Using The Six Principles Of Persuasion To Promote Travel Behavior Change - Preliminary Findings Of A Travelsmart Pilot Test

Abstract

Policies aiming to increase the sustainability in urban transport often face the problem of
overcoming unsustainable behavior patterns that are principally centered arround the car and
largely dominated by routine based mode choices. Social psychology offers a series of
persuasion techniques that are able to strengthen the impact of community based Travel
Behavior Change programs such as the TravelSmart programs currently conducted in some of
Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

This paper presents selected results of a small-scale pilot test where combinations of
persuasion elements were tested in eight different treatment groups while controlling for a
number of socio-demographic variables. The paper also addresses the issue of evaluating a
community-based TravelSmart intervention by means of a before and after travel survey.
Selected results are presented from the before travel survey conducted to evaluate a larger
TravelSmart field test, whereby special attention is drawn to the factors that enhance the
response rate.