How many Spartans does it take to change

a light bulb?

Implementing compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) light bulbs on MSU’s campus

What is a CFL light bulb?

CFLs are compact versions of the long, tubular fluorescent lamps commonly seen in offices, schools and institutional buildings. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, CFLs can save up to 75 percent of the energy used by an incandescent light bulb.

(Green Living 2010)

If every American home replaced just one light with a CFL light

bulb…

  we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year

  we would spend about $700 million less in annual energy costs

  we would prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emission per year, equivalent to the emissions of about 800,000 cars

(energystar.gov 2010)

Goal

  To encourage on-campus MSU undergraduate students to replace their incandescent light bulbs with CFL light bulbs

Target population

  PRIMARY TARGET:   Michigan State University undergraduate students

living in on-campus housing facilities such as residence halls and university-owned apartments

  SECONDARY TARGET:   Campus administrators and officials responsible for

decisions about common area lighting such as Campus Living Services and Department of Residence Life

Theory   Elaboration Likelihood Model

  We will target opinion leaders that will process centrally because they have high motivation and high ability for change

  To do this we will present a strong argument in favor of switching incandescent light bulbs for CFL light bulbs on campus

  We will focus on factors that have been proven to increase motivation:   Personal relevance/involvement   Accountability   Personal responsibility

(COM 325, Rose Clark-Pitt)

Theory (cont’d)   Advantages of ELM

  Many lab experiments support the theory   Offers prediction and control   Explains why factors such as evidence and credibility

are sometimes effective and sometimes not   Allows us to predict when receivers will respond to

strong arguments and when they will ignore strong arguments and respond to peripheral cues

(COM 325, Rose Clark-Pitt)

Theory (cont’d)   Critiques of ELM

  Difficulty defining components of a theory, especially involvement and strength of arguments

  Not all research has supported ELM’s predictions   Definition of argument quality is not clearly explained   Individuals with a high need for cognition do not fall

into the predicted patterns of central and peripheral processing

(COM 325, Rose Clark-Pitt)

Channels   Residence Halls Association (RHA) meetings

  Governing body representing all on-campus students

  Opinion leader outreach   Disseminate information to respective groups/

organizations

  Low-cost advertising

  Earned media (The State News)   More than 90 percent of MSU undergraduate

students read The State News on a daily basis (advertise.statenews.com)

Key messages   CFLs will save you money!

  Each CFL bulb can save $20-$30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb

  Using CFLs is good for the environment   CFL bulbs produce less waste, less energy and less

greenhouse gasses

  With CFLs, you will not have to change your light bulbs as often   CFL bulbs burn for 6,000-12,000 hours, compared to

750-1,000 hours that incandescent light bulbs burn

(energystar.gov)

Implementation   Residence Halls Association (RHA) partnership

  Attending meetings   Connecting with campus officials   Support bill (earned media)

  Opinion leader outreach   Student group leaders/executive boards   Campus environmental groups   Environmental Stewards   Mentors, Hall Directors and Assistant Hall Directors

Implementation (cont’d)   Low-cost advertising

  RHA TV   Campus Center Cinemas   RHA movie offices   Campus group Websites   Donated table tents   Posters/fliers   Mailbox drop   University-wide e-mail

Implementation (cont’d)   East Lansing city partnership

  Proclamation (“Change Your Light Bulb Day”)   Grants for free CFL light bulbs for students

  Earned media   News releases for:

  RHA support bill

  City proclamation

  Distribution event if able to obtain free CFL light bulbs

  State News op-ed about benefits of CFL light bulbs

Evaluation

  Initial research   Focus groups with random samples of on-campus

MSU undergraduate students to measure attitudes toward CFL light bulbs and other “green” initiatives

  Randomized survey to measure number of students currently using CFL light bulbs or other energy-saving light sources

  Randomized survey to measure awareness of CFL light bulbs and other energy-saving light sources

Evaluation (cont’d)

  Follow-up research   Focus groups with random samples of on-campus

students after the campaign to measure changes in attitudes toward CFL light bulbs and other “green” initiatives

  Randomized survey to measure number of students using CFL light bulbs or other energy-saving light sources after campaign implementation

  Randomized survey to measure awareness of CFL light bulbs and other energy-saving light sources

How many Spartans does it take to change

a light bulb?

EVERY

SPARTAN!