CHAPTER 22 Changing consumer behavior for pangolin products Gayle Burgess1,2, Alegria Olmedo3,4, Diogo Verı´ssimo5,6 and Carly Waterman7,8 1Institution of Environmental Sciences, London, United Kingdom 2Society for the Environment, Coventry, United Kingdom 3Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom 4People for Pangolins, London, United Kingdom 5Department of Zoology and Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom 6Institute for Conservation Research - San Diego Zoo, Escondido, CA, United States 7Conservation and Policy, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, United Kingdom 8IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group, N Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, United Kingdom OUTLINE Introduction 350 Vietnam 356 Pangolin meat 356 Background and context regarding Pangolin scales 357 consumer demand for pangolins 351 Pangolin wine 357 Challenges and considerations regarding Ornamental use 357 demand reduction efforts 351 Consumers 358 Summary of insight into consumer Opportunities to reduce demand through demand in Asia 353 behavior change 358 Types of behavior to change 358 Gaps and limitations 353 Medicinal motivations 358 China 354 Pangolin meat 354 “Emotional” motivations 359 Pangolin scales 354 Existing experience 360 Consumers 355 Pangolin wine 355 Multiplicity of models 360 Ornamental use 356 Pangolins DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815507-3.00022-8 349 © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 350 22. Changing consumer behavior for pangolin products Specific behavior change theories relevant Conclusion 362 to reducing “medicinal” demand 361 Acknowledgment 363 Specific behavior change theories relevant to References 363 reducing “emotional” demand 362 Relevant models to both medicinal and emotional motivations 362 Introduction populations to recover (Challender and MacMillan, 2014). Addressing the illegal trade in wildlife pro- Within this context “demand reduction” has ducts requires a multi-faceted approach been recognized as a specific mechanism (Burgess, 2016; Challender et al., 2015). through which to address illegal trade in wild- Regulatory measures, harvest and trade con- life. The term and associated approaches have trols and appropriate enforcement thereof, in been recognized since the 1970s (e.g., Arthur source countries, along trafficking routes and and Wilson, 1979), but have gained substantial in major end-use markets, are essential (see traction since around 2012, with examples of Chapters 17 and 18). Interventions that enable demand reduction actions agreed by govern- community engagement should also ensure ments in the 2014 and 20181 London benefits arise from wildlife protection and/or Declarations and associated statements. legal, sustainable trade (see Chapter 23: Another notable example of demand reduc- Cooney et al., 2017). However, these measures tion commitment to action was the UN can be, and are, undermined by illegal markets General Assembly Resolution (69/314) on that are impossible to contain whilst demand “Tackling Illicit Trafficking in Wildlife.” It also persists (Nijman, 2010; Verı´ssimo et al., 2012). features in key regional agreements such as Complementary efforts to effectively address those via the Forum on China-Africa demand for wildlife products are therefore Cooperation (FOCAC) and Asia-Pacific increasingly recognized as critical in tackling Economic Cooperation (APEC). These agree- illegal wildlife trade (TRAFFIC, 2016; Verı´ssimo ments and declarations were reinforced and Wan, 2019). Economic theory, and some sit- through adoption of measures to address uational crime prevention models, assert that demand at the 17th meeting of the Conference reducing demand for wildlife products among of the Parties (CoP) to CITES, the Convention end consumers (Gore, 2011), and thereby aver- on International Trade in Endangered Species age market price, reduces incentives for market of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP17). actors, including international criminal net- Resolution Conf. 17.42 requires parties to take works, to engage in poaching and illicit trade. action to reduce demand for illegally sourced This should lead to less poaching, and all other wildlife products through evidence-based things being equal, allow overexploited wild behavior change strategies. Demand reduction 1 London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade (October 2018) Declaration. 2 Resolution Conf. 17.4, Demand reduction strategies to combat illegal trade in CITES-listed species. III. Conservation Solutions Challenges and considerations regarding demand reduction efforts 351 action was also prescribed for pangolins Vietnam, and Myanmar (Chapter 16; Heinrich specifically, in CITES Res. Conf. 17.103 and in et al., 2017; Nijman et al., 2016). Demand for conservation strategies developed for the pangolin products has also been shown to species. exist in non-range countries, such as the In this chapter, the focus is on the behavior United States, some European countries, and change component of demand reduction Japan (Heinrich et al., 2016, 2017). Most actions, which is recognized as complementary demand reduction research and interventions to measures imposing societal control (e.g., that aim to address the consumption of ille- regulations/legislation, enforcement, and retai- gally traded wildlife, including pangolin pro- lers removing products from sale; Burgess, ducts, have focused on Asia, particularly 2016). The chapter first provides some back- China and Vietnam (Verı´ssimo and Wan, ground and context regarding consumer 2019). This is due to the size of these markets demand for pangolins, before discussing chal- for illegal wildlife products in general, com- lenges and considerations relating to pangolin bined with phenomenal rates of economic demand reduction efforts. It then summarizes growth in recent decades (Nijman, 2010). More insights in relation to consumer demand in is understood about the nature of demand in Asia, and discusses opportunities to use these these countries as a result and, for this reason, insights to reduce demand for pangolin pro- the rest of this chapter focuses primarily on ducts through behavior change. these locations. However, it should be noted that further research into demand for pangolin products in other countries is needed to under- Background and context regarding stand the impact of these markets on wild consumer demand for pangolins populations. Consumer demand for pangolins has been recorded throughout most, if not all, of their Challenges and considerations regarding range countries in Asia (Chapter 14) and demand reduction efforts Africa (Chapter 15; Ingram et al., 2018). Pangolins can represent an important source Before detailed consideration of the research of protein and their parts are used for a variety evidence, it is worth recognizing that addres- of medicinal, ornamental and ritualistic pur- sing the consumer demand driving illegal poses (Chapters 12, 14À16). Such demand is wildlife trade is challenging. Demand reduc- hard to characterize given the multiple motiva- tion campaigns often call into question long- tions for use, various consumer groups and held beliefs or a culturally-ingrained behavior the variety of derivatives that are used and on the basis of their impact on wildlife popula- consumed. This complexity is compounded by tions. Some of the challenges of these cam- variations evident across major markets, due paigns are, therefore, ethical in nature. to, for example, disruptive marketing by sup- Demand reduction campaigns focus on volun- pliers and fads and trends in consumer tary behavior change and as such do not aim markets. to limit the freedom of choice of their target That said, much of the contemporary illegal audience. international trade is driven by demand in Disciplines such as social marketing should Asian countries, especially China, but also be used to benefit both the target audience and 3 Resolution Conf. 17.10, Conservation of and trade in pangolins. III. Conservation Solutions 352 22. Changing consumer behavior for pangolin products society at large. In strict terms, this means that with which to change consumer behavior they should not be designed to benefit biodi- (Greenfield and Verı´ssimo, 2019; Olmedo et al., versity at the expense of the target audience. 2017). Many of those delivering communica- Still, these efforts do often have as a premise tions to persuade different types of purchasing not only that the target audience is not behav- preferences and consumer choice, have tended ing in its own best interest, but that conserva- to focus on achieving breadth, rather than tionists know better how the target audience depth (Burgess et al., 2018). In terms of evalua- ought to behave instead. This has led to behav- tion, impact measurement has often been ior change efforts being criticized for being described in terms of message “reach” rather paternalistic and even manipulative than “resonance” (Burgess et al., 2018; (Andreasen, 2002). In the context of biodiver- Verı´ssimo and Wan, 2019), and on celebrities sity conservation the situation can be further engaged as messengers, irrespective of their complicated when those promoting the impor- anticipated influence or measurable impact on tance of wildlife are based in countries far key buyer, user and intender groups (e.g., from species’ range states or areas where tar- Duthie et al., 2017). get audiences reside, and thus accusations of Further, the links between information pro- neo-colonialism arise