Proposal for a Message-Based Intervention and Evaluation Study To Encourage Water Conservation in Tucson

This proposal begins with an overview of psychological and behavior science research on water conservation, turning next to a more specific review of research on behavior change studies using message-based interventions. We then discuss a few factors specific to the situation of water demand and conservation in Tucson, based largely on Tucson Water’s own work and public reports. In the final section of the proposal we describe a pilot-testing project – based on this prior research – that could be applied in Tucson to eventually design a larger intervention intended to encourage water conservation among household customers. The project would help researchers gauge which approach is most likely to be effective in achieving this goal in a larger intervention, particularly when it comes to reducing usage among Tucson Water’s high-use customer base.