Is communication alone enough to drive change? The research says otherwise. Awareness alone is not enough to drive laptop repair, clothes swaps or refurbished bike purchases. This is one of the biggest challenges for circular economy communications. People, businesses, and institutions are being asked to change familiar patterns : how products are bought, used, repaired, shared, returned, and kept in circulation. Agreeing with these ideas is not enough for people to change their behaviour.
Researchers have shown that circular economy communication needs to move beyond general awareness and focus on specific behaviours, such as how to repair and reuse things, or where to get water bottle refills. This is where COM-B can help (Parajuly et al., 2020). COM-B is a behaviour change framework built around a simple idea: for a behaviour to happen, people need capability, opportunity, and motivation. The UK Government Communication Service (2021) applies this logic to communication by arguing that people need to be able to do the behaviour, want to do it, and have the chance to do it.
For circular economy communications, this shifts the question from “How do we raise awareness?” to “What is stopping people from acting, and what can communication realistically do about it?”
Start with the behaviour
A common mistake in sustainability communication is starting with a broad message: ‘be more sustainable’, ‘choose circular’, or ‘reduce waste’. These messages may be well intentioned, but they are often too vague to spark action.
Some scholars make this point clearly in relation to electronic waste (Parajuly et al, 2020). They argue that behaviour change is more likely when communication focuses on one clear behaviour at a specific stage of the product lifecycle, rather than on broad circular principles.
For circular economy campaigns, this could mean prompting people to repair an item before replacing it, but showing them where they can do this or how to do it themselves.
Although these behaviours may seem logical and straightforward, there are barriers that need to be considered. Repair may be limited by cost, trust, spare parts, or lack of local services. Reuse may be affected by convenience or quality concerns.
So the first rule is simple: design your campaign around one clear behaviour, rather than the circular economy as a whole.
Capability: do people know what to do?
Capability is about whether people have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to act.
Practical information matters most here. People may support repair, reuse, or recycling in principle, but still not know how to do it correctly. They want to know where to take an unwanted product to give it a second life, whether something can be repaired, or how they can get smart about reducing food waste.
Communication can also strengthen sustainable behavioural intentions by increasing knowledge and making a behaviour feel more socially the norm. (Varni et al. 2024).
Communication around circularity needs to be clear, simple, and specific. A strong message does not just say “repair more”. It guides the consumer through simple steps, showing what can be repaired, where to take their broken things, what to expect, and why it is worth trying before replacing the item.
Opportunity: is the circular option actually possible?
Opportunity is about the world around the person. It includes time, money, access to infrastructure and services, social support, and the way systems are designed.
If a service isn’t accessible, is too expensive or hard to use, people will not be able to take positive action.
In a circular economy, communication cannot carry the full weight of systems change. It must connect people to systems that work.
Motivation: does the action feel worthwhile?
Motivation is about why people act. Environmental responsibility can be a powerful catalyst for action and change, but it is not always enough. People often agree with the message and still choose the easier, cheaper, or more familiar option. True routine and lifestyle change is a big challenge for communications.
Environmental value and everyday value need to coexist. But the most persuasive message will not be the same for everyone. For some people, repair is appealing because it saves money. For others, it reduces hassle, keeps a favourite product in use, or avoids the time spent shopping for a replacement. Renting may appeal to people who want flexibility or more space at home, while buying refurbished can be framed around quality, uniqueness, affordability, or making a more responsible choice. Circular economy communication works best when it connects the environmental benefit to the everyday motivations that matter to different audiences.
Measure behaviour, not just attention
A circular economy campaign can get thousands of views and still fail to change behaviour. Clicks, likes, impressions, and reach can show whether people saw the message but do not prove that people acted. To understand the real impact:
Behaviour change campaigns should define the target behaviour before launch, establish a baseline, and assess change against that baseline.
If the goal is repair, did more people use repair services? If the goal is reuse, did donations, second-hand purchases, or sharing behaviours increase?
Good evaluation helps communication teams learn what needs to change: the message, the channel, the service, the timing, or the system around the behaviour.
Overall, the COM-B framework provides a valuable guide in designing communications campaigns to be impactful.
