Motivating the Skeptical and Unconcerned: Considering Values, Worldviews, and Norms When Planning Messages Encouraging Energy Conservation and Efficiency Behaviors

The current study examined the association of personal values or worldviews with individual motivations for reduced energy use and energy-use-related risk perceptions. We also investigated how perceptions of others' energy use influenced motivation to reduce use among those with high, versus low, risk perceptions. The perception that others were reducing use was associated with both increased feelings of personal responsibility and guilt-driven motivations to conserve energy among those who perceived greater energy-use-related-risk but was not associated with such motivations among those who perceived less risk. Implications for planning information campaigns to encourage environmental behaviors such as reduced energy use within a diverse public are discussed.