A community-based social marketing campaign at Pacific University Oregon Recycling, paper reduction, and environmentally preferable purchasing

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to design a community-based social marketing (CBSM) campaign to foster sustainable behavior change in paper reduction, commingled recycling, and purchasing environmentally preferred products (EPP) with faculty and staff at Pacific University Oregon. Design/methodology/approach - A CBSM campaign was developed after a nine month pilot study. A six-month mixed methods research approach used pre-postsurveys, office supply purchasing reports, a recycling study, and a waste audit. The CBSM campaign strategies used were prompts, communication, incentives, commitment, convenience, norms and social diffusion. Findings - The campaign titled, Greening Pacific! successfully identified and ranked key barriers to paper reduction, recycling and purchasing environmentally preferable products and developed CBSM tools and materials that were instrumental in affecting change. The CBSM campaign strategies and materials that were effective include recycling and paper reduction prompts, a sustainable office pledge, initiating a green team and training staff leaders, and deskside recycling box distribution. An increase in campus-wide purchasing of recycled content paper and EPP was found. Post-survey results found that 74 percent of staff and faculty changed their behavior because of the CBSM campaign. Research limitations/implications - The study could have benefited from a longer data collection period. Practical implications - Establishing aspects of green office practices on campuses can have significant impacts on purchasing EPP, waste reduction, energy and cost savings, and reducing the use of toxic chemicals. CBSM is a valuable framework for fostering behavior change. Originality/value - Community-based social marketing provides higher education institutions and other organizations with an effective model to foster environmental change in a targeted and community-oriented way.