It’s tempting to think that people aren’t taking the action you want them to because they lack information. But it’s more often true that people don’t act because they don’t care or because they don’t know what to do. Now that you’ve identified who you want to act so narrowly that you may even know their names, you can find out what they care about. Once you know that, you can incorporate their values and goals into your strategy, and identify actions that they have the resources, power and support to take.
As you think about how to gain others’ support for your work, it’s critical to account for their identities, worldviews and moral values.
Identities are the ways in which people see themselves, and the people who they see as being like them. We don’t have a single identity, we have several. Our identities are derived from things like our religion, favorite sports team, political party, and family role.
Worldviews are the lenses through which see the world. They include our assumptions about physical and social reality. Our worldviews affect how we see issues like whether people should enjoy equal rights, or philosophies like socialism and capitalism.
Moral values include our sense of right and wrong. They form over the course of our lives and are not easily changed. They are connected to our fundamental human emotions. They are often our reasons for taking action.
It’s critical to understand the moral values, identities and world views of the people who you want to act to avoid making two dangerous assumptions:
One is that those we hope to convince share our moral values, worldviews and identities.
The second is that anyone–given the right message–might change their moral values, worldviews or identities.
People don’t tend to interrogate their own moral values, identities or worldviews, and they rarely change them. Instead of focusing your communications efforts on getting someone to shift their sense of right or wrong, focus on their most salient identity to the problem you’re trying to address.
For example, the animal rights movement has long focused their advocacy on getting people to see eating meat as wrong. Research suggests that for women, this can be effective. However, research suggests that men see eating meat as a critical aspect of their masculinity. Trying to convince them that it’s wrong just won’t work. However, a recent film, “Game Changers” took a different approach. The filmmakers followed elite athletes who had also adopted a vegan diet. By appealing to a more salient identity–men’s desire to be seen as elite athletes as an expression of masculinity, the film makes a compelling case. As a result, google searches associated with vegan diets have spiked.
To reach the people who can act, make a list of things that are important to them. Think about which ones can be achieved or advanced as part of building strategies that end child and forced labour. For example, you might look for data that show how ending child labour leads to longterm economic development.
You might also look at which institutions, news outlets and individuals they trust and rely on for information. Identifying their trusted messengers will help you identify potential audiences who you might reach through supporting strategies.
