title: Watching eyes on potential litter can reduce littering: evidence from two field experiments.
abstract: Littering constitutes a major societal problem, and any simple intervention that reduces its prevalence would be widely beneficial. In previous research, we have found that displaying images of watching eyes in the environment makes people less likely to litter. Here, we investigate whether the watching eyes images can be transferred onto the potential items of litter themselves. In two field experiments on a university campus, we created an opportunity to litter by attaching leaflets that either did or did not feature an image of watching eyes to parked bicycles. In both experiments, the watching eyes leaflets were substantially less likely to be littered than control leaflets (odds ratios 0.22-0.32). We also found that people were less likely to litter when there other people in the immediate vicinity than when there were not (odds ratios 0.04-0.25) and, in one experiment but not the other, that eye leaflets only reduced littering when there no other people in the immediate vicinity. We suggest that designing cues of observation into packaging could be a simple but fruitful strategy for reducing littering.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle University , Newcastle , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bateson
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Newcastle University , Newcastle Tyne and Wear , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Newcastle University , Newcastle Tyne and Wear , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abayomi-Cole
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Newcastle University , Newcastle Tyne and Wear , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Josh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greenlees
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Newcastle University , Newcastle Tyne and Wear , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Abby
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle University , Newcastle , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nettle
keywords: Antisocial behaviour; Cooperation; Interventions; Littering; Natural surveillance; Watching eyes