World Development Report 2015 Mind

 This passage and accompanying figure are adapted from
World Development Report 2015 Mind, Society, and Behavior. ©2015 by International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development/The World Bank.
Behind every intervention lies an assumption
about human motivation and behavior. When a
tunnel providing water to the city of Bogotá,
Colombia, partially collapsed in 1997, triggering a
water shortage, the city government declared a
public emergency and initiated a communication
program to warn inhabitants of the threat of a crisis:
70 percent of the city would be left without water if
current water use was not reduced.
The city’s strategy was based on the assumption
that if individuals were informed of the situation,
they would adjust their behavior and reduce
usage—after all, no one wants to be without water. But
the assumption was wrong. In fact, the city’s strategy
increased water consumption. Many people did not
change their behavior because they did not think
they could make a difference and did not know
which steps were most important. Some people even
started to stockpile water.
Recognizing the mistake in its assumptions, the
city government changed its strategy. First, the
government reminded people to take action by
conserving water at times when they were most likely
to overuse it. Stickers featuring a picture of a statue
of San Rafael—which was the name of the emergency
reservoir the city was relying on after the tunnel
collapse—were distributed throughout the city.
People were asked to place a sticker by the faucet that
a particular household, office, or school used most
frequently. The stickers made the need to conserve
water at all times salient. Daily reports of the city’s
water consumption were prominently published in the
country’s major newspapers. The reports became
a part of public discussions about the emergency.
Second, the city government launched engaging and
entertaining campaigns to teach individuals the
most effective techniques for household water
conservation. The campaigns contained memorable
slogans and organized 4,000 youth volunteers to go
throughout the city to inform people about the
emergency and teach them effective strategies to
reduce consumption. The mayor himself appeared in
a TV ad taking a shower, explaining how the tap
could be turned off while soaping 
Third, the city government publicized
information about who was cooperating and who
was not. The chief executive officer of the water
company personally awarded households with
exceptional water savings a poster of San Rafael with
the legend, “Here we follow a rational plan for using
the precious liquid.” These awards were made visible
in the media. Three months later, when a second
tunnel collapsed in the reservoir, the city imposed
sanctions for despilfarradores(squanderers), those
with the highest levels of overconsumption.While
the sanctions were minor—squanderers had to
participate in a water-saving workshop and were
subject to an extra day of water cuts—they were
nevertheless effective because they targeted highly
visible actors. Car-washing businesses, although
collectively not a major source of water waste, were
the primary targets.
The assumption underlying the new strategy was
that conservation would improve if the city created a
greater scope for social rewards and punishments
that helped to reassure people that achieving the
public good—continued access to water—was likely.
This time, the assumption was correct. The change in
strategy helped to create a social norm of water
conservation. By the eighth week of the campaign,
citywide water savings had significantly exceeded
even the most optimistic technical predictions.
Moreover, the reductions in water use persisted long
after the tunnel was repaired and the emergency had
been addressed.

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