People who value making the most of things often want to embrace circularity, but when it comes down to making a decision at home or at the register, it can be hard to take action. Our SHIFT program helps participants find the right words to get people to align their actions with their values. Explore below to learn more about the program.

SHIFTing Consumer Behaviour Project

Adapted from Sitra’s foundational work, the Share Reuse Repair Initiative designed and piloted the SHIFTing Consumer Behaviour Program. Running from January to May 2021, the program took seven businesses, one city, and one non-profit with circular products, services, or programs through a step-by-step process to create and test messages using the five SHIFT factors, alone and in various combinations. The messages were designed to motivate a desired behaviour change of a specific target market or audience. For business, the goal was to shift consumer behaviour and enhance sales and ultimately market share. For the city and non-profit, the intention was to improve their behaviour change programs. Read about the SHIFTing Consumer Behaviour Pilot program in our report to the right, and watch the recap of the SHIFTing Consumer Behaviour Pilot webinar at this link; both include a review of each SHIFT factor and how it was applied by Ethical Chair, Fulfill Shoppe and the City of Portland.

Learn more by exploring our SHIFTing Consumer Behaviour program through the deck here. You can also find out more about the program from Sitra's SHIFT Framework and SHIFT Workbook. Stay tuned for a new SHIFT Program Brief including a DIY section!

The SHIFT Framework was developed by Dr. Kate White and Rishad Habib for Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund for the future. It distills global best practices in marketing, psychology and behavioural economics into a practical tool that helps public and private innovators create persuasive messaging to encourage ecologically sustainable consumer behavior. Each letter of the SHIFT framework represents a key factor required in behaviour change: Social influence, Habit formation, Individual Self, Feelings and Cognition, and Tangibility. You can listen to our Project Director, Rosemary Cooper, and Dr. Kate White discuss the SHIFTing Consumer Behaviour Program in a 2 part feature on the Look4Loops podcast - Unboxing Your Packaging - below.​

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7 Motivations for Lighter Living in BC

Find out the WHYs behind buying second-hand, eating more plant-based, reducing our home energy use... and what this new research means for mainstreaming sustainable living. We'd love to hear how you apply the 7 Motivations:

1. Waste Not, Want Not (22%) 
2. Shop, Style & Social (20%)
3. Eco-Trends (20%)
4. Healthy Life & Planet (14%)
5. Rugged Independence (10%
6. Practical Traditions (7%)
7. Work Hard, Live Large (7%)​ ​

This insights study by OneEarth and the Share Reuse Repair Initiative (SRRI) builds on an approach taken by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, which yielded 7 dominant motivations amongst the Finnish population which they called 'Smart Consumption Profiles’ (see their report here). In this guide, you'll find: 

• Summaries of all 7 Motivations for British Columbia
• A Do-It-Yourself (DIY) toolkit to put the 7 Motivations to use for your organization or business, including action area briefs for the 7 BC Motivations on five topics - eating, stuff, moving around, home, and general lighter living (civic engagement, taking a break, money)
• Background on Lighter Living, the project and its methodology: OneEarth conducted 20 in-depth qualitative interviews and a quantitative study of 1,500 British Columbia residents (Angus Reid Panel) to hone in on the 7 BC Motivations.