Hard to Reach and Hard to Help: bringing energy efficiency to elusive audiences

Panel: Panel 6. Dynamics of consumption

Authors:
Lotte Ramsay, Association for the Conservation of Energy
Jacky Pett, Association for the Conservation of Energy

Abstract

Programmes and policies to promote domestic energy efficiency on a generic, national level invariably neglect a proportion of the population that do not receive, or cannot act on the information that they provide. Furthermore, tackling these ‘hard to reach’ and ‘hard to help’ audiences is not usually considered cost-effective, as they require unconventional marketing methods and non-standard energy efficiency measures.

However, for reasons of social equity and environmental protection these audiences must be addressed. They include the most vulnerable in society and represent a significant proportion of the domestic sector. If CO2 emissions reduction targets are to be reached then new and innovative programmes must be developed to deal with them.

In Britain , established national programmes offering standard measures to a defined audience are realising that emissions reduction targets will not be met using these methods alone. Based on examples from two recently completed research and evaluation projects, as well as feedback from ongoing local initiatives this paper outlines the scope of the problem in Britain and discusses why and how attention can be turned on these elusive audiences to bring about further energy saving in the domestic sector.

Case studies are used to illustrate how new approaches to marketing energy efficiency; such as utilising other groups (e.g. health professionals) to promote the message, can help to access the ‘hard to reach’. Analysis of unconventional energy efficiency measures and sustainable energy solutions in specific circumstances shows how they can be cost effective in assisting the ‘hard to help’ audiences.