere of sustainable behavior in the perspective of environ­ mental policy making is Olson's eoncept (1995) of sustainability as a positive image of the future. Studying such a phenomenon as the image and, particularly. the ima1!e of the future and the way in which it int1uences CUlTent behaviors is not ychology. It should be stressed that something like the image was also subject of the studies of behaviorism, in the form of so-called antecedent variables, which prepared the organism for a certain way An advanced attempt at operationalizing the notion of the image was made Tolman in 1949 in Purposive behavior in animals and men, which introduced the notion of the cognitive map. In psychology, perception theory suggests that our expectations and values regarding the future filter our sense perceptions. These expectations and values may be negative and then they should be avoided. They may also be positive and then they should be sought after. The first approach by stressing the imp0l1ance of avoiding ce11ain behaviors may be included in behavioral psychology. The other one, stressing the importance of seeking certain behaviors is expressed by cognitive psychology. if we talk about the notion of the image of the future both in behav­ psychology then we may also import the methodologv devel­ in these paradigms of psychology in order to control this image as a sustainable environment. In the light of the theories stressing the function ative reinforcements, the controlling of such an consists in showing a dark future for oW' planet, i.e. by using the fear-appeal strategy. It amounts to control these reinforcements furnishing the negative picture according to rules of instru­ mentalleaming theory. But in the light of cognitive psychology the controlling of this image consists in showing the good, target future, that is the positive pictW'e. 'The two strategies mentioned above may be applied in the following three areas: a) creating a brand image of particular ecological products, b) creating

_ thereforc it and consume it I willlivc . It is deductive reasoning that can be very wclliocated in the theory of attribu­ tion (see e.g. Kelley, 1973; Nisbett. Ross, 1980). According to this theory, man is always looking for the reasons of perceived events in the form of deductive rea­ soning, which is oftentimes 'interiorized' and unconscious. Therefore the behav­ ior detelmined by such reasoning is oCten automated. A detailed argumentation for such unconseious and automated reasoning is presented by, for example, Rock (\985), Searle (1990) or Bargh (1994). This automation resulting from uncon­ scious inference can be illustrated by empirical research on consumer behavior Baker, 1977). In one study identical potato chips - all very fresh ­ in two types of bags, an easy-to-open and hard to open polyvinyl shoppers were asked to take a bag, open it, and tastc the prod­ uct. Most consumers had real difficulty opening the polyvinyl bag and evcn the contents of the bag had identical tastes they reported that in the polyvinyl packages. These chips were perceivcd as ier" and "tastier". Apparently consumers perccive a taste difference because infelTed that a dimcult-to-open package keeps the contents fresh The above mentioned reasoning is oriented towards creating a positive image oCthe future: 'I will live longer'. We could also consider adopting the negative concept. Then the first premise of such reasoning will be: 'Non-ecological prod­ ucts mean shorter life'. No doubt it contains negative reinforcement, so it is con­ sistent with the fear-appeal strategy. W11ich of the above mentioned strategies is more efficient in controlling man's one based upon negative or positivc prcmiscs? It is an empirical prob­ lem and in order to solve it, properly designed research must be conducted. The two conccpts of creating the image of reality should no doubt be located tising campaigns. Therefore a presenting pro-ccology acti vities.

should bc assumed whcn

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POLITICAL MARKETING Of ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

J. MARKETING STRATEGIES IN PRO-ECOLOGY ACTIVITIES

kinds of consumer goods. But the answer given by the manager may also be: "My mission is to increase agricultural productivity". There is a fundamental difference between these two types ofbeliefs. The first one is oricntcd on a particular product and may be called the object belief. The other is oriented on activities and may be called the functional belief. It is the second type of belief that transcends the concrete object of production, and a functionally-oriented company is more flexible in its production - it has a vi­ sion of reality which goes beyond the product proper. What will happen if fertil­ izer no longcr continucs to increase agricultural production due to environmental deterioration? An objcet-oriented organization will be rigid in its behavior and will keep producing and polluting the environment, since its mission is to pro­ duce fertilizers and it will devote energy to continuing production. A functional­ ly-oriented company, on the other hand, will cease production and start looking for new solutions, since a given product no longer increases agricultural output and continuing production is at variance with the company's mission the belief that agricultural production should be increased. It is this clash between what is perceived and the company's vision which is a stimulus contributing to stopping the development of technologies which destroy the environment. The basic step which would introduce some automatic mechanisms prevent­ ing the destmction of the environment would be training all managers in order to develop in them skills of appreciating their own activities through the prism of the expected future results, i.e. assuming the functional approach in what they are doing in their jobs. Such well-prepared training programs should have a global (mass) character and be supported by the governments, which care for sustainable behavior. We may then ask why so much attention should be devoted to training? The reason is simple. Man's cognitive system is constructed in such a way that it organizes the perceived reality mainly in object categories not in functional ones. Going to a given shop the customer claims that sfhe wants to buy a phone or television-set. But does s/he really need these objects? We may assume that what the customer really needs is distance communication, cntertainment, or the means to move quickly from one place to another. These are, however, certain functions which are not explicitly verbalized by the consumer. As a result such a situation creates an impression that what the customer really wants is a phone, television­ set or car. In this way sfhe loses sight of the function and what comes in the foreground is the object. The consequence of such short-sightedness, called by Levitt (1985) "market­ a focus on improving products. It is this shortsightedness ing myopia" is too which focuses on the product but does not take into account its functions which may lead to ecological threats posed by industries implementing country-wide their goals and objectives.

Marketing should cUlTently be understood as the branch of science which is fonning the image ofsociety and controls its behavior. Everybody learns the Earth Image constructed by marketing and education systems in a tacit way. This con­ struction sets up a system of interiorized beliefs in cognitive structures, which may to a large extent influence fast development or lack of development of cer­ tain technologies and civilization. We can demonstrate an interesting example here, by answering the question: Why did the ancients not work out mathematical physics as they had done with mathematical astronomy? Namely, they believed that between mathematics and the terrestrial globe there is a gap, that in the nature 0 f the earth as opposed to the ideal world of heavenly bodies, there are not any real geometrical figures such as straight lines, triangles, circles or ellipses, so that the application of mathematics and measurements to nature seemed to be nonsense. To create mathematical physics a change in seeing the world and beliefs was necessary so those geometrical fig­ ures could be also used to describe the surrounding terrestrial reality. A result of these changes was the rapid growth of applied sciences and a great number of technical discoveries making people's lives easier in modern times, however, ing the civilization toward the ecological crisis. So we can say that until the Re­ naissance, i.e. until the change in perceiving reality, there had been no environ­ ment degradation (Falkowski, 1995). Therefore we should have a closer look at the specificity of creating beliefs by the marketing system. J.1. BUSINESS MISSION AS THE IMAGE OF THE FUTURE

Managers of each company, more or less consciously, define their business mission, which is nothing more than a set of beliefs about what they are dealing with. A mission statement is a statement of the organization's purpose what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment. It is a generally accepted outlook of the market reality, which, combined with similar beliefs of other organizations, creates (or defines) quite a coherent way of perceiving reality. In other words, the philosophy of the marketing system determines to a large extent the system of beliefs in society. Let us take the following example. The International and Chemical Corpora­ tion is in many businesses, including the fertilizer business. Ifwe ask the fertilizer division manager what his or her mission is, he or she may say: "My mission is to produce fertilizer". Such an answer is common among managers producing all

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The functional approach can be learned by exercises in interpreting the per­ ceivcd objects. Examples of such excrciscs may bc found in a number of manuals dealing with the problems of training in practical psychology. As far as environ­ mental education is concerned, an outline of such a modern curriculum was pro­ posed by, for instance, Milbrath (1995) and Schneider (1993). The basic strategy of a manager's defining business goals and objectives comes from the posed problem; this strategy is 'sensitive' to the problems of environ­ mental protection. Starting up any production activities, we should define them in functional and not object categories. This is relevant for promotion-advertising strategies, which should be function- rathcr than product oriented.

pic herc can be cigarette advel1ising. The slogan referring to individual benefits is thc following: "Seize the day" (carpe diem). But the statement referring to collec­ tive environmcntal costs and lisks says: "Surgcon general's warning: Smoking causes cancer, healt disease, emphysema, and may complicatc prcgnancy".

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SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: SMOKfNG CAUSES LUNG CANCER, HEART DISEASE, EMPHYSEMA, AND MAY COMPLICATE PREGNANCY

3.2. BUSlNESS MISSlON AND COMMONS DILEMMA IN ADVERTISEMENT

Undoubtedly, business is reflccted in a relcvant way in advertising. The maof advertisements are those wherc the object aspect of products is sized and those whcrc the functional onc is in focus. The key aspect from the environmental point of view is the functional aspcct, i.e. emphasizing thosc fca­ tures of the advertiscd product that allow us to do something, e.g. fC11ilizer X increases agricultural productivity. This functional approach is consistcnt with Gibson's (1979) environmental thcory, in which the importance of perceiving affordances for man's optimum adaptation to the environment is stressed. However, this functional aspcct in advertising refcrs to situations concerning a consumer's individual interest. Consumcr awarcness is oricnted on possessions, since individual intcrest is crcated by thc advcrtising of huge corpo­ rate companies who have their own interest in maximizing profit. Advcl1ising is hcre a very powerful tool in forming consumcr awarcness. Advel1isements creatc an imagc of reality that leads to unsustainable il.tture, since peoplc arc mentally biascd toward the "us, here and now". The general motto [or defining busincss in advertising can be expressed by the following: "To do all in our powcr to paek the customer's dollar full of value, quality, and satisfaction". To usc commons dilem­ ma language, promotion-advel1ising strategies of various organizations rcfer to the first element of this problem. They do not say anything though about the second clement which refers to accumulated, collective environmcntal costs and risks. And they cannot, otherwise there would be two divergcnt pictures or two beliefs, which would be at variance with company's own intercst. So how can the problem be solved? Some legal regulations for advertisements set rcquirements refelTing to the sceond element of the commons dilemma. As a consequencc, a given advel1isement prcsents a clash of beliefs, which is a classi­ cal examole ofthc cognitive dissonancc or approach-avoidance conflict. An exam-

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Collective environmental costs and risks (long-term and distant negative consequences)

Individual henefits

Figure 1. Commons dilemma in cigarette's advertisement.

ANDRZEJ FALKOWSKI & WOJCIECH CWALINA

POLITICAL MARKETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL POUCY

Such a situation is an excellent example of advcltising formed within the par­ of commons dilemma; its consequences, however, can be twofold: reaction to cognitive dissonance; 2. Reaction to the threat ineluded in surgeon's warning which is. as a matter of fact, applying the fear -appcal strategy in A reaction to cognitive dissonance is simply a reduction of the dissonance. A lot of research has already been conducted in psychology on perceiving in co­ herencies, which demonstrated that man does not basically perceive this incoher­ ence. It is enough to recall Bruner's and Postaman's (1949) classical research on the perception of incongruity, in which the authors demonstrated that the stimuli inconsistent with one's bclicfs are not perceived. Advertising evoking cognitive dissonance connected with commons dilemma is not then efficient. It is not efficient either because ofthe feru·-appeal elements. In a way similar to rcducing cognitive dissonance man also reduces fear by using so called maladap­ tive behavior. Such behaviors, from the perspective of environmental protection, arc efficient barriers to change and are one of the consequences of the following beliefs: the belief that the Earth's natural svstems are resilient and cannot be harmed by human - lack of convincing evidence that CUlTent practices are unliW;lillllilU - denial of personal responsibility for the consequences ofhannful A number of other behaviors which can be put under the category tive behavior are mentioned by Corson (1 99S}. This kind ofbehavior reduces fear of course, however, it does not reduce the threat or danger. In the light of psychological processes activated in the perception of such ad­ vertisements a question ean be posed whether there is any way out of this situa­ tion. We can point out to two advertising strategies here, the first of which refers to proper implementing of the fear-appeal, the other one to creating and reinfore­ of an expected positive image of environment. These two strategies corre­ to the two concepts ofcreating image ofreality characterized earlier: dis in­ and incentive/reward approaches, respectively.

worthwhile to take a stand on the sole mechanism of the fear-appeal's connection with human behavior. In Falkowski's and Stachiewiez's (2000) study on brand loyalty, personality determinants were sought to explain relatively permanent buying of given product brand. It turncd out that reactivity influences the feeling of safety, and this, in tum, influences fear, This configuration of variables pre­ sented on 2. determines the confidence brand selection. The fit of empirical data for this model is excellent, where c2=3.78. p=O.IS.

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3.3. FEAR-APPEAL AND NEGATIVE AFFECT

The primaty purpose of the use of fear appeals is to influence behavior. How­ ever, if the immediate reaction to the fear-appeal is maladaptive behavior then how can one construct the situation so that the behavior will be live in the sense that il not only reduces fear but in the first place it contributes to removing the threat. Before suggestions how to achieve it are oresented. it seems

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security

Figure 2. Personality determinants of brand choice preference. It seems then that an efficient IS nega­ tive reinforcement. which would come down to conditioning by fear. If the feeling of safety influences behavior and fear is reduced by certain be­ havior then what should be done in order for human behavior to have an adaptive coping responses character? In short, the protection motivation model in advertis­ ing would have to be applied to improve the effectiveness of the fear-appeal (see Tanner, I1unt & Eppright, 1991). It consists in keeping a certain order of present­ ed infOlmation in the communication process of advertising. First a threat is pre­ sented, then maladaptive behavior identified in previous research with emphasis on the fact that it does not remove the threat and, finally, adaptive coping respon­ ses, which remove the threat. The presence of all these elements in information transmission is important as well as the time sequence in which they occur. When threat information is provided without coping response information. maladaptive responses may be involved. If coping response information follows much later, it may be ineffective. The sequence of events prescnted in information transmission

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is consistent with the results of, among others, Lazarus' (1968), Scherer's (1988) and Tanner's et al. (199 I) studies, which indicates that thc protection motivation appraisal process is most likely to be an ordered process with threat appraisal preceding coping appraisal. As indicated by these authors, individuals appraise their environment for relevant information and then appraise their ability to cope with the assessed situation. Generally speaking, advertising that presents threatening infOlmation must also change perceptions of the efficacy of maladaptive coping responses before sub­ jects will consider altel11ative coping responses. Additionally the social context in which the dangerous and coping behaviors occur must be considered. A famous example of the fear-appeal in advertising which worked excellently was "daisy girl". It is interesting that this television spot which did influence Johnson's popularity during the presidential elections in 1964 included, in the proper sequence, all the elements of the protection motivation model mentioned here. First a picture sequence arousing fear was presented and then proper coping behavior: "Vote for President Johnson on November 3" (Diamond & Bates, 1992). It must be noted here that this disincentive/penalties approach to changing behavior remains popular for federal, state, and local govel11ments, because laws. policies and ordinances are relatively quick and easy to implement However, as has already been said, such a practice may havc side effects such as social riots. The experiences of totalitarian countries to which Poland belonged provide ex­ of negative elTects of using the fear-appeal in information policy. This strategy represents the traditional govel11mental approach to managing behavior in a totalitarian world and is included in one of the types of the fear-appeal distin­ guished by Pratkanis and Aronson (1992). This is exactly the hard solution to the commons dilemma. to use Vlek's words. If it is well used it is efficient but also dangerous for the system foundations of the country it is used in. 3.4. POLITICAL MARKETING AND POSITIVE AFFECT

The other approach to creating responsible environmental behavior consists in a positive image of the sUlTounding reality and specifying exactly the relation of this image with a responsible environmental action. The methodology of creating this image can be developed on the basis of concepts used successful­ ly in political marketing. In order to do so, the analogy between political marketing and marketing ori­ ented on developing pro-ecology behavior (which could be called marketing) should be defined. In the first place, the element connecting these two at first glance different spheres is promoting the idea or concept. It is then a vari­ ety of social marketing. Political marketing develops strategies of

POLITICAL MARKETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLlCY

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voting behavior on a global scale. Pro-ecology behaviors should also be devel­ oped on such a scale. What connects political marketing with ecological markct­ ing is that changes in politicians' images as well as changes in images of the sustainable future occur in a top-down manner with ideas moving from cultural and government elites to other parts of society. The starting point then is creating a positive image of the future as the of a sustainable future, which can be called generally the Earth Image. The of the future should have such attributes, which are necessary to allow the image to motivate and guide constructive social change. How to construct then such an Earth Image? By analogy to political marketing we should start from so-called candidates' competing reality visions as candi­ dates to choose to vote for. The first vision is the current picture of the Earth as Candidate I to whom cOITesponds the first part of the commons dilemma para­ digm, i.e. "us, here and now". The second vision is the expected Earth Image as Candidate 2. It is a vision closely connected with negative emotions, from which people flee. It becomes active sometimes and is called to consciousness by fear­ appeal advertisements. This kind of vision is connected with the disincentive/ for controlling human behavior, characterized above. The third vision is a desired image of the Earth as Candidate 3. It is an image of a sustain­ able future and should include positive features of the expected reality. In order for an image of a sustainable future to be most pref'tmed and, thus, develop a proper attitude towards reality in society, a proper promotion-advertis­ ing strategy should be used in such a way that it shows that the image can be achieved. As Olson (1995) demonstrates only certain visions develop sufficient cultural resonance to motivate widespread behavioral change. Namely the of the future that develop the power to guide and motivate constructive social change almost always have a number of common characteristic which can be described as follows: believable, highly positive, open ended, responsive, and This vision should be competitive to the other images, earlier identi­ fied and precisely defined (Candidates I and 2). To use marketing language, the Earth Image should 'cover' the other altematives. In order to make it possible, all competing visions should be detelmined in the same way and the choice and pursuit of the most positive Earth Image supported on this basis. A palticularly relevant element of vision is that it must be structurally con­ nected with the intention of action. It is true that without a definite intention of action, developing a vision in marketing strategies may change an individual's attitude but it may not necessarily change his behavior. Social psychologists have known this for a long time, for instance Ajzen and Fishbein (1977) argue that therc is a weak relationship belween attitudes and behavior (sec also Stem & Oskamp. 1987). Yet an assumption which is often adopted is that to change be­ havior onc nced only change an individual's attitudes. This bcliefhas led market­

{

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POLITICAL MARKETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

ers throughout USA to spend millions of dollars on advertising and information campaigns designed to alter public attitudes regarding energy conservation. Un­ fortunately, these energy conservation campaigns have been inelTective because they were built on the mistaken assumption that changing attitudes will necessar­ ily bring about a cOITesponding change in behavior (Hirst, 1984). How to connect then the created image and the attitude towards a sustainable future with action? A verified and well developed methodology on political mar­ keting may be proposed here (Cwalina, Falkowski, Kaid, 2000; Falkowski, Cwali­ na, 1999). Generally speaking, it consists in strengthening in promotion-advertis­ ing campaigns those attributes of politicians, which are connected with voters' behavior. It is necessary then to select precisely such features of politicians to which voters will react by 'better liking' the politician expressing and their inten­ tion to vote for him or her. A model of controlling man's behavior which consists of four components can be proposed: 1) Cognitive/affective characteristics (candidate image), 2) General feelings toward the object of concern, 3) Intention to vote for a given candidate, and 4) Decision to vote. A causal link between these components is assumed which can be presented as a sequential model of the influence of advertising on individual's behavior (see Figure 3).

In most of the political marketing studies on the influence of image presented in adveltisements, cognitive/emotional and general feelings elements were ana­ lyzed separately (Kaid, Holtz-Bacha, 1995). On the other hand the key clement of the sequential model is that thesc clements are mutually connected and should not be analyzed separately. The model was successfully applied to analyze changes in voting preferences as a result of changcs in the created image of politicians during the elections in Poland, france and Germany. The starting point for using this methodology is specifying the object of the imagc creation. It cannot be a general and thus poorly defined Earth Image, be­ cause, as Oskamp, Han'ington, Edwards, Sherwood, Okuda and Swanson (1991) as well as McKenzie-Mohr, Nemiroff, Beers, and Desmarais (1995) point out, there arc no common variables explaining pro-ecology behaviors at large, or that a common set of variables docs not predict every form of responsible environ­ mental behavior. Instead, it is more likely that each fOlm ofresponsible environ­ mental behavior has a separate set ofprcdictors. Since every fOlm of responsible environmental behavior corresponds to a concrete object of image creation, such an object should be precisely defined. We can then say that the EaIth Image in general consists of a number of clements, for instance such as arc proposed by McKenzie-Mohr and Oskamp (1995): Eal1h Atmosphere, Forest. Soil, and Water, Waste, Population. or in Vlek's (2000) telms: biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, litho-/pedo­ sphere and cryosphere. The basic question should then be: What should we do to keep in good form pal1icular elements of the Ealth Image? The question is a question about behav­ ior. As for the waste problem we can speak about three types of behavior: reduce, reuse, and recycle (see e.g. Oskamp, 1995). Each of these behaviors is still on a high level of generality but implementing each of them contributes directly to the improvement of the natural environment. For instance as far as recycling is concemed we may ask what concrete actions must be perfOlmed for something like recycling to take place. One 0 fthe concrete actions of recycling may be composting as a specific responsible environmental behavior, which may be subject to the following empirical testing. Namely, a number ofvari­ abies should be defined which would characterize this activity (composting), i.e. create an image of this activity. Let us take for instance the following variables: a) reduce waste, b) unpleasant, c) inconvenient, d)satisfaction, e) devclop soil. The subjects define then the activity that composting constitutes for each of these vari­ ables using Likel1 scales with end points of strongly disagree and strongly agree.

I

IMAGE:

IMAGE:

Cognitive-affective elements of

Cognitive-affective elements of

1

1 ~,:

General feelings

1

I

1 Intention

I

J'I

General feelings

1

I

Intention

I

Decision

1

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Figure 3. Sequential model of the influence of advertising on individual's behavior.

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ANDRZIlJ FALKOWSKI & WOJCIECII CWALINA

POLITICAL MARKETING OF ENVIRONMENTAl. POLICY

vation, which may be embodied in such concrete responsible environmental be­ havior as programmable thermostats, compact fluorescent bulbs or insulation (sec e.g. McKenzie-Mohr et aI., 1995; Stern, Oskamp, 1987). In order to promote such activities an analogical method to that proposed for the composting example should be used. Introducing research programs and their applications in order to direct society towards a sustainable future requires a multidisciplinary approach. It is not only scientists from different fields but also, or, rather, mainly politicians who should get involve in developing such programs. It is politicians upon whom the success of such programs depends. They should take lip concrcte pro-ecological actions rather than only meet in conferences and workshops. Their dUlY is to educate citizens and to develop the country or intemational communities towards 11 sus­ tainable future. The agreement between scientists and politicians using the termi­ nology of political marketing seems to be very promising. Thc tenninology is familiar to politicians and used in their work so it may create a chance for better communication and faster action in building a positive Emih Image. Generally speaking it must be stressed that the methodology of creating a pos­ itive EaJih image presented here consists in forming positive attitudes towards pmtieular behaviors. A number of studies have shown that attitudes toward spe­ cific behaviors are better predictors ofthosc behaviors than are attitudes toward objects of environmental concern

Generally speaking we may say that the methodologies of research here arc oriented towards turning existing human behaviors into oncs that would create a sustainable future. Any environmental protection study emDhasizes anced for mental changes and behavior. Undoubtedly such changes ing a sustainable society can be a gateway to a new stage of cultural These changes which should begin on the vision level are a shift in paradigm in understanding as defined by Thomas Kuhn (I demonstrates that adopting a new vision sometimes reauires the work of a few In other words we shOUld not old paradigms die oping a new cation and results will only bc obscrveUby our . so -called "delay of gratification" , familiar from the decision theory. And this notion is well illustrated in the commons dilemma paradigm: "we, here and now" on the one hand, and delavcd gratification: "long-tenn distant needs for collective welfare" on the other.

4. CONCLUSION

Ajzen. I.. Fishbein. M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. P.rychological Bulletin, 84, 888-918. Burgh, J.A. (1994). The Four Horsemen of automaticity: Awareness. intention, efficiency, control. and social cognition. In R.S. Wyer Jr., T.K. Snll1 (cds.), Handbook 0/ social cognition. (1-40). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrenee ErlbaulI1. Bello. W.. Cunningham. S .. Ran. B. (1994). Dark victory: The United States, structural adjustlllent and global poverty. London: Pluto Press. B()ulding. K.E. (1956). The image. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Boulding. K. E. (1966). The illlage: Knowledge ill life lind society. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Bruner, lS.. Postman. L. (1949). On perception of incongruity - a paradigm. Journal Personality. J8, 206-223. Cobb Jr.. lB. (1995). Toward a just sustainable economic order. Journal 0/ Soda/Is­ .IlleS, 51(4). X3-IOO. Corsoll. W. H. (1995). Priorities for a sustainable future: The role of education. the me­ dia, and tax refonn. Journal ofSocia/Issues. 51(4). 37-61. Cwalina. Falkowski. A.. Kaid. L.L. (2000). Role of advertising in fonnilll! the of politicians: Comparative analysis of Poland. France, and chology, 2(2). 119-146.

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holders who engage in pro-ecological activities liom those who do not. We would have to construct slightly differcnt strategies for individual segments. It should be notcd that the second approach to fOlming pro-ecological behav­ iors based upon evoking a positive affect is eonnccted with limiting consumption. But this limitation is not perceived as imposed fi'om the outside. In this case an individual makes a decision on his 01' her own. Slhe is fi'ce in his or her choices. Ofcourse his or her behavior is formcd by marketing stratcgy but s/be has a sense of freedom. From this point of view we should not expect stich unintended side effects as those which can be observed in a situation when man's freedom is directly limited by the introduction of various prohibitions. The integration of these two promotional concepts into one, which would in­ clude both the clements of fear appeal and positive vision, is also possible. But the efficiency ofsuch a strategy may, for the time being, be subject to hypotheses only.

Translation by Andrzej Alltoszek REFERENCES

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ANDRZEJ FALKOWSKI & WOJClECH CWALINA

POLITICAL MARKETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLlC'Y

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Andrzcj Falkowski is a Professor of Experimental Psychology, Catholic University of Lublin where his research specialty is cognitive psychology. including consumer behavior. marketing, and political advertising. lie is a Fulbright Scholar (University of Michigan). Mentioned in the Wbo Who in the World and in tl,e Men o/Acbievement (14th. edition); His publications include numerous articles in consumer behavior and cognitive psychology journals, as well as books. Psychological Judgment and the Process o/Perception (Amsterdam, 1982), A similarity Relation ill Cognitive pmcesses: All Ecological and In/ormation Pmcessing Approach (Delft. 1995)and chapter in. edited by Druce I. Newman, Handbook ofPolitical Marketing (Sage, 1999).

s

Wojcicch Cwalina is Assistant Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the Catholic University of Lublin. His resear~h specialties include political marketing psychol­ ogy. organizational and management psychology. and analysis of media ~overage. Among his publications are numerous articles in psychological journals and chapter in, edited by Bruce I. Newman. Hlllldhook o/Political Marketing (Sage. 1999). He works as a marketing specialist and campaign advisor for the Solidarity Election Action in Lower Silesia Division.