This online book details how to uncover the barriers that inhibit individuals from engaging in sustainable behaviors. Further, it provides a set of "tools" that social science research has demonstrated to be effective in fostering and maintaining behavior change. Each of these tools in and of its own right is capable of having a substantial impact upon the adoption of more sustainable behaviors. Collectively, they provide a powerful set of instruments with which to encourage and maintain behavior change. This online guide also details how to design and evaluate programs. The strategies detailed here, and the methods suggested in order to implement and evaluate them, form the basis of an emerging field that I refer to as "community-based social marketing."

Community-based social marketing draws heavily on research in social psychology which indicates that initiatives to promote behavior change are often most effective when they are carried out at the community level and involve direct contact with people. The emergence of community-based social marketing over the last several years can be traced to a growing understanding that programs which rely heavily or exclusively on media advertising can be effective in creating public awareness and understanding of issues related to sustainability, but are limited in their ability to foster behavior change.

This guide will provide you with the information you need to incorporate community-based social marketing techniques into the programs you design. After reading this online book, you will have a new set of tools at your disposal which you can use to create effective community programs to foster sustainable behavior. This book is available for purchase from McKenzie-Mohr Associates.

We would like to acknowledge the contributions that many authors have made to the ideas that are expressed in this book. We have been particularly influenced by the writings of Gerald Gardner and Paul Stern, Stuart Oskamp, Deborah Winter and Eliot Aronson. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions that other authors have made to our thinking. A partial listing of these individuals includes: Shawn Burn, Robert Cialdini, Mark Costanzo, John Darley, James Dyal, Scott Geller, Marti Hope Gonzales, William Kempton, Wesley Schultz, Clive Seligman, Neil Wolman, and Ray de Young. You can find references to their work in the references section of the book as well as by conducting a search of the articles database. You may also find of interest two excellent books. For an indepth introduction to environmental psychology, see Gerald Gardner and Paul Stern's book, "Environmental Problems and Human Behavior" published by Allyn and Bacon. For a fascinating introduction to social marketing and its application to social change, see Alan Andreasen's "Marketing Social Change."