Single-use plastic item example

• Minority influence processes in Social Change :

  • examples of the influence of environmental campaign groups/celebrities and how they may convince the majority through consistency, commitment (augmentation principle), flexibility

  the snowball effect – how behaviour/views on use of plastic change gradually over time.
• Conformity processes in Social Change:

  • normative social influence/compliance – the group norm among young people particularly is to care about the environment; people who go against this norm (by ignoring the costs to the planet) risk rejection from the group/are less likely to fit in
  • informational social influence/internalisation – more is now known about the harmful effects of single-use plastic items on the environment/climate change, people may have become convinced by such evidence.
• Obedience processes in Social Change:

  • rules on single-use plastic items have changed, e.g. charges for plastic shopping bags, etc.