CHARM, funded by the RCUK Digital Economy Programme, employs digital technologies as a means of providing individuals with feedback about their own and others' sustainability behaviours. Thus, the three-year project examines the potential for telling people what other people do - the so-called 'social norm' approach - to change individual practices and behaviours in socially-desirable ways.

 

The CHARM Approach

 

The CHARM approach integrates practice theory from sociology, the social norm approach from social psychology, and digital technologies to investigate novel routes to sustainable behaviour change. Social psychology research shows that our everyday activities are influenced by what we believe to be 'normal' behaviour. With this in mind, the social norm approach attempts to change behaviour in socially desirable ways by telling people what other people do. This approach has been successfully employed in the contexts of alcohol and substance abuse, and sustainability issues such as electricity consumption, recycling and hotel towel reuse.

 

Practice theory emphasises the habitual, routine nature of individual behaviour and the ways in which behaviour is shaped by the broader sociotechnical context within which it takes place. This approach suggests that sustainable or unsustainable behaviours are best understood as a product of everyday, taken-for-granted practices, such as heating, lighting, cleaning, travel or recreational practices.

 

The CHARM approach is distinctive because it employs digital technologies - including mobile phones, the internet, energy monitors, pedometers, GPS and social networking applications - to provide sophisticated social norm feedback to participants. In addition, in CHARM the quantitative data and questionnaires that are typical of the social norm approach will be complemented by ethnographic interviews and focus groups that will facilitate in-depth understanding of the sociotechnical contexts and practices that underlie sustainable and unsustainable behaviours. This novel approach will be applied in three case studies: 1) energy, 2) active lifestyle and 3) Facebook.

 

PhD Students

 

We welcome inquiries from good quality candidates interested in conducting PhDs on topics related to CHARM.