This text is part of the special Research section
Why is it so hard to take action, despite good intentions when it comes to sustainable consumption? Ghina El Haffar addressed the issue with her doctoral thesis entitled Three essays on the gap between attitude, intention and eco-responsible consumer behavior, supported last fall. “A lot of people want to act, but they can’t,” explains the researcher, lecturer in the Marketing Department at UQAM.
This difficulty in modifying one’s behavior is explained by the transfer costs, that is to say the psychological, behavioral and economic factors that can influence individuals. For example, a person may express a desire to buy sustainable products, but will face financial transfer costs such as higher prices or limited availability of these products. Another individual who wishes to use public transport rather than their car will face a lack of accessibility, comfort or longer journey times.
Prejudices, cognitive biases and psychological obstacles, such as the feeling of loss of autonomy or lack of motivation, are also elements to be taken into account. “We can also experience social pressure by wishing to become vegan if our spouse continues to eat meat, illustrates the researcher. It is a question of balance between the objectives that one can have and the habits anchored for years in daily life. She conducted surveys and interviews to develop a typology of these transfer costs and to assess the likelihood of a consumer adopting an eco-responsible product.
Techniques of change
During her thesis, Ghina El Haffar also wanted to test behavior change techniques. The manner in which information is presented, for example, can greatly influence how a message is perceived and then integrated. “The environment is built in a fairly abstract way in our head and we tend to follow this abstract construction when we communicate,” explains the researcher. I tried to analyze the difference in reception between two types of communications; abstract and concrete. The concrete method involves showing how to use an eco-responsible product, while the abstract involves emphasizing its benefits for the environment.
And the answer largely depends on the type of person receiving the message. If a person who already has ecological values reacts positively in both cases, an unaware person will be more receptive to concrete communication. Usually set aside by the industry, these customers who are more difficult to target could therefore themselves adopt or recommend an eco-responsible product. “We have to see how to mobilize these people, because we need everyone for the ecological transition,” she says. You just have to know how to communicate to bring them out of their comfort zone. »
Passionate about popularization, the researcher regularly leads workshops with the aim of offering tools from behavioral science to people who wish to take action. On her blog and an Instagram account, she tries to make information accessible to as many people as possible. The young woman is also working on the creation of a website offering services and courses, which will be launched this year.
Committed woman
Originally from Lebanon, Ghina El Haffar obtained a bachelor’s degree, then a master’s degree in her native country. She quickly noticed a need for tools to understand the phenomenon of green gap, as well as new qualitative and experimental studies. Nourished by ideals and a desire to change the world, she wanted to advance even further on the university path. “I realized that to have a greater impact, I had to continue my studies at the doctorate,” she explains. I came to Canada in 2017 for this reason. It has been quite a journey, literally and intellectually, for the young woman who has met such inspiring and fascinating people.
She is currently pursuing a post-doctorate at McGill University to study the green gap linked to sustainable and eco-responsible financial products. Despite a greater “green” offer in this area, transfer costs exist and must be studied and characterized. At the same time, she works with Montreal Public Health to facilitate decision-making for consumers and decision-makers. Ghina El Haffar was also selected to be part of the working group of the Montreal Food System Council, a regional consultation body that promotes healthy, diversified, local, affordable and sustainable food.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.