1 Introduction

This report presents the results of the benchmark survey for the Ministry for the Environment’s Household Sustainability Programme, conducted by telephone during November 2007, with a nationally representative sample of n=1,000 New Zealanders aged 18 years plus. The survey measures the general public’s beliefs, attitudes and behaviour with regard to being sustainable.

1.1 Background

The Ministry for the Environment’s Household Sustainability Programme is one of more than 170 central governmental programmes focused on environmental and economic sustainability. As part of this Programme, the Ministry is planning to develop and implement an information, awareness and public education programme to help New Zealanders become more informed about the practical steps they can take to contribute at a personal/household level.

To inform the development of this programme, the Ministry has retained Research New Zealand to assist it with a range of market research services. To date, the following work has been completed:

A limited review of the research literature, in order to identify useful information for the purposes of Research New Zealand’s work for the Ministry.
A benchmark survey in order to measure New Zealanders attitudes, beliefs and behaviours relating to sustainability.

This report presents the results of the benchmark survey.

1.2 Survey objectives

The overarching objective of the benchmark survey was to measure the current situation as it relates to household sustainability in order to:

Measure New Zealanders’ beliefs, attitudes and behaviour towards becoming sustainable (or engaging in actions that are sustainable).
Inform the development of the Ministry’s information, awareness and public education programme based on the results of the survey (priority groups, key messages, communication channels, etc.).
Establish a benchmark for future monitoring and evaluation purposes.

1.3 Research method

1.3.1 Overview

The benchmark survey was conducted by telephone, between 6 and 20 November 2007, with a nationally representative sample of n=1,000 New Zealanders aged 18 plus.

1.3.2 Survey respondents

Respondents for the survey were defined as all resident New Zealanders aged 18 or older.

In order to obtain a sample that was nationally representative of this population group, prospective respondents were selected using a multi-stage random method, initially based on a random selection of eligible electors from the General and Maori Electoral Rolls.

1.3.3 Survey design

The design of the benchmark survey was based on the findings of an earlier qualitative study conducted by Research New Zealand in October 2007.

In this qualitative pre-research, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 New Zealanders (n=14 as individual interviews and n=6 as a group discussion). Respondents were selected on the basis of their position on the social change continuum (i.e. pre-contemplative, contemplative and those in an action phase).

Comprehensive descriptions of these three groups were developed as a result of this qualitative study. These descriptions included attitudes towards sustainability, current sustainable behaviour, as well as the motivators and barriers to acting in a sustainable manner. This information largely determined the nature and design of the questions used in the benchmark survey.

1.3.4 Interviewing method

All the interviewing for the survey was completed by telephone, from our purpose-built, CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) enabled call centre.

Prior to being interviewed for the survey, all respondents were sent a pre-notification letter introducing them to the research. The pre-notification letter and the questionnaire are included as appendices to this report.

1.3.5 Response rate and accuracy

The response rate for the benchmark survey was 39.4 percent, which is a positive rate for a survey of this type. Our response rate calculation is based on a method approved by Statistics New Zealand.

Results based on the (weighted) total sample are subject to a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent (at the 95 percent confidence level).¹

1.3.6 Weighting

At the processing stage, the survey data was weighted by age and gender to ensure that the results quoted at the total sample level are truly representative of the New Zealand population. The weighting parameters were sourced from Statistics New Zealand and based on the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings.

1.3.7 Presentation of survey results

The results of the benchmark survey are presented in the following sections of this report, broken down by gender and age. Please note that significant differences between sub-samples and the total sample are shown in the tabulations as follows:

Results in blue (bold) indicate a significantly higher result compared to the comparable result for the total sample.
Results in red (italics) indicate a significantly lower result compared to the comparable result for the total sample.

1The weighting used in this survey means that the actual margin of error is slightly more than the conventional calculation.

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