Stage One Study Description

In a study of environmental behaviour, a researcher conducted the following investigation at two local corporate offices. In stage one of the study, she monitored the waste disposal habits of staff members on the main administrative floors at both Office X and Office Y after a new sustainability campaign was launched. She recorded whether the waste items placed in the recycling bins were correctly sorted (e.g., clean paper, dry plastic bottles) or incorrectly sorted (e.g., food waste, contaminated packaging).

At Office X

All staff on the floor were exposed to Campaign Poster A, which encouraged correct recycling habits. The person featured in the poster was a highly famous, widely-recognised environmental champion. For the next two weeks, the researcher monitored the recycling bins and recorded the proportion of correctly sorted items.

At Office Y

All staff on the floor were exposed to Campaign Poster B, which encouraged correct recycling habits. The person featured in this poster was an unknown individual matched by age and gender to the famous champion used in Poster A. The graphic design, text, and messaging used on Poster B were exactly the same as those used in Poster A. For the next two weeks, the same researcher monitored the recycling bins and recorded the proportion of correctly sorted items.