Scepticism was a key barrier
for this audience in terms of low perceived relevance of
climate change to themselves. This belief meant time, cost and extra effort were also
difficult to overcome. There was also a fairly high level of sense of deserving
gratification which meant it was less likely they would evaluate non-green behaviour
they liked or were strongly committed to (e.g. hobbies).
“It’s got to be within the bounds of science to sort these things
out”
[Female, D, 65+, Empty nester, Valleys, South Wales - BC]
“The greens that we think of are veggies – vegetarians and things
like that…”
[Male, D, 65+, Empty nester, Valleys, South Wales - BC]
For some their living
situation inhibited their level of ‘green’ behaviours. For these
respondents, current primary motivations were not strong enough to counter the array
of rational and emotional barriers, so they were only really active in mainstream
behaviours. However, as social currency and potential personal impact are important
to this group, these motivations could be mobilised effectively to encourage more
action with this group.
“I suppose we are not really that green because …we drink a fair
amount of wine and that’s got to be
transported in and if you are asking should we stop our holidays well, if you stopped his wine, he’d
be out
with a placard…”
[Female, D, 65+, Empty nester, Valleys, South Wales - BC]
Secondary barriers to
bear in mind for this group included:
- Lack of awareness
- Concerns about appearance
- Poorer quality of environmentally friendly goods;
and pride deterring use of
second hand for some
Some green stereotyping – with greenness needing to be more clearly positioned as
aspirational and not ‘uncool’
