Own Up So Users Care for Public Parks

Want to encourage people to pick up trash when at a public park? Then make them feel more like owners of the park and less like just visitors, say researchers at Cornell University, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and New York Institute of Technology. If we act as though we own something, we place a higher value on it and assume greater responsibility for taking care of it.
     The effective interventions in the studies were quite easy to implement: 

• Kayak renters were told, as part of their orientation, “It is common practice to pick up any objects or trash you find floating in the lake.” Some of the kayakers were also asked to think up and write down a nickname for the lake and repeat the nickname to themselves. The other kayakers were not asked to do this. Those who had nicknamed the lake were subsequently more likely to pick up debris from the lake while they were kayaking. 
• Some people renting cross-country ski equipment were asked to plot out their route on a map, while others were not. Those investing the extra effort subsequently agreed more often to add a one-dollar donation to their equipment rental fee. 
• In a laboratory experiment, some participants were told a sign at the entrance to a park read, “Welcome to YOUR park,” while the rest of the participants were told the sign read, “Welcome to the park.” The first group subsequently expressed greater willingness to consider picking up trash at the park, volunteering, repairing storm damage, and donating money.

     Because the researchers’ explanation for this effect was that a feeling of ownership added a sense of responsibility, they tested whether diffusing responsibility decreased the effect. It did. Asking study participants to look at a sign saying a large number of people had visited the park previously that week lessened the willingness to volunteer or donate money.
     Paired with responsibility is a desire to make a difference. That’s true with grouped donations as well. Researchers at University of Miami explored the effects of varying the amount people were told would be donated by a marketer to a cause based on sales. In some cases, the minimum was said to be $100,000, while in others, it was $10 million. Consumers responded more favorably to the smaller minimum, since this made them feel the contribution attributable to their purchase would play a larger role.

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