Social marketing research on stewardship practices of rural non-farm landowners in the Credit River watershed

Credit Valley Conservation has undertaken a social marketing research study to inform the development of a renewed outreach program for rural landowners. Despite the many opportunities to participate in stewardship activities and programs, widespread implementation of stewardship action among landowners in the Credit River Watershed is low. The research findings demonstrate that there are a number of key barriers that prevent landowners from engaging in stewardship behaviours, such as not knowing about the programs available, not having enough time or money, or feeling like it requires too much effort. Many landowners also feel overwhelmed by their large properties and are unsure of where to start. Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) is an approach to social research and planning that recognizes the barriers to behaviour change and provides solutions for overcoming these barriers using key tools and best practices, including personal contact, prompts and reminders and social norm development. Using the fundamentals of CBSM, this report summarizes the research conducted and provides recommendations for encouraging desired stewardship behaviours among rural, non-farm landowners in the Credit River Watershed.