The path to high status is paved with litter : a netnography of status competition among Litterati.

Within marketing, postmodern perspectives relate conspicuous consumption and status to the realisation of self-identity. The consumption of goods and their symbolic meaning allow an individual to reinforce, create and maintain his or her identity. Notions of conformity and consumption of visible goods could be attributed to social identity theory, where identity shifts from context to context. The consumption or rejection of certain goods thus reinforces an individual’s shifting identity among various contexts, such as home, school or work. It is the view of evolutionary psychology that theories such as social identity theory and consumer culture theory provide a proximal explanation of consumer behaviour, yet beyond these explanations are thought to be universal and ultimate drivers of behaviour. Evolutionary psychology presents cost signalling theory to help explain why individuals compete for status. However, existing evolutionary theories are still incomplete, particularly in explaining the paths in which individuals take to achieve status within a peer group. This research explores how and why people engage in pro-environmental behaviour. A review of the literature indicates that a desire for status is the main underlying driver motivating this type of behaviour, however the literature further indicates that theory on status is still incomplete in terms of understanding the path a person takes to achieve higher status. Therefore the gap this thesis aims to fill is to clarify the path an individual takes to achieve higher status within the context of pro-environmental behaviour. In order to identify how and why people engage in pro-environmental behaviour and strategies for status this research uses netnography to explore hierarchy negotiation within an online community of pro-environmental behaviourists called the Litterati. The Litterati is an Instagram community consisting of over 15,000 members worldwide, whom pick up and photograph litter. The main Litterati site and associated social media pages provide the visible conditions necessary for people to compete for higher status through cost signalling. The research findings are presented as three levels. The first level addressed observed empirical events, consisting of the observed tactics used within the Litterati for gaining status. The observed tactics among the Litterati are the use of visual appeal, time, humour and reciprocity. The next level addresses events, which are not wholly observable. This consists of the themes or patterns arising from the retroductive analysis of the interviews and participant observation and how they relate to status strategies. The main themes that help explain the paths to status are self-efficacy; community; and reciprocity or validation. The third level applies evolutionary theories of status and cost signalling to explain the underlying causes of the observed behaviours. The two strategies for status, Dominance and Prestige are presented as manifestations of the dynamic relationships between each level of the findings. This research contributes to exiting theory by clarifying the path an individual takes to achieve higher status, with the analysis demonstrating that Dominance and Prestige are not as distinct as the extant literature would suggest. Additionally, this research indicates that behaviour online influences behaviour offline provided there is a strong sense of community and feelings of self-efficacy are promoted through social modelling and social persuasion. The sense of validation participants reported through the community membership led to an increase in their uptake of pro-environmental behaviours offline, including changes in their consumption decisions. The wider implications of these findings indicate online communities of ethical consumption, such as the Litterati, promote a feeling of passive activism, where discussion of social change and interaction result in behaviour change

Community Attitudes Toward Local Foods and Producers: The Role of Warmth Versus Competence Across Demographics for Social Media Engagement.

Connecting local food producers with consumers is useful for ensuring individuals have access to healthy, fresh, foods. Small farmers, however, lack the resources to effectively connecting with consumers through traditional forms of marketing. Marketing to consumers through social media is a low-cost method that local food producers can use to promote their products. Creating engaging content on social media can be challenging, thus there is a need for guidance on how to effectively engage with local consumers through social media. Studies in advertising have shown dimensions of warmth and competence can be useful frames for engaging consumers across a variety of consumer goods. In this study we ran a nationally representative survey (n = 966) with an experimental component to determine if videos were an effective method of connecting with consumers, and if so, how this varies across demographics. We further investigated whether aspects of warmth of competence influence consumer willingness to purchase locally produced foods. We find warmth does have a small effect on consumer perceptions of local foods and videos help reduce the lack of familiarity of a farm, a barrier to purchasing local foods. Consumers across demographics demonstrate high levels of interest in purchasing local foods yet access to continues to be a barrier to purchasing. Additionally, we find consumers are willing to purchase locally produced foods at a higher price if available in more convenient locations, such as grocery stores, provided they were clearly labeled and from a farm that is familiar

Consuming beyond survival: an evolutionary approach to sustainable consumption

This paper aims to further extend sustainable consumption research beyond value-based models for identifying behavioural intentions as these have met with mixed results. Considering the range of internal and external factors affecting choice, it looks to examine the role of an individual’s status in consumption decisions as what we consume has been identified as an important element in how we manage our social position. Within evolutionary psychology, the individual is identified as a decision maker, motivated to manage their status by navigating social hierarchies in a strategic way and where the tactics that are available and most attractive are shaped through social norms and structures. What remains unclear is a full understanding of the relationship between strategies for navigating these hierarchies, the associated tactics and how and when they are used. The following work briefly explores current practice in promoting sustainable consumption and presents a conceptual framework for examining sustainable consumption as a means of increasing status. This paper concludes that status strategies embody a pivotal role on consumption,thus a better understanding of them is essential to promoting sustainable consumption. Examining the widespread culture of consumption from this perspective enhances the understanding of the increasing desire to consume as a means to signal status among peers and identifies possible behavioural interventions

Climate change behaviours – segmentation study

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that to keep within 1.5 degrees of global warming will require ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.’ Therefore, whilst Scotland continues to lead the world in addressing climate change, it faces profound challenges in order to meet its highly ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, set in accordance with its international obligations. To inform a review of the Scottish Government’s climate change public engagement strategy, this report identifies and evaluates different approaches to grouping or segmenting the public according to their attitudes and behaviours related to climate change. In addition, to ensure the new strategy is based on the most up-to-date evidence, it reviews the dominant ideas on how to change behaviour. We undertook a comprehensive review of the most current literature and compared the findings against the existing ideas on how to segment the public and change behaviour. This review also identifies the most robust work upon which to base recommendations

Climate Change Education Resources for Educators

Activities & Lessons; Curriculum & Lesson Collections; Climate Change Education Books; Climate Change Communications & Public Opinion Resources; Climate Change in NGSS & NYS Standards; Toolki

Strategic Communication Introduction

N/AOverview of the Strategic Communication ToolkitN/