Bridging the Gap: Integrating Human Behaviour Insights into Technology Adoption for Water Conservation
Technology offers immense potential to address pressing challenges such as reducing water consumption. However, adoption often fails when human behaviour is overlooked in the design and implementation stages. This presentation explores how the integration of behavioural insights can optimise technology adoption and deliver meaningful outcomes.
Drawing on case studies from tourist accommodations and student halls of residence in the UK, we demonstrate the effectiveness of combining behavioural interventions with smart shower technology. Through covert experiments collecting genuine behavioural data, we uncover the nuanced interplay between user engagement and technology efficacy. This evidence highlights the need to prioritise public engagement and behavioural strategies alongside technological solutions.
This session will provide actionable insights for stakeholders interested in advancing sustainable water consumption practices and foster a dialogue on the importance of incorporating behavioural perspectives into technology adoption.
Speakers
Dr Pablo Pereira-Doel is the director of the Undergraduate Hospitality Programmes at Surrey Business School, the lead of the Institute for Sustainability's Water literacy and sustainable water behaviour programme, and the co-director of the Human Insight Lab.
After several years in the hospitality/tourism industry in Spain, France, The Gambia, and the UK, he is now an applied social scientist who uses sustainability-oriented innovations, consumer nudging, persuasive communication, design thinking, and experimental research methods to create pro-environmental behaviour change. His consumer and industry testing research contributed to developing a smart water-saving technology to nudge users to take shorter showers.
Pablo's problem-solving transdisciplinary research has involved partnerships with several companies in the hospitality industry (e.g. Scandic, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, TUI, Hostelling International, and others) and beyond (e.g. Aguardio ApS, Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, L'Oréal, and the UN Environment Program).
His research has been funded through internal scholarships, an ESRC SeNSS Industry Engagement Fund, three ESRC Impact Acceleration Funds, a UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund, and an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. Pablo is the first researcher in the UK to be awarded an ESRC postdoctoral fellowship in hospitality/tourism.