The universal strategy approach practiced by change agents is argued to be relatively inefficient and may result in boomerang effects when attempting to motivate planned social change. Based on the concept of attitude-behavior consistency/discrepancy, a model of strategy choice is developed which enables a mix of reinforcement, inducement, rationalization, and confrontation processes. Influence strategies that can be utilized by change agents in facilitating each of the above processes are identified. Results from a study of car pooling behavior are presented to illustrate how a change agent can evaluate which processes should be facilitated in a given planned social change situation.
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