Step 2: Measure the Behavior Baseline Within Your Priority Audience
Once you have identified a behavior and priority audience, you need to measure how much your particular audience is currently engaging in the behavior, also known as a baseline measurement. This is very important because will measure again at the end of the campaign to track the degree of behavior change.
It is possible to field one survey that both measures the behavior baseline and helps you prioritize an audience. To do this as stated above, you would measure the general population, and include demographic and sociographic questions so that you can segment your results by several different audience groups. Be sure to include “likelihood” questions so that you can compare your audience groups by both their opportunity and likelihood.
The Chesapeake Bay Program has collected survey data measuring 19 specific residential stewardship behaviors. If you want more up to date data, are working in more localized geography, need to explore the attitudes of a midstream or influencer audience or need to measure a behavior that was not measured by the Chesapeake Bay Program, you will need to conduct your own baseline survey. You can replicate the Chesapeake Bay Program’s survey on a local basis by accessing BaySurvey.org and conducting the survey in your local area. Contact susan@opinionworks.com prior to beginning for assistance and to gain access to any data you collect through BaySurvey.org. If you have questions or hesitation about your ability to design this research, please consult a professional to help you. Your colleagues who have conducted behavior change campaigns may know of professionals they can recommend or your funder may have a list of technical assistance providers. As you read case studies, when you come across an effective campaign or approach, take note of any professionals who were involved.
The baseline data is quantitative (numeric) and usually measured through a survey or through observation. Whatever technique you use, it should be duplicated to get a comparable measurement at the end of your campaign. For example, the weight of pet waste in a pet waste bin or the number of plastic water bottles on the side of a road are quantitative observations that can be collected at the beginning and end of campaigns to measure change over time. You can also measure your priority audience’s self-reporting of a particular behavior through a survey.
Here are some ways you could measure your behavior baseline:
Survey
Conduct a survey on a random sample of your priority audience about their engagement in the behavior. This survey will evaluate what they do, not why they do it. Write the survey using closed-ended questions and aim for the survey to be as brief as possible. Survey questions should be short, conversational, and no jargon! The survey may be conducted online through an emailed link, by telephone, in-person using tablets, or even on paper – or a combination of those methods. Don’t hesitate to reach out for a little help from survey software or a survey professional.
Care should be taken to create a sense of objectivity so that you collect accurate data. The wording of questions should be balanced and neutral. Interviewers should not react to what people say if interviewing in-person (often a hard thing to do!) and survey participants should be assured that every answer they give is acceptable. These are some ways to avoid people giving you the answers they think you want to hear, often referred to as “social desirability bias”.
For additional help in creating and conducting a survey, visit Harvard University’s Questionnaire Design Tip Sheet. Consider having your survey and methodology reviewed by a survey professional.
Observation
Observe behaviors in real time. Discreetly observe people engaging in the behavior you wish to influence. For example, one group identified a littering hot spot and observed from a park bench the instance of littering at that hot spot. The same measurement was repeated in the same spot at the end of the campaign. In another example, practitioners counted the number of yard flags indicating application of toxic pesticides to determine a baseline of pesticide application by a lawn company in a given area. Care must be given to design the behavior observations to control for externalities and to compare exactly the same people engaging in the behavior. In the example of the pesticide flags, the same properties should be observed during the same time period at the same time of the year. As with survey design, consider consulting a data collection expert when designing your observation measurements.
Observe the prevalence of the pollutant. For example, one could observe and count the quantity, volume or weight of the pollutant (pet waste or plastic water bottles) in a given area before and after a campaign. Care should be taken to control for external variables. For example, do not do a litter count on a windy day or just after a rainstorm when the litter could have been moved to a new location by the wind or rain.
Use the baseline data to set specific, measurable and realistic campaign goals. For example, if 20% of your priority audience regularly uses reusable shopping bags at the grocery store, your campaign goal may be to increase that number to 50%. Be as specific as you can about your goal and be sure you consider how you will collect the data to evaluate your goal at the end of the campaign.