Stephen T. Schroeder, Melbourne F. Hovell, Bohdan Kolody, & John P. Elder (2004).
Use of newsletters to promote environmental political action: An experimental analysis.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
37, 427-429.
The managers of beach businesses were randomly assigned to receive no intervention or two
newsletters per week for 6 weeks that presented economic consequences of damage to coastal
water quality and how to contact politicians. The percentage of proenvironmental political
contacts was significantly greater in the experimental (newsletter) group than in the control
group. Logistical regression showed that contacts in the newsletter group were more than five
times that of controls after adjusting for history of contacts and predisposition to take such
action. Results suggest that the intervention can promote political action that could influence
environmental policies and human health.
DESCRIPTORS: economic consequences, newsletters, prompts, proenvironmental political action