Everything in the (trash) can? The question is appealing: on the one hand because it touches a cord in all of us and, on the other, because of its irritating ambiguity. The heightened degree of interest that is thus generated was turned to advantage by three ETH students of Environmental Sciences, Myriam Baumeler, Rolf Debrunner and Patrick Waibel. With a two-tier information strategy they influenced cinema-goers to leave less litter in the theatre. The supervisor of this semester assignment, Ralf Hansmann summed up the experiment in the article "A Two-step Informational Strategy for Reducing Littering Behavior in a Cinema“, which was published in the November issue of "Environment and Behavior“ (1). The investigation is part of a bigger research project entitled "Effectiveness of information on littering behavior", which was initiated by Roland Scholz, ETH Professor of Natural and Social Science Interface at the Department of Environmental Sciences (2).

Litter during "Pearl Harbor"

Litter in the cinema theatre; a phenomenon we are all familiar with. In fact, cinema theatres are veritable hotbeds of littering, and thus the ideal venue to carry out an experiment to reduce littering. This was what the team of students thought too, so they went in search of a partner and found one at the cinema complex Cinemax in Zurich. They were granted permission to conduct their experiment in the biggest of the theatres, seating capacity 500, of this multi-screen complex. At 21 showings of the film "Pearl Harbor" the students counted the numbers of people in the audience to ascertain the average amount of litter left behind by each after the show. In half of the showings special information was given to the audience. Before the advertising block, a slogan, which the students had come up with themselves, appeared on the screen: “Everything in the (trash) can?". This was followed by the pictogram of someone disposing of their litter in a rubbish bin and, next to it, the message, “Thank-you. Your Cinemax team“.

The result was no "Pearl Harbor“ for the students but a success. With their two-tier information strategy they succeeded in lowering the average of the amount of litter left lying around from 25,4 to 18,2 gr., a significant drop. Moreover, analysis of the data revealed that neither the size of the audience nor the time of the film showing influenced the result. Due to the fact that for practical restrictions only two conditions could be compared no conclusion can be drawn as to how strong the respective individual influence was of the first picture with the ambiguous slogan "Everything in the (trash) can?" and that of the pictogram that followed.

This was the first still shown on the cinema screen ...

Resolve ambiguity

One clear facet has emerged from the experiment for the psychologist, Ralf Hansmann: an ambiguous message, appropriately employed can deliver a positive result. This is interesting in so far as other studies have come to an almost opposite conclusion. These consisted, however, of a single ambiguous information step and it is precisely here that Hansmann pinpoints the crux of the matter. If the target audience cannot resolve an ambiguity, then the heightened level of interest that has been awakened simply disintegrates. If however, in this state of heightened awareness, the target audience is picked up and fed with a friendly and non-ambiguous message, it can be especially effective. One indication that this is true is the increasing use of two-part advertisements. However, whether it is a matter of a TV spot or an information campaign to lower the frequency of littering, such two-tier information calls continuously for new ideas. Because once someone has resolved the conundrum, no special attention is paid to the meaning. Without creativity, ambiguity soon lands up in the (trash) can.

What Hansmann would like to do with the help of his students is to meet the thoughtless way we deal with litter head on with creative solutions, not only in the cinema. Further studies are underway, for example, that deal with the recycling of used batteries or newspapers in Zurich's trams. One of the aspects being investigated is how effective different types of information campaigns are. ls it more productive to command or to ask in a friendly manner, to inform in a neutral manner or to use a creative solution? Because the students carry out their experiments outside the walls of the university, they develop a sense for what can be done with application oriented psychology. Even if not (yet) everything is put into the trash can, Hansmann's work helps to make sure that an increasing amount of litter is.

... followed by this second one, which delivers the key to the imparted information.