SHIFT Program

A program that teaches messaging and tactics to enhance uptake of your circular product or service.

Learn how to cultivate low carbon consumer behaviour.

Increasing the uptake of low-carbon and circular goods and services requires changing people’s everyday behaviours.

65%

of people want to buy from purpose-driven businesses.

Only 26% actually do.

The SHIFT Program teaches scientifically-proven tools, tips and tactics to enable sustainable consumer behaviours.

Our Approach

The SHIFT Program offers workshops and expert feedback to help participants evaluate and redesign aspects of their messaging and offering in order to drive uptake of their low-carbon or circular offering.

Participants include non-profits, business and government alike, to help all sectors of the economy drive circular behaviour.

We developed the program in collaboration with Dr Kate White, Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business. The program is based on the SHIFT Framework for marketing and behavioural change, developed for Sitra by Dr White and fellow leading marketing and behavioural change experts, Drs David J. Hardisty, and Rishad Habib.

Key Takeaways

When it comes to marketing and messaging, many organizations with circular offerings are guessing what their audiences want to hear. This guesswork wastes time and resources and limits your audience.
While research shows that some SHIFT factors are really effective, they don’t work across the board. It is crucial to pinpoint the barriers and motivations of specific target audiences to a desired behaviour change. Tailored messages with combinations of relevant SHIFT factors are key.
The 7 new Lighter Living Motivations for BC, co-developed by SRRI with One Earth Living, inform a deeper understanding of what motivates and turns off target audiences to embrace sustainable behaviours.
Hearing about SHIFT research got participants thinking about what might be possible with some simple adjustments to their regular messaging or programming.
As participants went through the SHIFT framework steps, some realised that it wasn’t just their messaging that needed to be refined, but also their circular offerings to ensure they were appealing to their target audiences.