The
Avoidance of Cognitive Dissonance at the Eden Project
By
Nicholas
Sherriff
Timothy
May
Sabine
Keller
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Executive
Summary
Cognitive
dissonance was examined at the Eden Project utilising
the media coverage, an interview with the director of
marketing and three individual visits to the site
itself. The research took a qualitative approach
encompassing observational, interview and
participatory techniques. It was found that cognitive
dissonance is nearly always going to be present and
that it is hard to please all of the people all of the
time. The Eden Project however did seem to go a long
way to alleviate such cognitive dissonance utilising
novel and innovative schemes and ideas.
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Acknowledgements
The
researchers would like to take this opportunity to thank Dave Meneer for
his insightful and honest help, Ian Gilhespy for his trust in our ideas
and the Eden Project for being such an interesting topic to investigate.
Introduction.
This
report was compiled and conducted by a small research group of students
from the College of St Mark and St John, Plymouth, Devon.
The
group consisted of three mature students, one of which was an overseas
student from Germany. The researchers were Mr Nicholas Sherriff and Mr
Timothy May both third year students and Miss Sabine Keller a second
year overseas student.
The
subject matter for the study will be the recently opened Eden Project at
Bodelva near St Austell in mid-Cornwall. The research for this report
took place during the months of March and April 2001 and consists of
views expressed via an interview with the marketing manager (Dave Meneer),
a critique of the media publicity and consumer experiences sampled by
the researchers.
The
focus for the report will be centred around the issue of 'cognitive
dissonance' at the Eden project and whether this can be successfully
avoided via a marketing strategy method.
What
is Cognitive
dissonance?
This
subject matter is generally one that lies within the realms of
psychology, however, due to it's links with consumer behaviour via
product and service satisfaction it can be seen as a relevant and
interesting component for study within the leisure sector.
A
brief coverage of cognitive dissonance will aid the clarity of this
subject and provide insight into the research critique of this report.
As
a consumer individual cognition's for products are often expressed via
values, beliefs, attitudes and opinions, these affiliations however are
not purely accidental. Perhaps the objective of many marketing
activities is to 'implant' particular information into a consumers mind
(Cooper & Argyris 1998:426).
Before
the consumer purchases the product or service it has attached to it the
consumers expectations and pre-existing notions, moreover, Cooper and
Argyris posit that this can be facilitated both by marketing and
individual cognitions outside the marketing sphere, although it is in
the post-purchase state of mind that cognitive dissonance is more likely
to exist
From
this it could be suggested that individuals who are dissatisfied may
have suffered cognitive dissonance due to the product actualisation
failing to meet the perception. In terms of this report, could the Eden
Project fulfil the visitor’s perceptions and pre-existing notions? The
existence of cognitive dissonance is for Lewis psychologically
uncomfortable to individuals and they develop strategies to
reduce/eliminate it to regain consonance (cited in Cooper&Argyris
1998:83). Festinger (1957) posits three ways to
eliminate dissonance:
(1)
Reduce
the importance of the dissonant beliefs.
(2)
Add
more consonant beliefs that outweigh the dissonant beliefs.
(3)
Change
the dissonant beliefs so that they are no longer inconsistent.
However,
more often a bad visitor experience results in increased negative
promotion of the product, perhaps we are more inclined to promote a poor
experience to others rather than a good one. Festinger further posits
this example,
“Consider
someone who buys an expensive car but discovers that it is not
comfortable on long drives. Dissonance exists between their beliefs that
they have bought a good car and that a good car should be comfortable.
Dissonance could be eliminated by deciding that it does not matter since
the car is mainly used for short trips (reducing the importance of the
dissonant belief) or focusing on the cars strengths such as safety,
appearance, handling (thereby adding more consonant beliefs). “
(Festinger,
L. 1957.)
Leisure
and product marketers seem to be aware of these issues and could be seen
to consequently strive to produce "A bundle of satisfactions to
avoid a loss of interest with the product or service".
With
these issues in mind the report was centred around the research groups
individual visitor experiences and pre-existing notions of the Eden
Project. The subject matter could be described as a bastardisation of
the SWOT analysis, with the ‘Weakness’ element being refined to the
lowest denominator of cognitive dissonance. Subsequently the report
facilitates an experiential reflective view rather than a more orthodox
scientific approach.
Methodology
As
the title indicates this piece of work is concerned with trying to find
how cognitive dissonance is avoided at the Eden Project. Within the
umbrella term ‘Methodology there are two distinct classifications of
research ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ although that is not
to say that research cannot contain elements of both. Exploration of
both schools of thought will enhance the understanding of the method
undertaken at any given time. Baxter, Hughes and Tight posit,
Quantitative
research is, as the term suggests, concerned with the collection and
analysis of data in numeric form. It tends to emphasize relatively
large-scale and representative sets of data, and is often, falsely in
our view, presented or perceived as being about the gathering of
‘facts’. (1996:60)
This
does beg the question of whether social aspects of life or in this case
the disinterest with the product can be solely represented in a
numerical fashion? Quantitative research is also as stated usually
large-scale which is not only expensive in manpower but also financially
something that this small-scale study can ill afford. Therefore a
qualitative study was generally employed which is, ‘more open and
responsive to its subject’. (Best and Kahn. 1989) Further Baxter et al
offer qualitative research as,
…concerned
with collecting and analysing information in as many forms chiefly
non-numeric, as possible. It tends to focus on exploring, in as much
detail as possible, smaller numbers of instances or examples which are
seen as being interesting or illuminating, and aims to achieve
‘depth’ rather than ‘breadth’. (1996:60)
Rather
than data that lends itself to statistical manipulation (quantitative),
qualitative research is more concerned that ‘satisfactory explanations
of social activities [disinterest with the Eden Project] require a
substantial appreciation of the perspectives, culture and world-views of
the actors [visitors] involved’. (Burgess. 1984) One of the criticisms
of qualitative research is that it is ‘impressionistic’ and
‘non-verifiable’, (Allan and Skinner. 1991) although it is the remit
of the researcher to assume a position of naivety and therefore be open
to new ideas or suggestions. As such perhaps good research is
impressionistic (Allan et al. 1991) but as to it being non-verifiable is
to oversimplify the nature of the research.
The key aspect of science is verification and the ability to test
empirical evidence by replication, which it is agreed, cannot be totally
achieved by qualitative methods alone. However, the beauty of
qualitative research lies in its flexibility and that a researcher can
develop themes as and when they arise, exploring avenues that fall
outside ‘the previously set formula’ (Allan et al. 1991:182) The
manner in which one particular researcher asks a question and
then develops it makes the data collected less likely to be replicated
and perhaps more prone to bias. This does make the notion of replication
very difficult to achieve but those who favour this approach argue that
the quality of the data gathered affords a greater, ‘reflexivity about
the theoretical and conceptual assumptions being made than do those
methods which produce apparently more reliable, highly structured
data’. (Allan et al. 1991:182) This in-depth style could not be
facilitated had a more large-scale method been employed especially on a
students budget.
The
interview has been likened to marriage as Oakley posits, ‘…everybody
knows what it is, an awful lot of people do it, and yet behind each
closed door there is a world of secrets’. (1986:231) This particular
interview was qualitative in that it was less structured and informal
allowing the researcher to explore beyond the ‘yes’ or ‘no’
responses more common in survey interviews. (Allan et al. 1991:203)
Lummis (1987:62) extrapolates further suggesting,
…the
art of good interviewing lies in being able to keep most of the
interview conversational while following various digressions,
remembering which questions the flow of information has answered and yet
being prepared to question more deeply and precisely when necessary.’
During
the interview the previous knowledge of the researcher (the visitor
experiences) facilitated a more in-depth analysis forming an insider’s
view similar to that of Allan (1991:203) who posits a change in the
‘research relationship where interacting rather than merely
establishing a rapport has been observed.’ In order to keep track of a
possible meandering interview a pocket tape recorder was used after
first gaining permission from the interviewee although during the
interview general notes were made as a reference for the topics
discussed thus far.
This
could however be seen as facilitating unforeseen variables such as the
preferences or value judgements of the marketing manager,
notwithstanding the well documented but unintended observer effects
which have been noted by Scott (1985) who further offers,
‘The
presence and personality of the interviewer are thus acknowledged as
variables in the research process, and there is a recognition of the
fact that ‘ all researchers operate from within a theoretical overview
and … affects the data at all stages.’
As
you can see this sort of subject matter is difficult to pin down but an
attempt has been made none the less. It is acknowledged that the sample
is relatively small and more extensive research will have to address
this. Difficulties have been raised concerning the study of such
personal and polymorphous notions of interest; hence the rather messy
feel to the research. Finally our own inexperience within research has
lead to many imperfections but despite all this a genuine attempt has
been made into a worthwhile subject area.
Research
Findings
The
media coverage was examined through selected clippings of the local,
national and international press before and during and after the opening
time. In the international press particular focus was given to Germany
of which we had greater access. In addition a presentation of the Eden
Project was examined broadcasted through The National Geographic, which
could be suggested as a more credible source.
The Eden Project was well
reported by all the local papers with articles about the building
progress and the content on a daily basis prior to the opening. It was
presented in a rather positive light that could be seen as raising the
profile in order to encourage visitors. Certain publicity (National
Geographic, Video) described Eden as the ‘eighth wonder of the
world’, thus perpetuating the myth of an auspicious spectacle to
visitors. The reports included background stories detailing the origin
of the plants and the planned events at the Eden Project. The founder
Tim Smit and his vision to contribute to the relationship between nature
and people was emphasised. The commercial aspect was avoided by means of
stressing the 'Green issue' that lies behind the project. The articles
were heavily supported through relatively big coloured photos compared
to the generally small amount of text; perhaps the visual spectacle
eroded the need for text!
The
national press as expected did not have as much emphasis on the Eden
Project, although generally it acquired mostly complementary reports.
The success in publicity and popularity was stressed in stark contrast
to the failure of Millennium Dome, which suggests a lack of themes and
consistency (TelegraphMagazine:18/03/01). The articles in the national
press were not as detailed and comprehensive compared to the local
coverage. The positioning showed that there was less relevance for the
reports. Pictures were smaller
and
often uncoloured. In addition some articles presented the picture of the
founder Tim Smit more controversially and pointed out that behind the
'Green Idea' lies also a commercial interest. Furthermore the
contradiction in building a huge car park to the green theme was
stressed (Daily Telegraph: 12/03/01).
The Eden Project did
however attract global coverage; at the opening there were journalists
from USA, Japan, Australia and Europe. In Germany the Eden Project
received regular media exposure for two months prior to it’s opening.
It was covered by quality magazines (Spiegel: 10/01/01) as well as local
and national broad sheets. The emphasis being on the ‘science fiction
style’ construction of the building and the extraordinary visitor
experience.
In
general it can be said that the information about the themes and purpose
of the Eden Project were contradictory amongst different newspapers,
this could lead to confusion by the reader and facilitate cognitive
dissonance should a persons definition of Eden not be fulfilled.
At the opening there was some negative press coverage because of the
fear visitors could spread the foot and mouth disease. These concerns
were supported by demonstrating farmers at the opening and reported on
the regional news broadcast (Westcountry News:17/03/01) Furthermore the
foot and mouth disease caused a certain reluctance amongst American and
Australian visitors, subsequently overseas visitors failed to
materialise ‘en mass’.
Interview
The
Marketing manager gave a lengthy and somewhat honest interview, which
can be found in Appendix 1. Selected
comments have been utilised within the compilation of this report and
verification can be secured via the taped interview.
When
asked about the use of the media and its generally positive press he
posits,
“Smit
is a kind of a Branson figure, what he had already achieved at Helegan
[gardens] and the Channel 4 programmes, people were waiting to see what
he would do next.”
“It
was all planned, some of the media happened by accident but then the way
we looked after them when they came here obviously had something to do
with it.”
“This
was a natural thing that grew out of Tim Smit and Paul Travers, just
these two individuals with experience in that field [media], Tim’s a
media junky anyway and that’s the way that worked.”
When
asked about the grandiose nature of statements such as ‘the eighth
wonder of the world’ he replied,
“Well
you know we’ve had so much TV and press up here I just can’t keep up
with it all, we’re quite good at kind of blagging things up here, you
know talking things up. I mean we’ve had to talk the project up for 5
years just to get the bloody thing off the ground…um…we’ve just
sort of never stopped really.”
“So
things like the eight wonder of the world, vast living theatre and
history in the making… they’re a deliberate plan of information. I
spent 25 yrs in advertising so I don’t want to spend much on
advertising and we don’t you don’t see vast adverts, you see the odd
leaflet because we prefer to go about it in other ways which is why you
see TV programmes and things which aren’t advertising.”
“We
look after internals very well, we look after photographers and
reporters we haven’t got to do much…buy them a pint, look after them
while they’re here and give them access and the next day you’re on
the front page of the Telegraph which is worth like £50,000 quid and
haven’t paid for it so it is part of the strategy that we court all
this unpaid-for stuff and if that means constantly talking the place up
so be it. I don’t know where ‘the eight wonder of the world’ came
from but you know…fine, ‘history in the making’ is great because
it’s been picked up and that’s an important point that says it
ain’t finished yet, the same with the name Project, people have said
why not just call it Eden and because project gives it that scientific
underpinning and says your going to run and run and run.”
Staff
related answers,
“Staff
attitude was the 2nd highest score in our survey.”
“You
could steal the architecture, you could probably get the plants but you
couldn’t get the people. There’s a very collegiate way of doing
things around here, everybody discusses things with everybody else.”
Answers
concerning visitor costs,
“Our
top score in our own survey was value for money, we got 9.5 out of 10.
This year it will be lower than that because then [the pre-construction
tour] it was a surprisingly good deal for £3, currently it’s an
unfinished garden for £9.50 but coupled with the Passport idea, I think
we’ll get good scores.”
“We
are the most expensive attraction in the county but we think we’re the
best and the most interesting.”
Refund
management,
“But
you know we’ve had complaints, we’ve had such a busy Easter but what
we do is pick up the phone. If they have had a bad day I give them their
money back or ring them because they write ‘shittygrams or
nastygrams’ but the most letters we get are kind of
‘disapointedgrams’ saying I’m awfully sorry to have to write this
but we will be back to visit again though.”
“Out
there right now I think we’ve probably got 5000 people bad-mouthing us
and we have had 300,000 through this year, a small percentage but
we’ve got to stop that.”
“So
big numbers, shitty weather, not enough car parks…yet…there has been
problems but the vast majority are loving us.”
Finally,
“The
thinking was to build something that would knock people’s eyes out,
the thinking behind opening last year was a very smart move, the
passports, the business with the train, the pricing this year, the tone
of our literature – history in the making, eighth wonder of the world
– the way we talk to people on site, all of that has been meticulously
planned and that in the end is what marketing is all about.”
“They’ll
[the public] give us this year [honeymoon period], it doesn’t worry me
at all because I know we will get there, I know what’s coming, I know
we opened too soon and it looks unfinished, personally I would have
opened a month later.”
“There
is pressure to open, you know what it’s like you have to open
sometime.”
Visitor
Experiences
Pre-Construction
Tour
This
was somewhat stumbled upon by accident, a typically windy afternoon on a
Cornish beach resulted in a friend suggesting a trip to the nearby
Bodelva site to see 'what all the fuss was about'. Knowing the area
relatively well was a bonus as road signage and promotion of the site
was conspicuous by its absence.
Entering
from the Par/Luxulyan entrance, which is a typical narrow country lane,
other than the chalky white lines left on the road by heavy machinery,
it was hard to imagine anything was being constructed at all! On arrival
at the site it was much as I had expected being born into the
construction business, dusty with a rough hardcore surface acting as the
road. After parking we joined a group of about a dozen other visitors
all with the same inquisitive state, however, there was very little to
see from our vantage point. Suddenly a man appeared in a yellow hardhat
and hi-visibility jacket, beckoning us towards him we sheepishly joined
him. He greeted us all warmly to 'Eden' and told us that we would be
taken to the 'edge' for a glimpse and the rest of the tour would be by
land train.
A
small tractor with about six carriages then proceeded to collect us and
for safety reasons we were supplied with hard hat and jackets. This was
highly entertaining for the youngsters in the group and a pleasant
surprise for the adults. The tour was highly informative with facts
being surrendered by the guide at every opportunity, "the second
largest earth move in Europe that year" and the 'largest free
standing scaffold structure ever built' to mention a few. The guides
were not just well informed but extremely friendly and professional,
this surprised me as after all they were showing people around a
construction site!
The
price of the tour was extremely reasonable £3 for adults and two of the
children in our group went for free.
The
Eden Project Experience
On
arriving at Eden there was the inconvenience of queuing to gain access
to the car park which although relatively brief is never a pleasant
experience. This was alleviated by short conversations with the staff
who were warm, friendly and generally jovial characters. The car parks
were well organised if a little far away and built to minimise the
hassle of searching for a space. Swathes of tarmac on the hillside are
an eye soar at the best of times which was countered by playful car park
names like plum and apple fenced by blustering flags of all colours.
The
entrance to the Eden Project was uncovered and could cause cognitive
dissonance whilst queuing in inclement weather however an attempt had
been made to combat this with the handing out of umbrellas which were
kept for the day and given back at your car in the car park.
Sculptures by local artists please the eye during the queuing
system at the visitor centre and once inside an innovative puppet show
depicts our link to and need for nature’s plant life. Prices have the
usual discounts for children, students and OAPs but unusually you can
join for life costing £1000, join the Friend’s Scheme for around £60
[family ticket] allowing free access for the year as well as exclusive
events every month or return your admission ticket [£9.50] with a photo
to gain a Passport giving free access for this year. Upon exiting the
turn-styles the visitor is greeted by a truly awe inspiring sight that
of the Bio-domes looking more at home on the set of a Science fiction
film. However there is still some distance to travel on a meandering
descent again possibly off-putting to some but potentially alleviated by
the novel use of tractors and trailers carrying the visitors down into
the heart of the ex-clay pit much like a train. As the train meandered
down it afforded a closer inspection of the surrounding site, which did
look unfinished in places with the old clay bed visible at times. The
journey, thankfully is available for the return trip ascent but queuing
was observed although the cheery and jester like staff were on hand to
lighten the stress of the situation.
The
media hype of the Eden Project did not meet reality once inside the
‘Biomes’ and thus the expectations of the visitor were dashed.
Cables and pipes were still visible which detracted from the visitor
experience. The promised flowers, fruits and butterflies were missing,
even certain plants looked in very bad condition and seemed not to have
recovered from their replanting. The highly stressed educational purpose
of Eden praised through the media was almost entirely missing. There
were few signs provided to give information about the names and the
origin of the plants although they are expected to be in operation
shortly and with guides. The green idea behind the Eden Project was
partly unclear and extremely weakly expressed which for me was
particularly disappointing thus educational and ecological awareness
presented by the media simply failed to materialise for me. The catering
facilities could be described as 'demographic dining' with two distinct
areas, one with seats and a view to the entrance to one of the domes
serving good food with a bar and high prices possibly targeting the
middle-class whilst the other possibly aimed at the working class with
stools, a self service cafeteria, a television and cheaper prices. The
shop could easily be by-passed so visitors did not feel trapped or
pressured to purchase. Finally the return journey to the car park is a
lengthy up hill struggle but armed with the memories of a remarkable day
the journey soon faded.
Conclusion
Cognitive
dissonance is perhaps never totally unavoidable but as seen with the
Eden Project can be managed. Such is the omni-presence of cognitive
dissonance that it affords phrases like ‘soft values’ and as such is
extremely difficult to pin down. By employing the right staff and
company policies loss of interest in the product can be both identified
early and managed. It may be suggested that many visitors eliminate
cognitive dissonance as predicted by Festinger (1957) by looking past
the little unfinished errors and seeing the greater good in the project
as a whole although this is an assumption. The name ‘Project’ as
confirmed by the Marketing Manager is used to suggest an ongoing and
never finalised idea, which may ease the possibilities of dissonance
amongst the consumers. The Marketing Manager was aware of a
‘honeymoon’ period and as such was looking ahead, formulating
strategies. Due to the foresight of the management The Eden Project has
in place many attributes that can combat cognitive dissonance although
as Torkildsen suggests,
“The
job of management is never to be concerned with restoring maintaining
normality because normality is the condition of yesterday. The major
concern of management, if they are to make their business effective,
must be in the direction of systematically trying to understand the
condition of the future so that they can decide on the changes that can
take their business from today into tomorrow.”
(Torkildsen,
G.1999.)
Recommendations
A
larger scale study possibly longitudinal is needed to fully examine the
diverse aspects of cognitive dissonance. The Eden Project is rather new
and may still have a novelty value, which could eventually rub off in
which case this sort of research needs to be ongoing. Cognitive
dissonance can be considered as polymorphous and may benefit from
further research into its categorisation.
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