Social Marketing of Solar Panels in Australia

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Analysis and Discussion
Application of SHIFT Framework in the Social Marketing Interventions
Conclusion
Recommendations
Reference List

Introduction

Solar Panel is one of the green energy sources that many countries are adapting to mitigate the effects of global warming and pollution. The use of solar energy in Australia is still lagging, with 0.1 percent out of the total power generated and consumed. Australia has the highest solar radiation concentration per meter square (Csereklyei and Ancev, 2019, p. 359). This resource has made Australia top the world in renewable solar energy. With the increasing government development policies, Australia targets solar thermal technologies to raise its electricity production.

The government and the solar industry have to put up measures to ensure increased uptake of solar panels amongst her citizens and corporations. The solar panels producing companies have to integrate procedures and measures to encourage behavior change from the non-renewable and environmentally unfriendly energy sources such as coal, firewood, and fossil fuels. This paper aims to develop an integrated program consisting of the five elements of the SHIFT framework, to increase the adoption of solar panels for households in Australia.

Analysis and Discussion

Marketing plays a significant role in encouraging sustainable consumption. However, the packaging of the message and the context determine the uptake of the targeted product. For instance, pro-environmental consumer behavior change messaging and context should leverage certain psychological factors, commonly referred to as SHIFT. The acronym stands for Social influence, Habit formation, Individual self, Feelings and cognition, and Tangibility (White et al. 2019, p. 31). For the SHIFT framework to apply, goals of sustainability of the consumer behavior are aligned to those of marketing. Unlike traditional marketing, sustainability focuses on mimicking the natural circular flow of resources to renew those already been utilized.

Solar Panel User’s Segmentation Intervention

Segmentation apportions many people into groups depending on their wants, values, and social orientation. To influence particular sustainable consumer behavior, specific social parameters require critical consideration. The factors for social influence include social norms, social desirability, and social identities. Every consumer is attracted to goods and services that are socially accepted by the rest of society (Rundle-Thiele et al. 2019, p. 179). Every member of society wants to be morally accepted by their kins. Products that contribute to gaining credibility and a good reputation in society are welcomed and demanded. For instance, social norms expect and promote behaviors such as recycling and composting, conserving energy, solar panel energy production, avoiding littering, and choosing green hotels.

Social identity refers to a sense of individuality and characterization. Likewise, consumers are likely to engage in sustainable behaviors that other in-group members do. In this case, pro-environmental membership and identification will promote the use of solar panels for energy production in households. Similarly, social desirability influences sustainable behavior by adopting options that will positively impact the rest of the group. Therefore, segmentation of the Australian population in line with their social identities, desirability, and norms will play a critical role in capitalizing on the most impactful market.

Target Audience

After segmenting the population, it is prudent for mainstream marketing to target the specific audience identified. For instance, the target market for solar panels in Australia should be in regions mining coal because the objective is to reduce pollution from coal-fired power stations. Coal mining areas become the target because that is where it is extensively used. Additionally, regions that are perceived to be the largest market for coal should be targeted to offer them sustainable energy use.

While many everyday habits are unsustainable, the persistent practice of certain norms and procedures leads to habit formation. Bad habits are disrupted by a break of repetition, such as discontinuity. On the other hand, good habits are encouraged by continuously adding incentives to sustainable actions and strengthening positive habits (Trudel, R., 2019, p. 86). Therefore, after identifying the target audience, you ought to discourage using coal to generate energy and encourage good habits of solar panels in the production of electricity.

Measuring Consumer Behavior Change for Sustainable Solar Panel Use

Every time there is a plan to influence or change consumer behavior, the need to measure the level of success is insatiable. As the government and solar panel producing companies endeavor to increase the usage of renewable clean energy, different parties employ different methods to determine the level of achievement and success. Based on the results, they improve the products offered in the market to satisfy consumers.

The individual self is a psychological factor that examines individual satisfaction. People have different tastes and preferences, and they differ depending on environmental and social factors. For instance, if the solar panels have low voltage, they may discourage people who want a high energy level in their homes. Thus, solar agents should conduct a survey to show trends in the purchase of the products and determine the discouraging factors to configure the rest as per the demands of the target market or individual self.

Competition

These are other behaviors that compete for the same target audience in the geographical areas of interest. The dynamic Australian market faces competition from varied alternative energy resources. One of them is solar energy, which is cheap and environmentally friendly. Therefore, changing the market desirability of solar panels depends on the strategies employed to add value to it to get a competitive advantage.

Feelings and cognitions are SHIFT elements that promote pro-environmental actions and create positive consumer emotions. Environmentally friendly products are highly marketable, and those that are pollutants or encourage environmental degradation have low demand. Hence, eco-friendly features in solar panels will increase their market demand and earn them a competitive advantage.

Exchange

Individuals tend to hold onto the former or past products, services, and procedures. Whenever consumers need to change their behavior, they demand an alternative mechanism to enjoy the benefits they enjoyed before and more. This is the intervention of exchange or replacing the energy source with another distinguished resource-solar panel. Tangibility is the feature of vagueness and clarity of consumer behavior. Before consumers change their behavior, they evaluate its sustainability. For example, evaluating the solar panel energy source to determine its tangibility concerning the exchanged coal makes consumers accept the behavior change easily.

Conclusion

The paper contains a discussion on the development of the integrated program in light of the five elements of the SHIFT framework. It focuses on social marketing interventions to increase the adoption of solar panels by households in Australia. The interventions discussed include solar panel user segmentation, target audience, measuring consumer behavior change for sustainable solar panel use, competition, and exchange interventions. Adopting the above five discussed social marketing interventions and their SHIFT psychological factors will result in a brilliant technique to eradicate coal.

Recommendations

Australia should leverage high solar radiation concentration per square meter to socially market the solar panels. Solar panel distributors ought to merge the SHIFT framework with social marketing interventions to increase their demand. Any shortcoming mentioned or realized by the marketers should be addressed to increase its acceptability and exchange it with the previous energy generation methods.

Reference List

Csereklyei, Z., Qu, S. and Ancev, T., 2019. The effect of wind and solar power generation on wholesale electricity prices in Australia. Energy Policy, 131, p.358-369.

Eagle, L., Dahl, S., Hill, S., Bird, S., Spotswood, F. and Tapp A., 2012, Social marketing. Pearson Education Limited United Kingdom, p.1-368

Rundle-Thiele, S., David, P., Willmott, T., Pang, B., Eagle, L. and Hay, R., 2019. Social marketing theory development goals: an agenda to drive change. Journal of Marketing Management, 35(1-2), p.160-181.

Trudel, R., 2019. Sustainable consumer behavior. Consumer psychology review, 2(1), pp.85-96.

White, K., Habib, R. and Hardisty, D.J., 2019. How to SHIFT consumer behaviors to be more sustainable: A literature review and guiding framework. Journal of Marketing, 83(3), p.22-49.

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