Over the last decade, managing water supplies has become increasingly important to communities around the country. In response, the EPA last year created
WaterSense, a national program that promotes and enhances the market for water-efficient products and services.
As the EPA worked to develop WaterSense, we commissioned a series of focus groups to help evaluate the role that water efficiency plays in the product purchase process and explore preferences for water efficiency promotional messages. The results of this research, detailed in this article, may be useful in developing awareness campaigns for water efficiency in your local community.
Focus groups were conducted in Kansas City, MO; Phoenix, AZ; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Oakland, CA; Madison, GA; Dallas, TX; Detroit, MI; and Portland, OR. The EPA selected these cities in order to provide the best geographical representation, as well as to capture a wide range of circumstances related to sources of water, population density, drought conditions, and water conservation experiences.
Personal Water Efficiency Efforts
While generally focus group participants believed that ensuring an adequate water supply was the responsibility of government or utilities, most expressed that their personal water saving efforts can make a difference. This belief was tempered by feelings that their personal impact is not significant in part because other people are not also practicing water-efficient behaviors. One participant in Oakland, noted, “If you look at how green some people’s grass is, you know not everyone is practicing water conservation.”
Regardless, many noted that they did practice water-saving behaviors, such as watering lawns in the evening, taking shorter showers, saving rainwater, and not letting the water run unnecessarily. All groups admitted that the primary discouraging factor for not saving more water is it’s relatively low cost.
The Role of Water Efficiency in Product Purchases
When purchasing household products, water use was only a minor consideration across the board. Price, quality, brand, features, and energy consumption were considered to be more important factors.
Although cost was not a factor in encouraging participants to save water, when faced with buying water-efficient products, they thought messages that focused on saving money were important. Overall, people want to know if the product they are shopping for will be more water efficient, work as well as the less efficient product, and save money. Many focus group members were concerned that water-efficient products did not perform as well as models that were not water efficient. Statements like “those water-efficient toilets that you have to flush three times” were made frequently.
When participants were asked about the amount of water an appliance uses and its relation to product performance, there were mixed responses. Some participants reported that they look to see how many gallons the appliance uses for a load of clothes or dishes, but not if it claims to use the water efficiently. Conversely, some participants looked for appliances that offer the option to run smaller loads or shorter cycles.
There was consensus that a water efficiency label would help in making purchasing decisions—as a first-tier way of differentiating between the variety of available brands and models. One participant said, “A label would help me with comparative shopping—it would help make my job easier.” There was also consensus that the label should come from a source other than the manufacturer in order to be credible. Although many expressed concern about the credibility of a “government” label, when asked about the EPA specifically they didn’t feel as strongly—viewing the EPA as existing to protect the environment. One Bostonian said, “The manufacturer is going to tell you exactly what you want to hear. The EPA would be an outside opinion that is nonbiased.”
Water Quality and Quantity
The concerns over water supply dominated most focus group conversations when compared to water quality. Personal drought experience came up repeatedly and was a source of concern for many participants. All groups had participants who reported that they have had water restrictions and bans during severe droughts.
To a lesser degree, however, participants reported concerns about the fact that “their water” is being diverted to other areas of their state or the country. This was stated even in areas that are not presently in a drought situation, such as Portland, and Detroit.
Top-of-mind consideration was given to water quality when participants were asked about general water issues in their communities. Some participants were wary of their water quality due to scent, aging infrastructure, and agricultural pollution. If an area’s water quality was considered poor, it overrode supply concerns—even if droughts and population growth were present, as was the case in Dallas.
Water Messaging Preferences
Different messages concerning water-saving products were tested to see which induced the most positive feedback concerning water efficiency. The results give insight into how utilities can effectively approach the public when educating about saving water.
Specifically, messages that dealt with “preserving water for future generations” resonated well with many participants. This kind of message encourages the consumer to think about the water issues that their children and grandchildren will face in the future.
In all the focus groups, the messages that concentrated on cost savings also received positive reactions. Interestingly, people had mentioned earlier that they tended to be unconcerned with water issues because water was so inexpensive. Nonetheless, saving even just a little money on their water bill was important to focus group participants, and they stated that it would influence their purchasing decisions. One Phoenix participant said, “If you state the fact that it is water efficient and it is going to lower your water bill, that gets right to the point.”
The best messages proved to be a mix of these two messages. In discussions, focus group members spontaneously moved toward preferring a combination of “saves money” and “protects the environment for future generations” messages. The combination of the pragmatic and the emotional proved to be the most motivating in terms of propelling people toward conserving water and purchasing water-efficient products.
Messages to Avoid
Messages that consistently received low rankings were messages that focused on protecting aquatic habitat and messages that focused on the fact that water-efficient products will delay the need to develop new, more-costly water supplies. Protecting aquatic habitats did not resonate well in areas where there was limited water naturally, such as Phoenix.
The message that “water efficiency delays the need to develop new water supplies” was disliked because focus group members stated that it was too negative and threatening and not motivational. In some groups it received criticism because it was perceived as portraying conservation as a stopgap measure instead of a means to potentially turn the tide against further environmental degradation. Some focus group participants saw this message as more tailored for government agencies and water utilities rather than the general public.
The messages that simply stated using water efficiently or using water efficient products “helps protect the environment” were found to be too vague and some felt turned off by use of the word “environment.”
In general, messages that used negative words such as “avoid” or “delay” were poorly received. People saw many of these messages as threatening, or, in places where water was an abundant resource like Detroit or Portland, these messages came across as hollow.
The EPA is using the information gleaned from these focus groups in our messaging, materials, and marketing strategies to promote WaterSense. For utilities and communities that become WaterSense partners, there is an entire tool kit of promotional materials that use this information as a basis to brand and deliver the water-efficiency message to the public. If you are interested in downloading a more detailed summary of this focus group research or becoming a partner, please call the WaterSense helpline at 866-WTR-SENS (987-7367).