Design for Sustainable Behaviour: Using Products to Change Consumer Behaviour

Overview

The 2011 research article by Tracy Bhamra, Debra Lilley, and Tang Tang explores Design for Sustainable Behaviour (DfSB) — a sustainable design approach aimed at reducing environmental and social impacts by influencing how consumers interact with products during their lifecycle, particularly through use.

Sustainable Design and Consumer Behaviour

• Sustainable design traditionally focuses on environmental and economic impacts during product creation.
• Social sustainability, involving personal responsibility, quality of life, well-being, and cooperative behaviour, is less emphasized but equally critical.
• Consumer behaviour during product use strongly influences overall environmental and social impacts, yet this phase remains under-addressed.
• Conventional efforts, such as government info campaigns, have failed to induce long-term behavioural change to reduce impacts.

The Role of Design in Shaping Use Behaviour

• Designers hold the power to shape product use experiences, which directly affect consumption patterns and impact.
• User interaction is often habitual, automatic, and involves limited conscious thought, making behavioural change challenging.
• Bridging the gap between sustainable intentions and everyday behaviour requires product-led interventions, moving beyond just promoting sustainable purchases to redesigning use phases.
• Consumption includes selecting, using, maintaining, repairing, and disposing of products — all potential intervention points.

Behavioural Theories Informing DfSB

• Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 2006): Attitudes, social norms, and perceived control influence behaviour.
• Integrated Model of Interpersonal Behaviour (Triandis, 1977): Adds social factors, emotions, and especially habits as mediators of behaviour change.
• Habits are automatic behavioural sequences with minimal deliberation, making them hard to change but key to sustainable behaviour shifts.

Research Methodology & Case Studies

1. Household Refrigerators (Environmental Impact)

   • Examines how understanding user behaviour with refrigerators can inform design interventions promoting energy-efficient use.

2. Mobile Phones (Social Impact)

   • Investigates designers’ perceptions of appropriate strategies to influence social behaviours linked to mobile phone use.
   • Raises ethical considerations in selecting behavioural intervention strategies.

Key Findings & Design Intervention Strategies

• Effective DfSB interventions target breaking habitual patterns to encourage sustainable use without compromising user satisfaction.
• Strategies include feedback mechanisms, contextual nudges, and design elements that motivate responsible behaviour.
• Ethical challenges arise around nudging behaviour, user autonomy, and transparency in design choices.

Conclusions and Implications for Designers

• Designers can significantly influence sustainable consumption by focusing on the use phase and user behaviour.
• Integrating social-psychological behaviour models helps identify critical intervention points.
• Acceptability and ethics of behaviour-modifying strategies must be carefully weighed.
• The paper advocates shifting design focus upstream from production to consumption patterns for maximum sustainability impact.

Importance for Sustainable Product Design

• Emphasizes a holistic lifecycle perspective incorporating environment, economy, and society.
• Suggests that fostering sustainable habits via product design is essential for reducing global environmental and social footprints.
• Calls for stronger collaboration between design, psychology, and sustainability disciplines.

Reference:

Bhamra, T., Lilley, D., & Tang, T. (2011). Design for Sustainable Behaviour: Using Products to Change Consumer Behaviour. The Design Journal, 14(4), 427-445. DOI: 10.2752/175630611X13091688930453

For designers and sustainability advocates, this research underscores the pivotal role of behavioural insights in crafting products that not only meet functional needs but also guide users towards eco-friendly and socially responsible lifestyles.

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